Gauge Cluster Positive Pins for those doing LED conversion

[UMDSmith]

Since I saw a lot of people with instructions on how to do the conversion, but no one really had the information on specifically which pins were positive, I took the time to write mine down.

2006 Tahoe Z71.

I am ONLY indicating the Positive (+) pin. The negative will obviously be the other one the factory bulb was connected to.

DS21 - Top
DS43 - Bottom
DS17 - Bottom
DS20 - Bottom
DS18 - Bottom
DS19 - Bottom
DS15 - Bottom
DS29 - Bottom
DS27 - Top
DS14 - Bottom
DS28 - Top
DS16 - Right Pin

For those not wanting to solder in any resistors, I went with these lights:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J9WWUOI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately, mine didn't have 621 resistors, mine came with 330, so they don't dim as much as I would like. Mine also are very light blue once I put the cluster face on. I was trying to go for white.

 

[Bombsquad85]

Pics of your cluster

 

[UMDSmith]

I'll take some in a bit. I'll likely change out the blue for more of a white in the future.

 

[camaroz1985]

You won't ever get a pure white on the cluster. There is a blue film on the back of the gauges. I think you can buy a new gauge face that doesn't have the film, but short of that you won't get pure white. Same is true for the 4wd switch. I think the others can all be pure white but obviously won't match. For that reason I think you will find most people go with a color. (I tried white on my Silverado and it drove me crazy that they didn't match so I changed to orange).

Here you can see the mismatch. 4WD switch has white leds, but looks blue compared to the HVAC which is pure white. Not as big of a deal when they are so far apart, but the headlight switch is pure white too, so it would be right beside the 4WD switch. (Mine wasn't changed to LED yet in this picture, and I switched to orange before I did it.)



And here it is with everything changed to orange except the upper part of the HVAC. That is how I left it.


You can see that even with a colored LED there is still a difference in the switches, but not as noticeable in person as in the pictures.


I really like how the HVAC looks with white in the top, and colored in the bottom.


And the cluster (Yes the mileage was correct, and I put another 10k on it before I sold it.)


I am in the process of changing my Suburban to green. I did use white behind the temp blend area of the main climate control like the Silverado. Didn't do that on the upper controls on the Sub, and I will have to redo them. There just aren't separate bulbs in that area so I will have to add some. I have just been doing a switch at a time as I have some free time. (Will take some pics once I get it finished.)

I am using 12v LEDs too so I don't have to worry about resistors (the doors are LED already so you don't want 12V for those.) For the Silverado (pictures above), I used everything from led-switch.com (12V and regular for the doors). This time I am using most of the stuff from them, but the 360 LED cubes from USSpeedo for the cluster (had to add a lot of LEDs to Silverado due to the narrow beam pattern of normal LEDs. Still have to add some in other switches, but it isn't as big of a deal). Don't buy direct from USSpeedo, you can get them for less than half price on ebay (I think I made an offer for $20 and it was accepted, vs the $50 list price).

 

[Bombsquad85]

Could you post a link to the usspeedo lights?

 

[camaroz1985]

Here are the USSpeedo kits.

Speedo
http://www.newtruckstuff.com/Speedometer-LED-Kit/productinfo/CUBE360.02/

All other kits
http://www.newtruckstuff.com/Complete-Dash-LED-Upgrades/productinfo/LED.GM.D/

This is the seller I bought from, they had a make an offer option, I offered $20 and they accepted immediately (so maybe would have gone lower). They also have the other USSpeedo kits, and a bunch of other parts. I might grab a set of needles too, but haven't decided on which would look best yet. Too bad the GMT800 isn't like the 900 where there is a separate LED for the needle so you can really customize how it looks.
https://www.ebay.com/usr/gmgauge608?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

I also noticed they have a bulk bag of smaller cube LEDs (3mm vs 5mm used in speedo) that could be used for all the switches instead of the other 12V LEDs, but they are too expensive IMHO, and don't have a make an offer. These are what are included in the kits in the 2nd link above, but you don't get the instructions.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/272881468067

I took some pictures of the switches that I have done in green so far.

HVAC Controls, also changed the radio to match (of course). Oddly the manual controls have blue on the back of the buttons (vs pure white of the digital controls above), you can see the hash marks beside the red and blue have a bluish tint.


Rear HVAC, you can see here what it looks like if you don't put white behind the blue and red section. I will be changing this. Also seeing this picture makes me realize I need to look at the homelink buttons to see what it would take to change them to green also.


Rear wiper/Fog Lights. Had to put 3 LEDs in here to replace the two regular bulbs. I angled the extra one into the wiper button as it was much too dim before. There is already one right behind the wiper picture (not bright like the picture makes it look, but best I could do with a phone) and in the fog light button.

 

[toddis32]

The same guys on eBay have a combo kit(4 kits) to do your whole dash. All kits include instructions and polarity diagrams which is a huge help. 4 colors available. https://www.ebay.com/str/gmgaugerepair/LED-Whole-Dash-4pc-Combo-Kits/_i.html?_storecat=7463993017

 

[toddis32]

You can get yourself an LED Edition gauge face so the true color of your LED's come through. They do not have the blue filter on the back side like the OEM gauge faces. They have the regular and the Escalade styles. https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Editio...720402?hash=item3fbc0a2252:g:WjQAAOSwq5FceK4u

 

[Tshezz]

OP, thanks for the polarity list. I replaced a bad stepper motor and changed out to red LEDs while the cluster was apart. But I am showing "hot spots" behind the gauges. What is the best position for the LEDs? I tried to get them as close to where the factory bulbs were. Do I want to push the LEDs further away from the light diffuser?

 

[toddis32]

Get better LEDs. Those LEDs are likely best in a very small enclosure and do not spread the light evenly. http://www.ebay.com/itm/274575243871?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649