LED Speedo Bulb

[Guest]

Well, I had to ride home estimating my speed from the gear and tach the other night, so I suppose I need some light on the speedo.

I like the idea of LED replacements, and I have been reading Matchless's writeup and Pete's thread and found each interesting. However, I was curious about the 'drop in' LED replacements and many people linked to www.superbrightleds.com but nobody (that I've been able to see) indicated which bulb they got.

They're a little pricey, but I'm wondering if the BA9s-xHP9 bulb would be a good replacement. Because it has LEDs all around for approx 360 degrees of light, it might work better than Pete's "2 bent LEDs" strategy.

Has anyone dropped these in there? It looks like they are a bit taller, and I haven't taken it apart yet to see how much space there is, but it seems like it could throw out quite a bit of light. I've been looking at these sources based on search results:

http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/t4w|12v|4w|ba9s~ece.html

Thanks for any info you folks can share.

—Chris

[1980GS1000E]

I changed mine to leds and bought them from the same people, but I can't recall the exact model leds I bought. I just took out what was in there and ordered whatever was the replacement. Also replaced the indicator lights.

[Gibbelstein]

Thanks for the insight. I saw that there were the two different models. One was a flat board with light on both sides, so I thought it might be close to Pete's 2 led version in terms of how it casts light. But the one I linked to looked like it might throw a better "circle" and it also had more leds in the first place. If I can allocate the resources maybe I'll try both. If I do I'll see if any differences show in pics.

[pete]

Chris I still have my original bulbs around somewhere and my original gauges are now off in favour of a custom one with an Acewell gauge.

If I get some time this week I can measure them up to compare but I think as long as what you're using is a direct replacement for the bulb it should be ok.

There's not oodles of room in there but there is definitely a bit more room around the bulbs that illuminate the gauges.

As to your comment on the LED's all around illuminating better than my two LED version, then yeah I reckon you'd be right on that. Don't forget I had to add two extra LED's at the bottom of each gauge to compensate for the lost light.

[Gibbelstein]

Cool, thanks Pete.

I saw this other alternative and thought it might be more like your version with SMDs on both sides (although, it has single ones on the "short" side). Although, the little one is actually wider, but by less than 3mm if those dimensions are to be believed.

Perhaps I will grab one of each to see if the $10 bulb is much/any better than this $5 little guy. But then I'd have to think of something to do with the remaining bulb...

[pete]

No worries, hopefully I'll get into it soon for you.

I may have time tonight as I need to do work starting at 10pm.

[Gibbelstein]

Both bulbs came in today. I'll try them both to check fit and see if camera phone pics can do any justice to the difference in output. Hopefully it can save some work for anyone searching for the appropriate LED replacement like I was.

The speediness of me getting to work on it is dependent on the heat easing up or me becoming less of a wuss...

[Gibbelstein]

Well, I've done it!

Here's what I was able to come up with:

This bulb the ( BA9s-xHP6) will not fit in the hole in the back of the assembly:


The 2 SMDs on the 'ends' of the board hit when you try to use this fella.

However, this bulb (BA9s-xHP9) fits just fine (even though the light surface is almost twice as tall as the envelope of the bulb that came out):


And, while I can't do the intended comparison because only one bulb fit, here is what the new bulb looks like in action:


The bright spot can be a bit much, and the light shines through the odometer and is reflected on the lens, which can be a bit annoying, but at least I can see my speed at night.

I suspected that the problem was not that the light "isn't getting to the bottom" of the gauge, so I conducted the most scientific test I could think of: I covered the top with my hand.


So, this new LED bulb throws as much light into the sides/bottom of the gauge, but it is taller and has the SMD on the tip that is overpowering the output from the rest of them.

I'm thinking of trying some kind of covering on the bulb itself to mute the light output to make it a bit more pleasant to the eye. Not every LED. Just the tip. (Took me 5min to figure out a way to shoehorn that last sentence into this post).

There is some amount of dimming/blinking when using the turn signal with the bike not running, but I didn't notice it when riding home. I'll it running/not running, and I'll post a video if I can swing it.

[GateKeeper]

put a piece of black tape over the portion of the light you don't want, if that works you can always dab a bit of black paint on the led to cover it up....

.

[Rodman]

Power consumption or heat are negligible with LED replacements however a few caveats do remain. Filament technology as has gone a long way (less current, heat, increased resistance to vibration) as that of LED lighting. An LED board sitting in the elements my not last as long. This may not be a byproduct of the LED component itself but rather the required printed circuit board attached or both. LED use, unknown to many, has been around a while especially in marine use, but many manufactures that see $$ potential kick these designs out like popcorn at the movie theater. If you go this route look for "conformal coated" or "potted designs" where the driving electronics are coated by a polymer material which resists corrosion and vibration. Another consideration is that LED lights are very directional where as old school isn't. My input anyways, good luck.

[Mekanix]

Also keep in mind that with no heat that your gauges might fog and not be able to defog.

[Steve]

I replaced a light in my thermometer on my Wing with a simple "inverted" LED, possibly from superbrightLEDs. Very nice, even light. Now I need to see what the other lights are and get them replaced, too.

The one I replaced was a rather hard to find one for a VDO gauge. I have an unknown type for my voltmeter (also VDO), then the daunting task of replacing the two that are burnt out in the dash and possibly upgrading the rest of the ones for speedo, tach and all the indicator lights before they burn out, because it's no fun digging in there.

.

[cowboyup3371]

So Gibbelstein, how's the long term report on this? Do you like/dislike them and what recommendations do you have for anyone considering this option?

[chuck hahn]

Maybe paint the select led squares and see what that brings about??