18
votes
OEM LED tailights: white vs red LEDs under red plastic
My thoughts -
A white LED can be used in multiple lamps in the same car, brakes, side, indicators, reverse lamps, so limiting the need for different stock.
The assembly line will be simpler, so more ...
- 24.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Mini Cooper 2003 - Changed lights to LED, insanely fast indicator lights now
The reason for this is LEDs don't draw as much power as regular incandescent lights do. By putting the LEDs into the vehicle, you are making the vehicle believe the lights are out because of the lower ...
- 153k
9
votes
OEM LED tailights: white vs red LEDs under red plastic
Quality tail lights use red LEDs for the red parts. White LEDs behind a color filter are very inefficient and typically used by cheap OEM parts (and fake OEM parts for that matter) which look good on ...
- 2,642
5
votes
Accepted
How to fix 2007 Mercedes SLK daytime running lights?
After hours of tracing cables, removing panels and taking apart more of the car than I'd like to admit, I figured the issue out. Apparently there's a cable for control current (or something like that)....
- 251
4
votes
Accepted
How can I secure the power block for my LED headlights?
The pictured tape, or any double sided tape for that matter, will fail quickly. Even the industrial 3M VHB tape isn't worth spit, under the hood.
Zip tie or find a natural crevice for it if possible ...
- 128
4
votes
Why is my LED turn signal "randomly" blinking too fast?
As far as I know, automotive-class "blinkers" work as self-timed "multi-vibrator", where the blink time is (somehow) determined by impedance of light bulb. It is very frequent to see on a car when one ...
- 141
4
votes
How does color temperature influence headlight performance?
The color of light, expressed in degrees Kelvins (K). The sun is about 5800 K. This is called a "temperature," because the hotter a flame or a lamp filament gets, the more it changes from a warm ...
- 3,917
4
votes
Accepted
automotive LEDS specified as 6v-36V required 9 or 12v... why?
Yes, there is a deeper meaning behind the wide input voltage range detailed in the specifications you're working from.
In general, all electrical components, especially integrated circuits, have some ...
- 64
4
votes
OEM LED tailights: white vs red LEDs under red plastic
Definitely red LEDs under a red (or white, for that matter) cover. This is how a (good) factory tail lights are made.
Modern illuminating LEDs are more efficient when they are narrow-band color. E.g. ...
- 2,022
4
votes
OEM LED tailights: white vs red LEDs under red plastic
One part of the answer might be spectrum or gamut. There are govt specifications for the color of tail lights, SAE standards etc. It may be that it's easier to get the exact color needed in plastic ...
- 169
3
votes
Accepted
underseat lighting that goes on when door opens or with switch
You'll need a double-throw switch, i.e. one that can switch one output to either of two inputs. I'd get one with an off position as well (often labelled on-off-on in shops).
Before wiring it up, you'...
- 28.7k
3
votes
Accepted
LED bar power directly from battery?
In general, if you can connect the LED bar directly to the cables to the lights, you can also wire it directly to the battery.
But a car battery has enough power to easily melt a wrench touching both ...
- 7,047
3
votes
Why is my LED turn signal "randomly" blinking too fast?
Bulb resistance is your problem, but physics aside, you have a few options:
1) Purchase an LED specific blinker relay. Google will help.
2) Wire a resistor in parallel with your LED.
3) Purchase ...
- 1,722
3
votes
Why do LEDs go out on (boat) trailer tail-lights?
More than likely, the leds in the light assembly are being over driven for reasonable light output. Typical 5mm and smaller leds, including the typical 5050 or 0805 SMD leds used in these assemblies ...
- 603
3
votes
What diode for 12v automotive circuit...?
Assuming the LED pods are at most 12W that's 1A. For lots of margin you could use 1N540x (where X is 4, 5, or 6) 3A diodes, two for each of the rear lights. The front ones just get wired directly. ...
- 565
2
votes
What diode for 12v automotive circuit...?
I would separate the supply to the rear lights from the front and use a relay - the two inputs being from either battery, the output to the lights, then there would be no issue of the batteries being ...
- 34.6k
2
votes
Accepted
A very simple circuit to supress 12v pulses from illuminating some LEDs
Credit to @Andrew Morton for this answer; which he is happy for me to submit.
I simply used PA Soft to disable the checks in the Light Control Module (LCM) by going into "module coding" (or similar?) ...
- 191
2
votes
Planning to replace hid bulb to led H1 connector
LED bulbs will not give the light output (lumens) needed for good vision at night. The "ordinary" halogen bulbs you replaced are better than LED for lighting up the road at distance at the moment, ...
- 34.6k
2
votes
LED bar power directly from battery?
If you want to power your LED bar on together with the high beams the correct way is to connect a relay to your high beams, and have it turn the LED bar on/off. The power can be taken directly from ...
- 581
2
votes
Accepted
Which illuminate dark roads better? Halogen vs. LED Fog Light?
Headlights and fog lights have a parabolic reflector that is shaped to shine in a cone ahead of the car, the light source has to be in the right position to focus correctly. Think of a magnifying ...
- 16.2k
2
votes
New LED tail/brake lights not working on my Toyota RAV4
No, it doesn’t make sense.
The only way to send too much current to a bulb would be by increasing the supplied voltage above its rated value.
If a bulb is rated for 12 volts then it will only draw the ...
- 24.9k
1
vote
Addtional LED lightstrips for cars
If you want them "always on", why would you connect the new strips to the headlight/DRL circuits at all? Just connect them directly to the switched 12V accessory bus, through a fuse.
- 147
1
vote
Accepted
Warm white LED lamp recommendations?
It really doesn't matter what the package says for color temp because those numbers are usually wrong. Recent testing by the SAE showed that most LED mfgrs color and lumen numbers are way off---no ...
- 1,372
1
vote
Load resistor heat issue from front turn signal lights serving as parking lights at night
The power rating of a resistor is how much it can dissipate continuously, and being a "power resistor" that would be at a surface temperature of perhaps 150 °C.
To find out how much power it is ...
- 174
1
vote
Brake/position LED Lights
After searching around I try to cut it open this weekend and the result was a complex circuit for my understanding. I'm post it here if someone is interested to see or explain how it works.
So I ended ...
- 81
1
vote
LED headlight set?
As has been pointed out the fitting of leds is not an issue; they fit and electricity use is lower.
What is a problem in some countries is that led lights are required to have an automatic headlight ...
- 34.6k
1
vote
LED headlight set?
Replacing halogen bulbs with LEDs will not have a negative effect on the electrical system.
Some cars have a lamp testing system that will alert you if the bulb isn't drawing the correct power (...
- 267
1
vote
1
vote
Push button when LED comes on
It may require some experimentation to get it right, but perhaps a small reed relay will do what you want. Connect the coil in series with the LED, and connect the contacts in parallel with the switch....
- 147
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