I found out two of the four lights in my cluster instrument panel were out, though my panel seemed well lit. Bottom two were out. Then one side went out and i had to smack it to get it to come back on.

I replaced all four of the 882 halogens with LEDs specifically made to replace the 882's. It was advertised on EBAY as brighter... but these things are not brighter at all... and do not even get brighter when I turn parking lights on. The two halogens alone were brighter than all four LED's

Just curious if anyone has used the LED before and had the same experience, or if I just have crappy LEDs.

heres what I bought
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-replacem...-/230842055326

THOUGHTS?

 

Threaten to provide negative feedback until they give you an explanation?

Buy 882's and make sure you don't have a bad-ground, bad-circuit?

 

LEDs can't be dimmed like incandescent bulbs. LED brightness is controlled by the CURRENT through them while incandescent brightness is a function of TEMPERATURE, which is directly proportional to VOLTAGE. What this means to you is that the dashboard dimming circuit doesn't work with LEDs.

The only way to dim LEDs that really works is to pulse them. You can see that with many cars that have LED taillights. As you move your eyes back and forth you'll see a series of bright "dots", which are when the LEDs are turned on.

Another problem with LEDs is that because of the physical way they are made (a semiconductor chip), they emit light like a flashlight beam. The only way to get the diffused light the dashboard needs is to use "foggy" plastic in the LED body. This spreads out the light but it gets dimmer in the process.

 

I actually got these LEDs to dim when using the dim adjustment ****. But they are not bright enough... or as you said they emmit forward. I message the seller about returning.

So do i go with replacement 882's or the newer Xenon lights??

 

Cliff is correct that the best way to dim a LED is via a controlled current source; varying the voltage via the panel dimmer control does impact the current draw and thus the brightness but the effect is very non-linear with LED lighting and doesn't provide the smooth dimming effect of the original incandescent lighting.

But the biggest issue is LEDs provide a point source light and don't provide the even lighting needed by many applications. You can see this in the pictures in the ebay link you provided, a lot of brightness in part of the photo while everything else is near black.

A single LED makes a great replacement for a single bulb used as an indicator but when more broadly spread illumination is needed the best LED replacements use multiple discrete LEDs. You can see an example of this type from Mouser, follow the link and then click on the data sheet for a photo of the device: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...V6lxea4f1Zk%3d

I am NOT suggesting the above as a replacement for your Corvette, only as a general example of the proper way to design a LED replacement for this type of service. I think you will be happier with a non-LED replacement since a lot of illumination is needed across the entire panel.

 

I talked to the seller... hes gonna return my money.
I will be going with a non-LED. Like before though... do I go with the 882s for my year (87 vette), or the Xenon lights? I guess the Xenons came out in 89. Supposed to be a little less heat emitted. Just want to make sure its safe for my cluster.

 

Will the Xenon lights fit under the metal covers on an 87 cluster?

I have these two choices
http://www.ebay.com/itm/84-89-CORVET...6aff67&vxp=mtr

or

http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/page...XXenon/X5G412V

 

Make sure you get the bulb and socket.. If you have to hit on the dash to get it to come back on, the socket is most likely bad also..Just my 2 cents.....WW

 

Your cluster was not designed to work with LED bulbs, the built-in auto-dimming feature will not work correctly w/LEDs.

I would not reinstall 882 halogens into the cluster either. The reason GM went to lower heat producing Xenon bulbs in 1989 was that the 882 halogens were burning thru the sockets and into the cluster boards over time.

This thread will tell you all you need to know about replacement cluster bulbs for '84~'89 C4 clusters, with some very good and cheap Xenon bulbs suppliers;

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-g...ent-guide.html

If you just need the four cluster backlighting bulbs and your sockets are OK these are the cheapest Xenon bulbs out there, come in packs of 2, and they work great;

http://www.pegasuslighting.com/xenon...2v.html#tabtop

 

You can do better price wise, than the first link you posted, see my post above.

The second link you posted does not have the correct bulb wedge base to fit into your cluster!

Keep in mind if your sockets aren't burned you can replace these bulbs thru the front of the cluster, no need to remove it, just pop out the metal heat shields and R/R the bulbs with a small length of rubber tubing. DO NOT twist the bulbs while R/R them, pull them straight out, and push them straight in!

 

My cluster is an 87. so the sockets right now take the open pin bulbs, not the wedged bulbs. I would need to swap out my sockets with the 89 sockets to fit the wedged bulbs.... trust me... I've pulled out my current bulbs and the LED ones I bought were open pin as well.

So I can get the open pin bulbs that are Xenon for cooler performance or replace the whole sockets with 89 versions which are wedged bulbs.

My sockets do have a slight blackness to them where the pins go.... but all the current sockets work

 

You sure about that? Your '87 should have the same wedge based bulbs I linked to...... Are you sure they weren't replace before? I'm pretty sure the correct sockets GM used in all '84~'89 C4's used wedge based bulbs and sockets.
If not you may try these Xenon bulbs with a T2 G4 Bi-pin base;

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008Y2...18839-20<br />

Some early C4's may have used this type of base socket before GM switched to the T3-1/4 wedge based Xenons.

 

It is worth it to pull the whole unit and replace the bulbs & sockets. I've done this more times than I'd like with my '87.

 

Idk if they were replaced ever. I thought the 84 though 88 were open pin.
Im a little timid to open the lcd cluster and mess something up. But looks like replacing all the sockets would be beneficial?

 

Not sure on the OEM pins, but if the sockets aren't burnt and the board shows no sign of heat damage I would just replace the bulbs with the appropriate low heat Xenon bulbs. Make sure they are rated at 12 volts and 5 watts.