black04

iTrader: (15)

Now that it's been a couple of years how are the leds holding up? Do they last or die off quick? I had a spare cluster laying around that I converted to led to see how they look. Everything worked for about an hour then 2 of the lights started to flicker and now one is burnt out. Is it just a bad led or are other people having similar issues?

Tootall

iTrader: (79)

the quality of your soldering makes a huge difference. Having said that, I had the most issues with the stock radio. Some are burned out, others are out completely until it's cold out, and then they are strobes.

The color has not changed or intensity at all

black04

iTrader: (15)

Can you explain what you mean by quality of soldering? Too little or too cold? At first i thought maybe the solder broke because i had to bend the bulbs to find the best position to minimize hot spots but when i took the cluster apart the solder was solid on all the bulbs. I wouldn't say I'm a noob with a soldering iron either.

Maybe the quality control on the led bulbs is not the best? The ones I bought were $20 for a set of 60 so not the most expensive but not the cheapest either. I don't want to spend more money on them if they are going to have the same issues.

Tootall

iTrader: (79)

the quality meaning from the amount of heat used (too much), trying to reuse a resistor or LED, the connection to the board, to how many times it gets "positioned" correctly.

I too thought that I was great at soldering wires together from making LS1 fan harnesses and from making off-road light harnesses, but I quickly learned after I screwed up on own A/C cluster.

I was buying them in packs of 100 from China. I had zero failures out of the bags. They were all together in the packaging, not prewired or with pig tails.

kellyh

Hi all, I am working on a 03 Chevy Tahoe. I have been looking for stock bulbs to replace my burnt out instrument bulbs. I replaced a couple of bulbs in the HVAC control head about 2 years ago and they have burnt out already. I got them at radio shack and they must not have been the correct bulbs. But they were the correct brightness. I have just bought some new bulbs hear IMBIVIOUS - Direct order - I bought the bulbs with the yellow base. This person is also on ebey. They claim to be the correct stock bulb for the instrument cluster for the 03 - 07 GM. But they are half as bright when put in the HVAC control head compared to the stock bulbs that are still working on the board. I have not tried them in the instrument cluster yet. They are 14volt 1.watt. The argument for using 14volt bulbs is that the charging system puts out 14volts and not 12 volts. But I say that is irrelevant. What is relevant is what volts the circuit board delivers to the bulbs as the voltage could be stepped down to 12volts or even 6 volts. I also came across this site Wire Terminal Lamps - But they do not know what bulbs to use.

Does anyone know the correct Voltage and wattage/amperage for stock bulbs for the HVAC, Radio, And dash? Or do you know what bulbs I need and were to get them?

I also found this place for radio bulbs DELCO RADIO DISPLAY LIGHT BULBS 4MM 10 pcs Audio Xpress - But they are 14 volt and I don't want them to be too dim.

Thanks for the great write up. Kellyh