OK!!
so I delved inside my speedometer to see what was going on with the "burned out" LEDs.
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see what color the plastic is? If it wasn't sanded off, you could see through it like glass
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see how much space there is?
BRIGHT!! you can see the burned out ones at the bottom
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The ring is powered by 12v that goes into eight 129 ohm resistors (dropping 12v to 9v) each resistor powers three 3v LEDs.
I removed and tested the resistor, (@129.5ohm) which was fine.
testing the bad LEDs showed 16-24ohms of resistance meaning the diode fused together (I don't have a scope so I don't know exactly what happened in there)
I also tested the traces for resistance, opens, and shorts and they were fine.
I'm guessing it was a vendor issue with that particular reel of LEDs
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next step is to disassemble these and use their LEDs to fix my gauges.
($5.34 a pair with free S/H -eBay)
the other one I want to use as a running light inside my headlight.
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gratuitous pics of spare surface mount electronics-
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piles of teeny parts!!
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