Electrics: Number Plate Lights, Fuse and LEDS

[BarryCambs]

I changed my number plate lights a while ago without issue and I have some front sides on order. I'd really like to do the rest, so any links and recommendations would be great :-)

[Glencmp]

Hi Barry Cambs The Sides seem to be fine but Ive had problems with the Number Plate lights and Tail lights, including the Boot Lights. Ill let you know the item numbers from ebay

Red Sides - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192163018494?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&var=4920 77154107&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT[/url]

White Sides - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHILIPS-XT...EAAOSwhOVXejAa

Front Side Lights - Halfords

[Simon Jones]

Bear in mind the S80 uses different bulbs for number plates than S60/V70 (based on what I've read on the forum).

[Glencmp]

Hi Simon, It seems to be that the Bulbs for the Number Plate lights are the normal 38mm Festoon bulbs but when I pop them in they last about 10 secs then go out.
Ive replaced the bulbs in the rear doors and they have gone out completely, ive changed them back to normal bulbs but they are not coming back on so Ill need to pull the fuse but I have no idea which one!!!

[Simon Jones]

That confirms what I thought (which is something folk should be aware of when following recommendations about what bulbs to buy as they vary between vehicle variants). S80 has festoon bulbs:



Whereas S60/V/XC70 has 501 bulbs:

[ASt85]

Originally Posted by Glencmp

Hi Simon, It seems to be that the Bulbs for the Number Plate lights are the normal 38mm Festoon bulbs but when I pop them in they last about 10 secs then go out.
Ive replaced the bulbs in the rear doors and they have gone out completely, ive changed them back to normal bulbs but they are not coming back on so Ill need to pull the fuse but I have no idea which one!!!

If you factor in what the value of the 10 second lamps are, what is actually being gained?

I realised a few months ago that exchanging filament lamps for LEDs was purely a cosmetic exercise as the Lumen output was very little different in terms of the normally viewed/visual range, given the frequency of the LED output as "outside" the normal human visual range parameters i.e. whilst the LED subs were as, or even more "bright" to the observer as the original incandescent lamp; when observed in mist/fog/rain environments they were actually less easily able to be seen in difficult conditions due to their much more narrow frequency output.

To put it another way all though they "appear" to be brighter in clear conditions and do illuminate more quickly when activated, in actual fact their output frequency is more easily adsorbed by water droplets/ atmospheric moisture than those of the normal and wider visual spectrum incandescent/thermal lamp....i.e LEDs aren't as easily seen by an observer in fog or heavy rain in comparison with a conventional "bulb"/incandescent filament lamp as their narrower frequency output is more easily obscured/absorbed by water droplets.

To put it another way, we are unable to see an LED's output as well as an ordinary filament lamp output in fog/rain/snow etc. as the LED output spectrum is much more narrow than the human eye is adapted to process, the wider spectrum the better the human eye/brain translates what is observed.
We can better see the hot filament lamp output since it is a multi frequency output whereas than the normal range output of an LED has a narrower frequency range. This implies that LEDs look brighter only if there's no rain/fog/mist/snow etc. around when their output is more easily absorbed as they have a narrower frequency range.

They can't be seen as easily if it is foggy or raining!