Dash Light LED Light Bleed Advice

Hello!

I would love some feedback/advice from people who have gone to LED illumination bulbs in the dash.

I am looking to put LEDs in the general illumination lights on the central dash and speedo. The issue I was having was the AC control lights being a bit too dim at night, and one had gone out. I’m not necessarily opposed to the green hue, but I was going to try out white, see if it tickled my fancy.

My fist attempt was a little too warm of a color temp (3k I think, will try 4 or 5 next, did not love the yellowish look) also, It’s much brighter than the originals, so much so that I’m getting a lot of light bleed around the control knobs (recently replaced, with OEM from Toyota) I can dim them, but not really enough to remove the bleed. See the photo.

Im curious if other people have had an issue with the light bleed with LED replacements. I have a suspicion that the problem may be two fold: Brighter, harsher light, and green hues are likely more forgiving for refraction around the edges of the knobs.

I posted a photo for comparison.

I plan to keep experimenting - but figured some folks may have run into similar scenarios here and might have some advice. Currently I have replaced two of the T5s and one of the T10s

 

@Tundra2 You did some LED upgrades like this in your dash didn't you? What would your expert opinion be?

 

Question: Are those the original OEM climate control knobs? I've seen pics of the ones on Amazon that Tundra2 posted, I remember they were bleeding light also where the OEM didn't.

 

I recently replaced the knobs, but I purchased OEM from Toyota because I had read about the light bleed issue. The center knob is still the original to the truck, I should try swapping it over to where the new lights are - I guess it’s possible Toyotas manufacturing on these has changed. Seems unlikely though.

 

If you want to dim the LEDs, you can add resistance to the circuit containing the LEDs. It will probably take some experimentation and trial and error to a) get the desired resistor combination to match for what you want, and b) find the best place to add your resistor(s) in line.

 

That beam angle bulb did you use? Use a 194 bulb with 360° for the best result.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ed-t325-miniature-wedge-base-135-lumens/6325/

 

The Bulb I used claimed to be a 194 with a 360° angle - but im not as confidant as I should be in its quality. What you sent looks to be much better suited to the situation, It indicates 135 lumens and I think the bulb I had tried was a 300 lumen bulb - so that's already a move in the right direction.

I'll do a little more research, but will likely try out something along those lines next - Thanks for the recommendation w666.