LED conversion "problem"

I wish to preface this with "it's not a direct complaint against the vendor mentioned below as I have NOT yet contacted them to see about a possible solution". I know I can contact them and let them know the issue and probably get my money back. I am also not stating to not buy from them. If in fact the situation ends up negative, we'll cross that bridge only if necessary, otherwise........

Who supplies the correct 194 dash and marker light LED replacement that is at least as bright as a real 194?

Asking because...........  I bought several replacement "bulbs" from SuperBrightLEDs.com. They are listed as replacements for the 194 push-in bulb as used in marker lights, instrument panel lighting and so on. The first problem was that when you look on that site for a 194, there is no such thing as a simple cross to a 194 replacement - there are multiple choices. So, lacking any way to say "yes, this is exactly it", I made choices based on the usage of the bulb, wattage, lumins, etc.
There were "omni-directional" types with LEDS that faced multiple directions like you'd expect should work for instrument panel or dash lights, there were also more directional LED lights that would or should be ideal for usage where you didn't care about light getting off to the sides as long as it came out the "end". Browsing through all pages that contained the 194 number, I chose several. I chose some of the more directional 5 LED 194 replacements and some of the "omni-directional" for use in the dash as that is indirect lighting. Again, these were all listed as being 194 replacements. They also listed others, but I noted the wattage was lower as were the lumins.
Although I ordered from 3 different selections, I received 2 packages of bulbs as they all seemed to lead to the same SBL part numbers no matter what you chose.
I was pretty excited - FINALLY, I could get some real light to the instrument panel and start conversion process on all of the others.
The excitement faded very fast. I removed the marker lights, replaced the 194 bulbs with the LEDs and the first thing I noted was the they didn't make good contact in the sockets. I figure when I contact them I'll mention that hoping for a solution. The sockets are good, not hardened or corroded, etc. In fact, the external lighting connections on this car are all perfect. Fine, so I pulled them back out, cleaned the sockets anyway, gave the contacts inside each a bit of a tweak to make them tighter, etc. and tried again. No light until or unless I wiggled the LEDs and held my mouth just right. OK, a couple of them are now lit, but gee, either my battery is dying or there's another problem. When LED bulbs were in, and I tweaked the sockets and wedged things a bit to make the LEDs light, when I put the assemblies back onto the fenders and stood back, it looked like they were running on 6 volts. They were, no kidding, roughly half the brightness of the old 194 bulbs I removed. The "super bright" LEDs were in fact so dim as to be not usable. It made the car look like all the grounds were bad and the battery was half-capacity. I tried them all - and in different positions on the car, same thing. So I ended up pulling them back out and will contact the seller for a return - hopefully they will do that as all of the LEDs are useless to me.

I mistakenly figured that the dome light replacement would be very simple - there was but one choice for that and it looked really nice. I pulled the old bulb from the dome light, popped in the LED replacement and geesh, I'm putting that old bulb back in. The LED is not nearly as bright.
The kicker - it cost more than DOUBLE the cost of a LED I got from eBay last year. I'd bought it as a dome replacement but realized it was perfect to mount on my wife's sewing machine to light her work area it was SO bright, so she has it now. That light was a 9 LED array that was so bright you couldn't look at it when it was on. (on the negative, it runs bloody hot, too)
This other - the disappointing Superbrightled is all self-enclosed and compact and looks very nice (although with a cover on the light, who cares?), but it is not nearly as bright.

Now that I've had that major disappointment -
Does anyone know of a good source for an actual LED 194 replacement bulb that will function in these sockets and actually be AT LEAST as bright as the stock 194 if not more so? I will not put a DIMMER LED in the dash - the idea is to make it easier to see, and brighter, not less bright.

I won't reorder for multiple reasons - including the fact that I should be able to go and plug in "194" and have a choice of 1, or 2 at the most, replacements, as a 194 is a 194 and should be rated the same lumins, wattage, voltage, etc. I didn't like having to dig from 3 pages of search results to try to find something that might work.
If I go to a parts store and show them a 194 push-in bulb, they would come back with a 194 and that would be that. It would work and it would be the same "brightness". When I see a dozen possible 194 replacements, it's a bit spooky as it sort of says "will fit" and not "this is it".
So I'm looking for someone who has converted to LED lighting in their car - and what bulbs they used where, and who they got them from.

Bill, sorry to hear you had a less than satisfying experience with the LEDs. I source most of mine from VLEDS, http://www.vleds.com/ . I know what you mean about the LEDs making intermittent contact in the sockets but I have found that even with "real" 194 bulbs I have had to fiddle with the contacts to get a reliable connection.

I have had to pick and choose just like you did as to the directionality of the LEDs based on the location and usage. That just seems to be the state of the LEDs available today. As for the brightness, I have had mixed results. You may already know this but one tip is to use the same color LED as the lens you are putting it behind. Such as a red LED behind a red lens. A white LED behind a red lens will loose some of it's brightness as the light passes through the lens. The 194 type I have had good luck with but the festoon type, like the dome light, I have yet to find a good replacement. But then again the 211 replacements I used for the under-dash lighting were great.

Dash lighting is problematic as LEDs do not dim well. The old rheostat dimmer switch give LEDs just two settings, high and off. Vendors like Speedhut who light their aftermarket gauges with LEDs typically supply their own separate dimmer setup.

For most of the replacements I have done it has been trial and error up to this point. I know that is not the best of news for you but at least you know you not the only one struggling with the same issue. In the end the reduced heat load on 30+ year old plastic lenses and housings make it worth the trouble in my opinion.

 I don't know which 194 LEDs you bought but poking around on SuperBright I see they do have some 5 LEDs bulbs that are 40 lumens. If you returning some you may want to consider an exchange?

Maybe other forum members have found a solid solution but so far it has been mixed results for me.

Good luck,
Ken


Edited by pit crew - Feb/06/2013 at 8:11am

I sourced 10mm ones from an ebay vendor, prewired and resistor in place.
The following pictures show what I then did to fit them. The flattening of the end helped just a touch. I will say they are good in the small gauges, but the two larger gauges are just barely bright enough. Overall I am happy with the result. Using a 194 base led was pricey and harder to find when I did mine. Just food for thought.

Edited by jst3w8rt - Feb/06/2013 at 7:19pm

This maybe a bit off of the topic but I have just bought another house and am going through remodeling phases again. The older dimer switches found in the big box stores are mostly getting clearanced out as they don't work with the LEDs lights either. There are a few out there that work well but you will have to pay for them. I hope there is a way to get LEDs to work. I am very dissatisfied with my dash lights. I am very leary of LEDs and taking the plunge as most are cheap pieces of crap.