Volvo Gauge LED Backlight?

[robrennie]

Hi there,

I have a 1989 boat with twin Volvo AD41’a - a few of my backlights have gone on the Gauges - all connections are good and I have swapped around known good bulbs to test.

I can get like for like replacements for about £5 each - but wondered if anyone here has replaced them with an LED solution?

I took a stab at it and ordered some T10 bulbs - but they are way too big.

Would love to hear of someone who has done this.

Cheers, Rob

 

[Somerset Jim]

There’s a chap on the sealine forum who replaced his with LEDs from eBay and it seemed to work well. I plan to do the same with my flybridge instruments sometime soon.

 

[robrennie]

Thanks for that - I’ll have a go and report back!

 

[hinch]

i swapped all mine out for ebay led's i misread the advert thought it was 90p each it was 90p for 10 so i bought 10 packets not twigging.

Now the one issue you need to be aware of is that the shoulder around the led is too close to the tip of the led so it stops it pushing home fully into the instrument so you have to take a knife and trim the shoulder off so its the same width all the way down. you will also need to pull the little contacts out more as the led's are narrower than the factory bulbs and won't make contact to the socket unless you do.

 

[robrennie]

Thanks Hinch - that saves me growling and grrrrring when they arrive and I have a go.

I feel quite flash right now, I purchased @ £3.00 for 10!

 

[hinch]

Thanks Hinch - that saves me growling and grrrrring when they arrive and I have a go.

I feel quite flash right now, I purchased @ £3.00 for 10!

still cheaper than £5 each for the volvo ones

 

[DrSpock]

The only downside is you can't dim LEDs easily (assuming you even have a dimmer) . They also trend to be much brighter than halogen bulbs and I wouldn't want Blackpool Illuminations reflecting off of the windows.

 

[robrennie]

Fair shout - I do not have a dimmer but my thinking is to have a go and not to throw out the old bulbs until I’ve tested.

I will post pictures when sorted ?