What are the brightest led’s for the dash?

[IM-32-FK]

Hey all,

im on a mission to get my interior to light up like a christmas tree. I was wondering what leds are the brightest for t3,t4.2, t5 and t10? Like which numbered led? (3030,3528,5630 etc).Thanks 

[GTSBoy]

Bright dash lights are horrible. Are you sure you want to go down this path?

[IM-32-FK]

19 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Bright dash lights are horrible. Are you sure you want to go down this path?

Yes, I even want to cancel the dimmer(dims when you turn the lights on) on my defi gauges and on my stereo. Does anybody know how to cancel the dimmer on the stereo? And with defi gauges, which of the 4 wires do I delete? Cheers

[GTSBoy]

Just now, IM-32-FK said:

Does anybody know how to cancel the dimmer on the stereo?

Just disconnect the stereo's wire that connects to the dashlighting power. All it does is sense that the lights are powered and dim the stereo accordingly.

You should be able to find the equivalent wire on the Defis by just probing them with the lights on and off. Whichever one goes hot with the lights on is the culprit.

[IM-32-FK]

28 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Just disconnect the stereo's wire that connects to the dashlighting power. All it does is sense that the lights are powered and dim the stereo accordingly.

You should be able to find the equivalent wire on the Defis by just probing them with the lights on and off. Whichever one goes hot with the lights on is the culprit.

Do you know which colour wire that is to save me time? Also can I probe it when the key is out but the light is on? Will the wire still be hot?( defi only turns on when key is in Accessory)

[GTSBoy]

22 minutes ago, IM-32-FK said:

Do you know which colour wire that is to save me time?

No. I assume you're talking about the Defis, as I have even less idea what stereo you're talking about!

As to the Defis, still no, because I don't have any. But probing for voltage will take 2.1 seconds.

And yes, the wire that you're looking for will be hot when the dashlights are on, and not when the dashlights are off. This has nothing to do with the ignition position, or key in/out, because the lights can be turned on regardless of ignition.

Just for clarity - the wire we're looking to probe for voltage when the lights are on is not hot because of the Defis, it is hot because it is the connected to the lighting circuit of the car. That's how the Defis sense the lights are on. They're just looking for voltage on that line too. They're not actually using the power on that wire to do anything except decide that the lights are on.

[IM-32-FK]

31 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

No. I assume you're talking about the Defis, as I have even less idea what stereo you're talking about!

As to the Defis, still no, because I don't have any. But probing for voltage will take 2.1 seconds.

And yes, the wire that you're looking for will be hot when the dashlights are on, and not when the dashlights are off. This has nothing to do with the ignition position, or key in/out, because the lights can be turned on regardless of ignition.

Just for clarity - the wire we're looking to probe for voltage when the lights are on is not hot because of the Defis, it is hot because it is the connected to the lighting circuit of the car. That's how the Defis sense the lights are on. They're just looking for voltage on that line too. They're not actually using the power on that wire to do anything except decide that the lights are on.

Ok so the defi lights will only turn on, dim or not, when the key is on accessory. But if I turn the lights on from my stalk, key out, the defi dimmer wire will still be hot?IIRC the defi is actually bridged to the climate control, but that’s irrelevant 

[GTSBoy]

4 hours ago, IM-32-FK said:

But if I turn the lights on from my stalk, key out, the defi dimmer wire will still be hot

Yes.

[cachorro]

The denominations you're listing sound like bulb sizes, not necessarily brightness.

Either way, you don't want to find the brightest bulb. Have you ever ridden a car in the night with a really bright dash? You will not be able to see outside at night. Also, the bulb may be bright but if it only shines one direction the bleeding from one area on your dash/cluster to another will be obvious and this does not look good. You'll want to find a bulb with true 360 degree coverage or diffusion to not make the bleeding so obvious.

[GTSBoy]

6 hours ago, cachorro said:

The denominations you're listing sound like bulb sizes, not necessarily brightness.

He's talking about the actual LED chips that are on the "bulbs". 3030, 3528, 5630 etc are the chip types, and some are brighter than others, because of physical size or current handling capacity or simply improved (newer) spec.

All such LED dash bulbs are set up to give "even" illumination distribution. As even as they can be, anyway.

But otherwise I agree with your comment. Bright dash lights suck nuts.

[joshuaho96]

Bright dash lights are a bad idea for night driving if you care about being able to see at night. I've heard arguments that it helps to keep drivers from dozing off but if you're so close to falling asleep that a bit of blue light makes the difference you shouldn't be driving.

[IM-32-FK]

Hey guys I figured that 3030 SMD is among the brightest led you can get. But now there’s the question to whether to get COB or SMD. After much contemplation I decided with SMD because they are brighter but COB apparently has a cleaner and crisper light and has a diffuser.