Dash LED Upgrade Doesn't Work - Because?

-
Duggie

Duggie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Messages
663
Reaction score
583
Location
Tacoma WA
Hello All,

On my '64 Dart, I just did the RT-Engineering IVR upgrade and wanted to bring the dash lights up to LED brightness. I bought the bulbs and sockets like what has been recommended, (I think by SlantsixDan. I can pull the boxes out of the trash to confirm LED#s.) and the only bulb to burn is the oil pressure light. I tested the bulb in the socket and found them to be polarity sensitive. I switched the sockets around and still no glow. Am I missing something obvious here? :realcrazy:
 
Duggie said:
Hello All,

On my '64 Dart, I just did the RT-Engineering IVR upgrade and wanted to bring the dash lights up to LED brightness. I bought the bulbs and sockets like what has been recommended, (I think by SlantsixDan. I can pull the boxes out of the trash to confirm LED#s.) and the only bulb to burn is the oil pressure light. I tested the bulb in the socket and found them to be polarity sensitive. I switched the sockets around and still no glow. Am I missing something obvious here? :realcrazy:
Click to expand...

You have to get the combination correct between BOTH the sockets AND the bulbs. You can easily accomplish this be using a test light. Normally, the LED bulbs have a dot on the positive side, so that "helps".
 
RustyRatRod said:
You have to get the combination correct between BOTH the sockets AND the bulbs. You can easily accomplish this be using a test light. Normally, the LED bulbs have a dot on the positive side, so that "helps".
Click to expand...
The sockets too!? Dang! :BangHead:

I did see the red dot on the bulb. I'll get back in there tonight.:thankyou:
 
Careful you don't cross yourself up by fixing and then immediately unfixing the problem. If the bulb doesn't light, you need to either remove the socket and reclock it 180° from where it was without removing the bulb, or remove the socket, remove/reclock the bulb 180° from where it was, then reinstall the socket the same way it was before.
 
Here's how I did mine. Even though I only had two bulbs. lol I used the test light to figure out which connection on the circuit panel was positive. Then I marked tha side and the socket with some white fingernail polish to have a reference. Then I put the bulbs in with the dot on the side of the white mark and installed the socket lined up with the white mark on the circuit board. It was just two and I know I went to some extra trouble, but it helps.
 
slantsixdan said:
Careful you don't cross yourself up by fixing and then immediately unfixing the problem. If the bulb doesn't light, you need to either remove the socket and reclock it 180° from where it was without removing the bulb, or remove the socket, remove/reclock the bulb 180° from where it was, then reinstall the socket the same way it was before.
Click to expand...

I bet that's what I did!

RustyRatRod said:
Here's how I did mine. Even though I only had two bulbs. lol I used the test light to figure out which connection on the circuit panel was positive. Then I marked tha side and the socket with some white fingernail polish to have a reference. Then I put the bulbs in with the dot on the side of the white mark and installed the socket lined up with the white mark on the circuit board. It was just two and I know I went to some extra trouble, but it helps.
Click to expand...

Great idea! The wife just turned off the lights in the garage to make me stop for the night. I'll report my success in the morning.

Thanks!!
 
Personally If I was going to the work of LED conversion, I think I'd find something to SOLDER in place and avoid the nonsense of old sockets and PC board.

Yup. Polarity sensitive
 
67Dart273 said:
Personally If I was going to the work of LED conversion, I think I'd find something to SOLDER in place and avoid the nonsense of old sockets and PC board.

Yup. Polarity sensitive
Click to expand...

I gotta wonder. If I had a wit, I'd be at the end of it by now. I marked every new LED socket with white paint, double checked the red dot on the bulb, tested every bulb/socket function with a couple jumpers off the battery, cleaned every contact point on the circuit board and checked every board contact point with an ohm meter. Nothing. Gotta move on for now. The old bulbs went back in. We're wanting to drive this to LA via the coastal highways in a week and I have other loose ends to tie up. I'll revisit this again when we get back and try to get my $75 worth joy out of these bulbs and sockets.
 
I finally got the dash lights going by accident. While test driving the fix for the transmission not releasing, I noticed the brake / tail lights were out. My search found the fuse box was just plain worn out.

Before our trip down the coastline to LA, I soaked the fuse box in a baggie of white vinegar, scrubbed every fuse clip contact point clean and gave each fuse clamp a little pinch for a tight fit on the old glass fuses, along with relocating a couple fuse clips to empty- undamaged plastic housing. Good right? Grab the AAA card and lets go to LA!

Chasing the electrical problem down for the brake / tail lights, I found an intermittent open in the back of the fuse box. This fuse box looked like road kill to start with, and I did what I could to try and save it. I found a NOS fuse box for $280 and this blade fuse box off Amazon was $10. If everything on the car was original, I maybe could have justified the $280. What I have here though is Bride Of Frankenstein. The $10 special has two separate power feeds for Batt and Ignition, and more fuse slots than I need. So that box and an inline blade fuse holder for the dash lights and I'm back in the saddle with posterior illumination. The bonus is now the dash lights work too! Oh, and the JACKET fuse is for my old heated motorcycle jacket to keep Honey toasty when I need the top down.
Fuse1.JPG


Now where did I put those LED dash lights and sockets...:rolleyes:
 
You know that they make LED bulbs these days that are not polarity sensitive...
 
You guys should feel lucky. The vast majority of various electronics componets die in a hug ball of flame and or smoke when reversed. LED's--at least ones with no external electronics package--don't blow up when reversed, they simply don't work. I've let the smoke out of a few things. First electrolytic cap I blew up was when I was in high school in about 64-65, and the first selenium rectifier failed about same time. Both those make lots of ugly smell you don't forget.

When I was going to Navy ET school at Treasure Island CA the beater / junk box / homebrew high power amplifier someone had built, had the 3000V power supply in the vacant spot in the desk meant for the typewriter. One afternoon I was sitting there tuning the receiver when Ker-feckin-BLAMB-HO!!!! Something had let go and blew up a big dropping resistor in the power supply.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Here's how I did mine. Even though I only had two bulbs. lol I used the test light to figure out which connection on the circuit panel was positive. Then I marked tha side and the socket with some white fingernail polish to have a reference. Then I put the bulbs in with the dot on the side of the white mark and installed the socket lined up with the white mark on the circuit board. It was just two and I know I went to some extra trouble, but it helps.
Click to expand...

You use fingernail polish / to hide the grease under ur nails too ??
 
famous bob said:
You use fingernail polish / to hide the grease under ur nails too ??
Click to expand...

That's pretty funny! Putting up sheetrock, I used lipstick to mark the outside edge of electrical boxes. Coat the edge, press the sheet rock against the wall and the exact location and size of the box is on the back side of the sheet rock. You can imagine the fun had at my expense when people saw a tube of lipstick in my tool bag.:poke:
 
Now that I have power to the dash lights, I took everything I thought I've learned, and installed the LED bulbs in the dash today. It's a mixed bag; the instrument lights work, but don't dim. The turn signal and high beam lights won't work with LED no matter the polarity. The oil light is bright enough with the old incandescent bulb. All the LED bulbs were checked before install. What a ya think of that?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top