LED INFO

[needwake]

Can anyone give me some more info on the LED's? Where can i buy them? Are they hard to install? How are they powered? Any information would be great. Thanks for the help. Dave

[KPNautique]

RE: LED INFO

Try www.superbrightleds.com

I have had good luck with these people. They have preassembled units for 12v power - very easy to install.

KP

[Mikeski]

RE: LED INFO

Needwake,

LED is an acronym for light emitting diode. A diode is kind of like a one way valve for electricity. LEDs range in size, shape, color, and voltage. My local electronic supply store sells very bright LEDs (5,000mcd) for about $1 each. The red, orange, and yellow ones are 2 volts, the blue and white ones are 3.5 volts. There are two ways to drop the voltage. You can either wire many LEDs in series to split the voltage down to the correct voltage or install a resistor. I am working on some tail lights for myself and Grant (Bling-Bling), I will probably add a voltage stabilizing circuit to keep the illuminance level fairly constant regardless of voltage. Cars/boats vary between 11.6-14.5 volts depending on state of charge/discharge. This variance can lead to reduce life or reduced illuminance levels if it's not stabilized. If you wire them in series you may be able to ignore the variance since it will be split between all the LEDs.

If you choose to install a resistor inline to the LED you will need the source voltage (13.5 for a boat), the LED's operating voltage range and current rating to determine the resistor value. There are a few resistor value calculators available online, just search for LED resistor.

[awake4air]

RE: LED INFO

Does anyone have a preference on going with LED vs Neon and vice-versa? My 06' 210 has what looks to me as an orange back light but I'm a little confused if I should go with red or orange lights. Has anyone compared the two with their boat?

Also, has anyone ever replaced the back light in the gauges? I'd like to attempt it but I'm thinking it's a bad idea just because of the possibility of moisture getting in the gauges. I had that problem on my 02' and I didn't even touch those.

[Mikeski]

RE: LED INFO

The 05s with the Faria gauges are actually white but they kind of look orange for some reason. I don't know if they changed them on 06. Are they the White Faria Chesapeake SS gauges?