Looking for a T5 / F74 led for the center console climate control that's NOT polarity sensitive

tvmaster

tvmaster

True Classic
The only LED bulbs I have been able to find for this climate control light are polarity sensitive.
T5 / F74 bulb
Anyone have one they're happy with that's brighter than the incandescent bulbs of the past, and can be inserted anyway you grab it?
Superbright LED's doesn't have one that I could find, and the ones I got from Amazon that said they 'weren't' polarity sensitive were.

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Why don't you use a polarity sensitive bulb and hook it up correctly. Since you have a voltmeter, it should be pretty clear how to wire it.
 
dllubin said:
Why don't you use a polarity sensitive bulb and hook it up correctly. Since you have a voltmeter, it should be pretty clear how to wire it.
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I’ve tried, and it doesn’t seem to work, at least with the bulbs I have. What do you have inserted in yours? Correct me if I’m wrong, but this particular socket supplies power to all four sides of a bulb, hence, you have to somehow block two contacts?
 
tvmaster said:
I’ve tried, and it doesn’t seem to work, at least with the bulbs I have. What do you have inserted in yours? Correct me if I’m wrong, but this particular socket supplies power to all four sides of a bulb, hence, you have to somehow block two contacts?
Click to expand...
What kind of bulb type is in there and and do they make LED replacements for it? Are the 4 contacts in the socket redundant and made so the bulb can be plugged in more than one way (90 degrees apart??)? Any possibility to disconnect the unnecessary leads?

I have whatever the factory put in there. You know, with an LED you don't really need to socket since it will likely still be working by the time the car is a pile of iron oxide. You could get an LED with leads, a current limiting resistor (or an LED with one built in for 12 volts) and solder it together.
 
dllubin said:
What kind of bulb type is in there and and do they make LED replacements for it? Are the 4 contacts in the socket redundant and made so the bulb can be plugged in more than one way (90 degrees apart??)? Any possibility to disconnect the unnecessary leads?

I have whatever the factory put in there. You know, with an LED you don't really need to socket since it will likely still be working by the time the car is a pile of iron oxide. You could get an LED with leads, a current limiting resistor (or an LED with one built in for 12 volts) and solder it together.
Click to expand...
yes, that's what I'm considering, using a different socket behind the curtain...
 
dllubin said:
What kind of bulb type is in there and and do they make LED replacements for it? Are the 4 contacts in the socket redundant and made so the bulb can be plugged in more than one way (90 degrees apart??)? Any possibility to disconnect the unnecessary leads?

I have whatever the factory put in there. You know, with an LED you don't really need to socket since it will likely still be working by the time the car is a pile of iron oxide. You could get an LED with leads, a current limiting resistor (or an LED with one built in for 12 volts) and solder it together.
Click to expand...
Do you see any problem with this bit of electric tape around one end of a LED festoon bulb? The bulb is slightly narrower than normal, so this stops it from moving and shorting against the end of the metal sheath.
It's a nicer, warmer white, but still bright enough. And in my searching, it’s been very difficult to find a LED festoon that isn’t 6,000k of screaming blue/white light.
Any problems with this? The bulb doesn't create much heat at all.

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tvmaster said:
Do you see any problem with this bit of electric tape around one end of a LED festoon bulb? The bulb is slightly narrower than normal, so this stops it from moving and shorting against the end of the metal sheath.
It's a nicer, warmer white, but still bright enough. And in my searching, it’s been very difficult to find a LED festoon that isn’t 6,000k of screaming blue/white light.
Any problems with this? The bulb doesn't create much heat at all.

View attachment 77819
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For some of my cars I have had to change the interface to work with the reality of the lamp holder. For the overhead bulbs in my Element, I broke the incandescent bulb and slipped the ends onto the ends of the LED, I added a wrap of aluminum foil around the end of the LED interface to ensure it fit well inside the incandescent end and was conductive.

LEDs use low amounts of electricity and create relatively little heat.

I also dislike cold colored light ie +4000Kelvin and above

I haven’t converted the X’s bulbs to LED though I will.

Some of the LEDs I have used in our Miata and the Elements. All have offered much more light and very livable coloring.
 
tvmaster said:
Do you see any problem with this bit of electric tape around one end of a LED festoon bulb? The bulb is slightly narrower than normal, so this stops it from moving and shorting against the end of the metal sheath.
It's a nicer, warmer white, but still bright enough. And in my searching, it’s been very difficult to find a LED festoon that isn’t 6,000k of screaming blue/white light.
Any problems with this? The bulb doesn't create much heat at all.

View attachment 77819
Click to expand...
I would just make sure that there is enough tape there to keep it from getting punctured or thinned out due to pressure over time. The worst case scenario is that the fuse will blow. You can get away with a much lower current fuse than the incandescent required. I used a 39mm festoon bulb and it was long enough not to have that problem.
 
dllubin said:
I would just make sure that there is enough tape there to keep it from getting punctured or thinned out due to pressure over time. The worst case scenario is that the fuse will blow. You can get away with a much lower current fuse than the incandescent required. I used a 39mm festoon bulb and it was long enough not to have that problem.
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Ok, good point. I'll add a second layer. The 10amp fuse also powers the carburetor blower, so I'll leave it be for now
 
dllubin said:
What kind of bulb type is in there and and do they make LED replacements for it? Are the 4 contacts in the socket redundant and made so the bulb can be plugged in more than one way (90 degrees apart??)? Any possibility to disconnect the unnecessary leads?

I have whatever the factory put in there. You know, with an LED you don't really need to socket since it will likely still be working by the time the car is a pile of iron oxide. You could get an LED with leads, a current limiting resistor (or an LED with one built in for 12 volts) and solder it together.
Click to expand...
Rolled the dice on a cheap Amazon purchase ($6). Worked great. No polarity problems, and a brighter glow behind the heating display. And I still have nine leftover lights :)

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