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Audi cluster repair

Drappoc

Feb 25, 2023
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Hi, I’m resorting a 98 Audi Cabriolet. I want to repair the blown incandescent bulbs in the gear selection screen. My question in can I use an LED? 583380FB-0FEE-4CA8-A780-3036E036CC56.jpeg3B39F27C-FBE9-4CC9-9FF8-1FFA0458E08C.jpeg342C4356-C3A1-4F7F-8A17-FE24B08F1F20.jpeg
 

Harald Kapp

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Nov 17, 2011
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Probably yes, but LEDs require current limiting, whicjh incandescent lamps don't.
You'll have to add suitable series resistors (see our ressource) to limit the current.
It will be a bit fiddly to mount LED + resistor in the space shown in your photos, but it should entirely be possible.
 

Drappoc

Feb 25, 2023
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Thank you Harald for the advice. Would your comments still apply if I used the ‘old’ style LED? I unfortunately don’t know the lingo.
 

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Drappoc

Feb 25, 2023
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Would laying a small piece of this LED strip on top of the board be a good idea? This way I don’t need to fiddle with the existing board. I just need to tie into a 12v supply.
 

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Kiwi

Jan 28, 2013
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Both methods will work, but there are a couple of issues to be aware of.

Brightness. Does the car have a dimmer control to adjust the brightness of the bulbs to suit driver preference? The choice of the series resistor may have some impact on the LED brightness, but they will basically be on full brightness or off. You would need to build a small PWM circuit to control the LED brightness.

Colour. The original peanut bulbs will probably give a yellowish warm glow, but the LED's will give a cold bright white glow. You may find this annoying compared to the rest of the dashboard lighting.
 

Martaine2005

May 12, 2015
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@Kiwi made some good points.
I did similar in my son’s car. Looked great in daylight but was too bright at night. So a range of LED colours and trying lots of different resistor values, we eventually found a ‘sweet’ spot that matched the rest of the cars illumination.

Martin
 

Drappoc

Feb 25, 2023
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Valid points. I will document how I get along and post the results.
 
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