Dead LEDs - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

haux · 02-27-2010, 03:20 AM

A couple/few months ago I replaced five large bulbs in my gauge cluster with wedge-base LEDs. Two of them are now dead. I was under the impression LEDs lasted longer than regular bulbs? Was I wrong to assume this?

***humanoid*** · 02-27-2010, 05:34 PM

They're supposed to, but the quality of the LED may have been crappy.

haux · 02-28-2010, 01:40 AM

I can't remember if they're from superbrightleds.com or v-leds.com, whichever is the "better" one. I've ordered from both, but I recall the whites from one website not being very bright, so these are from the other one.

I'm pretty disappointed overall.

Lightning Blue · 03-01-2010, 10:07 AM

How's your alternator? If I recall, LED's don't tolerate voltage swings as well as normal bulbs do.

haux · 03-02-2010, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightning Blue

How's your alternator? If I recall, LED's don't tolerate voltage swings as well as normal bulbs do.

I had it replaced in mid-2008 at Pep Boy's when it died while I was out of town. I think it was a Pro Start brand? Something like that. A couple of months ago I replaced the brushes (before putting in the LEDs).

One of the "dead" LEDs still sometimes flickers. I need to pull out the cluster and see if maybe they've just become loose.

2win2rbo · 03-07-2010, 01:15 AM

I have LEDs in my cluster too. I believe the quality of the LEDs affect their life. I might use the Siliconed incandescents again due to the quality and the light distribution.

haux · 03-07-2010, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2win2rbo

I have LEDs in my cluster too. I believe the quality of the LEDs affect their life. I might use the Siliconed incandescents again due to the quality and the light distribution.

Are you referring to the regular bulbs found at any Auto Store?

By the way... a third LED went out last night.

Two more to go!

2win2rbo · 03-07-2010, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haux

Are you referring to the regular bulbs found at any Auto Store?

By the way... a third LED went out last night.

Two more to go!

Yes, I may use the regular T10 bulbs or probably the blue coated bulbs. My standard bulbs are still working pretty fine before I replaced them with the LEDs. Also the blue coated bulbs give the same "white" effect as the LEDs but with more even light distribution. Or I can just use the silicone bulb covers over the T10s.

haux · 07-22-2010, 12:53 AM

So, after those LEDs died a few months ago, I put in regular green bulbs from the auto store.

A few weeks ago I put in 5 more LED bulbs that I had. The other day, the fifth one on the far right started flickering. I got these bulbs from a reputable site... this is odd.