A Question for the LED God

[91waggin]

So I put a bunch of the 5-LED 194 bulbs in my dashboard about two weeks ago, and several of them have started to flicker and one (the odd bulb out, a subminiature wedge for the tach) has quit altogether. I was under the impression that these bulbs had resistors wired into the bases of the bulbs. Am I wrong? I'll be pretty pissed if I was supposed to wire in a 680ohm resistor and didn't 'cuz I'm stupid.

[gabegt90]

did you try pming pete mang

[85crownHPP]

where did you get them from??? I had bad luck with a batch I got that had colored bases to them, these ones were not wired to work both polarities like the other ones I got either. The ones I got from Hong Kong, eBay seller warden_JP, have all stayed burning... his work both ways and have a clear base no matter the color.
Of the ones with the colored base I have had one burn out, one fried and popped as soon as I plugged it in, and one in my door has one of the small LEDs doing a strobe thing.

But no, you dont need any resistors for them - they should be wired for 12 volts with tiny resistors inside the housing. You can see the resistors in the clear ones I have...
Its just a quality issue with the manufacturer. Most of the ones sold in bulk lots get made and shipped off pretty quick... you should see if your seller will exchange/refund them.

Oh! and please... Im no LED god. Just LED prophet (if you were even talking about me )

[gadget73]

If these are in the instrument cluster, did you clean the foil on the back of the gauges? I had to do that, and bend the metal contacts on the face of the bulb clip out just a bit to get good connection on mine.

[91waggin]

1. Colored bases from Hong Kong seller Enkmall and they only work one way. I didn't realize there was a difference with the colored vs. clear bases; I hunted around on ebay until I found what I thought were the same bulbs for the best price. I couldn't tell if there was a resistor in them or not. The reason I asked about the resistors is that when I turned the dimmer down, the strobe thing got slower.
2. Yes, they are on the back of the instrument cluster, but the back of my cluster is very clean and all the bulbs were a very secure fit, because the cluster had never been removed before. (I asked my dad if he'd ever had a bulb go in the cluster; he bought the car new.)

[Heretic]

Warden is the man for LEDs. I had several white 5-led 194's that did that too. None of the colored ones did, only the "HID white" LEDs. And when the voltage is lowered on my regulated power supply to 10 or less they quit flashing and remain steady, although dim. It appears that two of the side firing leds died on them. All of them. I believe they came from VLEDs but I'm not sure. The last batch of whites from Warden are still burning.

[91waggin]

Well, I guess I've learned my lesson. Thanks guys!

[gadget73]

i don't even know where I got mine, some ebay seller in Hong Kong. Clear bases, they work either way, and do not strobe or pulse. They also dim normally with the regular dimmer control. I have the 5 way 194 replacements.