diff --git a/zephcore/helpers/NodePrefs.h b/zephcore/helpers/NodePrefs.h
index 151f2c6..89139f9 100644
--- a/zephcore/helpers/NodePrefs.h
+++ b/zephcore/helpers/NodePrefs.h
@@ -416,7 +416,7 @@ static inline void initNodePrefs(NodePrefs* prefs) {
 	prefs->leds_disabled = 0;         // LEDs on
 	prefs->leds_radio_mode = LEDS_RADIO_TX;  // activity LED on transmit, as before
 	prefs->leds_hb_mode = LEDS_HB_ALL;       // heartbeat + unread, as before
-	prefs->led_brightness = ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT;  // 10%, new node
+	prefs->led_brightness = ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT;  // 100%, new node
 	prefs->powersaving_enabled = POWERSAVING_DEFAULT;
 	prefs->powersaving_set = 1;
 	prefs->gps_enabled = 0;
diff --git a/zephcore/helpers/led_gate.h b/zephcore/helpers/led_gate.h
index b757742..6991862 100644
--- a/zephcore/helpers/led_gate.h
+++ b/zephcore/helpers/led_gate.h
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ void zephcore_leds_set_disabled(bool disabled);
 
 /* Shared PWM brightness (0-100) for boards whose heartbeat/TX LED is
  * PWM-capable (DT_ALIAS(heartbeat_pwm_led) / DT_ALIAS(lora_tx_pwm_led)).
- * Deliberately RAM-only, not persisted: resets to
- * ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT on every reboot regardless of any
- * "set led <pct>" done during a previous session. Independent of the on/off
- * gate above: brightness only matters while the gate is open. No-op on
- * boards without a PWM-capable LED (the getter still returns the compiled
- * default, simply unused). */
-#define ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT 10
+ * Persisted via NodePrefs (prefs.led_brightness); ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT
+ * only seeds the RAM cache on a fresh node with no saved value yet (100%,
+ * matching the brightness every PWM LED ran at before this setting existed).
+ * Independent of the on/off gate above: brightness only matters while the
+ * gate is open. No-op on boards without a PWM-capable LED (the getter still
+ * returns the compiled default, simply unused). */
+#define ZEPHCORE_LED_DEFAULT_BRIGHTNESS_PCT 100
 
 uint8_t zephcore_led_brightness_pct(void);
 void zephcore_led_set_brightness_pct(uint8_t pct);