1960 ELDO LED INTERIOR LIGHT BULB REPLACEMENT

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

I did some on our 70 and the polarity is a real thing. I had some that didn't work so I just turned them around in the socket and they worked (obviously a different base than other types). I did them on the C pillars and the door lights because the original bulbs got hot and made the plastic brittle.
I just recently did the speedo bulbs because my old eyes have a problem seeing the dim 70s style dash lights.

[David Greenburg]

I was able to dig up one of the LEDs I used. For some reason the marking on the back doesn't photograph well. But it is "8SMD-3528." Which doesn't help with identifying the color temp.

[JungleCadd]

Jurassic classic has a lot of led conversion type bulbs like bayonet base and wedge

[Low Eldo]

This was the supposition of the people who worked on the car because the existing plunger switch has 4 leads - the driver door plunger switch has failed, leading to that supposition. The reason that the electrical draw has become a concern is that all replacement plunger switches have 4 leads.

Thanks

[59-in-pieces]

David,

Which fixtures did you replace your bulbs with LED's.

Have fun,
Steve B.

[David Greenburg]

Steve- LED's are in the "downlights" -the lights above the armrests on the doors and rear compartment. Other lights (map, red lenses on doors) are still incandescent.

[TJ Hopland]

I was able to dig up one of the LEDs I used. For some reason the marking on the back doesn't photograph well. But it is "8SMD-3528." Which doesn't help with identifying the color temp.

That number comes up several times in searches.  Pretty bad listings with conflicting specs including bulbs that don't look anything like the ones pictured.  One area it says 2700k which would be normal classic bulb color but everywhere else in the listing and photo it says the color is crystal ice blue. 

[TJ Hopland]

I did some on our 70 and the polarity is a real thing. I had some that didn't work so I just turned them around in the socket and they worked (obviously a different base than other types)

It kinda seems like what we are learning is we have to do more research and find a vendor that has complete and detailed listings so we can have a decent shot at getting what we want.  I think one of the issues other than manufactures and vendors that just don't care is many of these lamps were used in other than automotive applications so IF a LED was actually designed for something it may not have been for a car but vendors list them anyway.

Do any of the Cadillac (or any other brand for that matter) specialty vendors sell LED bulbs that they know are reasonable fits?  Seems like there would be a market for that or is it like many other things these days were people are not willing to pay a little more for something that the vendor has taken the time to make sure is gonna work when they can just go to some random online seller that has a bunch of flashy keywords in their listing? 

I have just now clicked on several other listings and when you start reading the details many of them are full of conflicts or missing critical details.  Seen more than a few where the photo can't be right. If you don't really know anything about em or some details about where you are trying to put em it seems like very little chance of getting the right thing.   

Some of the bulbs are only like $3 but others can be $10-20 so kinda a lot of money to just get one to test and then if find the one you like may have to pay a bunch more in shipping to get the rest. I guess thinking about it now I just spend $50 on my lawnmower with shipping.   

[J. Gomez]

It kinda seems like what we are learning is we have to do more research and find a vendor that has complete and detailed listings so we can have a decent shot at getting what we want.  I think one of the issues other than manufactures and vendors that just don't care is many of these lamps were used in other than automotive applications so IF a LED was actually designed for something it may not have been for a car but vendors list them anyway.

Do any of the Cadillac (or any other brand for that matter) specialty vendors sell LED bulbs that they know are reasonable fits?  Seems like there would be a market for that or is it like many other things these days were people are not willing to pay a little more for something that the vendor has taken the time to make sure is gonna work when they can just go to some random online seller that has a bunch of flashy keywords in their listing?

I have just now clicked on several other listings and when you start reading the details many of them are full of conflicts or missing critical details.  Seen more than a few where the photo can't be right. If you don't really know anything about em or some details about where you are trying to put em it seems like very little chance of getting the right thing.   

Some of the bulbs are only like $3 but others can be $10-20 so kinda a lot of money to just get one to test and then if find the one you like may have to pay a bunch more in shipping to get the rest. I guess thinking about it now I just spend $50 on my lawnmower with shipping.   

TJ,

LED lights are not new in the electronic world, we all know they are Light Emitting Diodes (LED) and as such they are ONLY DC devices. They required very low voltage to operate and required a resistor to drop the (input) voltage down to its operating voltage range.

The older basic LED bulbs were just that a LED plus a resistor with the newer ones these now have a "driver", these function as a voltage drop for the LED and as a DC converter making it to work with AC source.

Some vendors have the very basic LED bulbs (low $) while others have the newer ones which are advertised as DC or AC (high $), there are also other technical changes to these SMD, COB etc. that is outside the scope of the main topic above.

Even with older or newer style LED bulbs these required to have the correct polarity source at their sockets, so if the polarity is reversed they will not work.

For an LED bulb to work on either straight or reverse polarity it would require to have two LEDs one in forward and one in reverse but that would be a very complicated feature in such small footprint.

Modern sockets and glass/plastic bulb are very standard across the traditional filament and LEDs (this not true with the older sockets in some classic cars), however some suppliers have to extend the bulb to fit additional LEDs to produce more light (that is slowly changing with new LED technology).

HTH

[TJ Hopland]

For an LED bulb to work on either straight or reverse polarity it would require to have two LEDs one in forward and one in reverse but that would be a very complicated feature in such small footprint

Just need what amounts to a bridge rectifier to make em not polarity sensitive. That is the trick that is used with anything that is but you don't want it to be.  Looking at the ones I just got for my lawnmower I can see a very small 4 pin device that appears to be inline between the input and leds.  Guessing its doing the polarity magic as well as any voltage reduction. 

[Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621]

What it needs is to be left alone rather than going down a rabbit's hole for no good reason. The draw concern is  nonsense. If the lenses are cracking due to heat/age, replacements are available and you'll be good for another 65 years. No need to reinvent the wheel.