Refractor LED 194 Bulbs | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Refractor LED 194 Bulbs

MustangP51

Explorer Addict
Joined
January 16, 2005
Messages
1,381
Reaction score
2
City, State
Connecticut
Year, Model & Trim Level
2009 Limited V8
I would like to change out the 6 194 bulbs behind the gauge cluster with these Retractor LED bulbs.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-HI...tegoryZ33713QQihZ018QQitemZ280101413595QQrdZ1

Has anyone used these in the cluster before? I know that normal LED replacements will just make hot-spots, but these look like they shouldn't have that problem, or will they? Will they change the color of the gauge face? Would love to see some pics if anyone has these in their X.

Anything info is appreciated, I'm getting tired of replacing bulbs every few months. I do replace all of them when one blows, and use the 194LL but they don't last long.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





























I've experimented with LEDs in various external applications. I did take them out of the EX's rear brake mounts because of non-working concerns (do a search). I've used 194s and 168s in other locations and in other vehicles. The more elements the better but there is something even better than that. I found that the Luxeon surface mount LEDs put out the most light. 194s can put out as much as 3 watts of power and are brighter than incandecents. At this time, I don't have a website you can go to but the key words are "Luxeon" and "surface mount LED".
 






I've bought alot of LEDs from Best Hong Kong... Great company, fast shipping, but those LEDs aren't bright enough. I tryied to put some blue ones in the cluster but I just got dots and alot of dark areas. I ended buys Wide Ange LEDs and making my own to stick behind the dash. I've posted pics on here a while back. http://community.webshots.com/album/550998492PcBjEb
heres a link to my pics
 






I have that site for those 194 Luxeon LEDs.

http://autolumination.com/194.htm

Besides 194, Autolumination has other apps for those surface mount LEDs. From testing out many different led types (single, 4 to 16 element matrix, SMT), surface mount can be as bright or brighter than incandescent. I've never installed them in a dash but I do have Luxeon surface mounts in dome and interior door lighting, license plates, side marker lights and trunk lighting in various cars.
 






I just finished putting in the LEDs into the cluster heres what It looks like. I am happy with the results. What do you think?

ExplorerGaugesLED.jpg
 






so which ones did you use and from where???
 












are the as bright or brighter than stock lamps???
 






They are not quite as bright as the stock bulbs are, but they are far from dim. Its actually easier on you eyes driving at night.

The ones in my first post would by far be brighter then the stock bulbs, but they are expensive.
 






hey mustang, its weird that your gauges are still green. When I took my bubls out they had this blueish green cover on the bubls. And when I changed my bubls to blue my guage turned blue.
 






Yea there must be some small changes from 97-01 with the cluster because I had normal 194 bulbs without any green caps on them, the green film must be in the actual gauge faces.
 






Well just a few days after I fixed the bulb that blew out in the Explorer with LEDs. One of the bulbs blew out in the Mustang's speedometer. Go figure. So I decided to do an LED mod to it as well. For this I had to make a custom LED setup because just putting in the LED replacement bulbs wouldn't light up the gauge evenly, I just drilled holes for 8 LEDs into the back of the speedometer just big enough for 5mm LEDs. Needless to say the other gauges had to match. :) It is much brighter and more evenly lit then the original bulbs.

GaugesLEDs2.jpg

The hot spot at the bottom of the speedo only appears in pictures for some reason.
 






That looks very nice. I used to have leds in my neons gauge cluster. They turned out brighter then stock. The cluster shined green just like the explorer one did, i had a few burned out bulbs on one side of the cluster so it was a good project to do while i was pulling the cluster.
 












I'll resurrect this one for a question...

How does the dimmer interact with the LEDs? Is that going to present an issue? I normally leave mine at full brightness, but I don't want to kill the bulbs and have to pull the gauge cluster again by browning them out or something...

Exactly how much dimmer are the LEDs than actual bulbs?

Also, I've found a ton of LEDs on eBay, is there a specific brand I should be going for, or are they all pretty much equal quality...
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Ditto in the dimming....
Just bought some, fresh from Hong Kong, can't wait to try...
 






Back
Top