I need a new bulb for my dome light. I sometimes park and read at night, so I want something bright. I bought a 6-LED DE3021 substitute, which burnt out recently, but it was a little bit too big. It was nice while it lasted.
Toyota pickup, '87; the cover for the dome light turned opaque long ago, and its flanges broke off, so it’s gone.
It’s a fuse-type light: a cylinder with metal caps on the ends, clear glass in the middle
Any parts store should be able to look up what bulb you need on their computer
Yosemite
This is an interesting post. Why? B/c I have the same problem with my Corolla. The dome light is just too dim. I’ve always wondered how the folks at Toyota could design such a reliable and serviceable product and never notice this dome light problem.
Have you ever been in a cab at night? Those are the kind of dome lights and interior lighting all cars should have. Cabs are close to bright as daylight with the dome light on.
RT. I’ve never discovered a good solution for this. I was thinking either florescent or LED, and it sounds like you’ve tried the LED route already. Maybe go visit a cab company. Ask if they have any recommendations for interior light bulbs.
The official part is a 12V-3CP. When I shop for replacements of that part I get only incandescents, which I don’t want. I asked here in hope that someone knew a suitable replacement for the size I mentioned. If I have to use another DE3021, I will.
The LED worked great: it was bright enough to read a book by on a dark night, and didn’t run down the battery despite being on all night. It just burnt out, possibly when I used an external battery booster to start. (I’ll have to remember to keep the light off when I do that.)
I bought a device that was a board with 36 LEDs installed; it came with an adaptor for different fixture types, and was even brighter. It was cheaply made and the LEDs burnt out, but the concept worked.
Police cars I’ve worked on all had a big round auxiliary dome light installed towards the front of the headliner. You can’t expect the police to write tickets in the dark. I have seen them for sale at Northern Tool, which only hit town recently. Think Harbor Freight with enough help.
I have seen an LED designed to replace “fuse type” dome lights at Wal Mart. The kid behind the counter was explaining to another customer that the bulbs would save energy. ??
Police cars also come standard with heavy duty alternators and second batteries so they can run not only lots and lots of lights and leave the lights running without killing the engine’s battery.
To the OP, it sounds like the LED setup you were using was working for you. Why not just replace it? Just remember to turn it off before jumping the car. You could put a sign next to the battery “turn off dome light before jump starting car”.
You could also put some chrome tape from the parts store on the surface behind the bulb to reflect more light. I’ve dramatically improved the light output of light fixtures before just by making the fixtures more reflective. As a matter of fact, I made my house basement much, much, much just by brighter by painting the walls and floor white.
Sorry, I still remember this exchange- http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/2302182/why-hasnt-my-gas-gone-bad/p1
http://www.carid.com/1987-toyota-pick-up-led-lights/
Direct fit replacement.
@GeorgeSanJose, I think it’s more a “personal preference” thing than right vs. wrong.
IMHO, I want interior lights that are just bright enough to find stuff–any brighter, and they’ll foul up my night vision. Gotta keep that rhodopsin happy!
The link provided by PvtPublic suggests the “DExxxx” style of LED dome lights come in 3 versions, a 4 LED standard mount, a 4 LED surface mount, and a 9 LED standard mount. It says the brightest of these is the 4 LED surface mount, followed by the 9 LED. I’m wondering if the 9 LED version you were using OP burned out b/c the heat from the 9 LEDs, and the 4 LED surface mount version might be a better choice. Worth a try anyway. And it looks smaller, so the fit may be better.
My real question was: where can I find the specs for bulbs? I bought a DE3175 because that’s what Autozone said was the right size for my vehicle. It was 8mm diameter, 31mm long, a tight fit. My old incandescent 12V-3CP is 7mm x 27mm.
Superbrightleds recommends a 10mm x 30mm bulb; 10mm is definitely too wide. I can’t find a size in carid’s listing.
To MG McAnick: LEDs put out more light than incandescents for the same power, about 5 times as much.
the same mountainbike’s recommendation of adding a reflector is a good one.
To GeorgeSanJose: I haven’t spent much time in my pickup the last few years, almost none at night, even less using the light: I don’t think use burnt it out. Also I discarded the cover so it’s well-ventilated.
To TwinTurbo: I’m glad you remember my valuable contribution to a much-more important topic.
@GeorgeSanJose I have a 48 LED array in each of the dome lights on my MR2. They’ve been installed for 6 years now, and have yet to burn out. They run cooler than the original normal bulbs that were in there. The 9 LED array should not cause any difficulties due to heat at all unless someone did something very strange with the underlying circuitry.
This is a pic of the ones I have.
Thanks for the info @shadowfax . How did you fit those into the existing fixture?. I doubt they would fit like that in my Corolla’s dome light fixture.
6 years and still going? Yes, this is more the lifetime I’d expect. LED’s should make for a very long lasting light source. The only reason I can think they’d ever stop working is vibration from the car going over bumps dislodging the LED’s from the PCB, or heat cracking the traces or damaging the LED’s. Both the latter heat problems less likely when they are surface mounted with some space around them, like yours.
Both the latter heat problems less likely when they are surface mounted with some space around them, like yours
The LED doesn’t need space around it so much as it needs the heat extracted from the back side of the die. Those look to be the proper AL core PCBs those LEDs are mounted on. The metal core of the PCB efficiently conducts the heat away from the LED and allows for a much improved lifetime and brighter operation. Cheap @ss lights use standard FR4 PCB material and make no effort to bond the LED die to the board. You get what you pay for…