Faria LED replacement bulbs

[rbrandenstein]

Several of us who have purchased Faria gauges and later bought their GPS speedometer have noticed a significant difference in the color and brightness of the lighting in the new gauge compared to the older gauges. This is due to the fact they use an LED in the new gauge and filament bulbs in the older ones.
This can be corrected by getting replacement LED bulbs for the older gauges. After several emails, I received the specs for the LED bulbs to use.

These can be purchased from https://www.superbrightleds.com/search/ ... 4%20white/

[Roberta]

Thanks, Bob.

[sscobra]

Bob, I checked the website you mentioned and the one closest to the ones I got from Faria is the SuperBright LED part number WLED-W-120, which is what Faria lists as the vendor part number. However Faria lists the brightness as 390 millicandela (mcd), but the SuperBright website lists it in lumens (lm). Millicandela is a measure of light intensity whereas lumens is a measure of light flux through the surface of a sphere with a specified viewing angle (120 degrees in my case). If you do the calculation based on 390 mcd listed in the Faria specs, then you arrive at about 1.23 lumens. The ones listed on the SuperBright website are 5 lumens or about 4 times brighter than the ones I got from Faria. Most likely there is an error somewhere in one of the listings, because the SuperBright WLED-W-120 LED looks identical to the ones I got from Faria. One nice feature of these LEDs is that they are not polarity sensitive, they can be put in the socket in either orientation. Another interesting "error" in the Faria specs is they list the dominant wavelength as 9900 nanometer (nm). That is in the microwave spectrum, far above the upper limit of the human eye (about 700nm). Skip

[rbrandenstein]

Thanks for the analysis, Skip. So, you're a physicist???
The guy from Faria said these are the exact ones they use.. so, their specs may be wrong, but I'm counting on the bulb being right.

Here is an updated link directly to the required bulb.
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinf ... -rvb/2486/

Their building is just down the street from my office. I hope they have a retail counter so I can stop in and get some. Turns out you order online, but you can pick up your order when it is ready.

[sscobra]

Bob, yes I am a physicist. Actually, a RETIRED physicist! Instead of working on atomic projects, now I get to work on wood projects! However, I am still trying to figure a way to incorporate a flux capacitor or nuclear power generator in the Monaco. Skip

[rbrandenstein]

A final update on this topic.
I took pictures of my gauges at night before and after the LED light conversion.
Before:

After:

Since all the LEDs are the same, the smaller gauges are a bit brighter, but the color is much more consistent.

[Milhouse]

Exactly what I needed! I was looking at the filament ones with dread wondering why Faria didn't have an LED version.

[JoeM]

Bob, yes I am a physicist. Actually, a RETIRED physicist! Instead of working on atomic projects, now I get to work on wood projects! However, I am still trying to figure a way to incorporate a flux capacitor or nuclear power generator in the Monaco. Skip

Flux capacitor

Can the Monaco reach speeds of 88mph?