Rear LED Lights

[globetrotter]

Hi, have tried to install rear LED bulbs in the rear clusters, the original bulbs "light" but the LEDS won't, any way round, anyone else had this problem? and any solution?
Thanks

[Laird Scooby]

First of all, have you tested the LED bulbs to ensure they actually work in the first place?

Second have you confirmed that the outer metal case part of the LED bulb is in fact the earth connection?

Thirdly, are they going to be bright enough to do the job?

Fourthly, did you buy a single pin LED brake light bulb for your high level brake light and if so, is it intensity and current matched to the main stop/tail LEDs you bought?

Fifthly, did you buy red LED stop/tail bulbs?

Might seem like a lot of questions but like many other things that are now widely available, there's good and bad, generally you get what you pay for (although there are a few bargains to be had) but it also helps to know what you're looking for when you buy the stuff in the first place.

I've done a lot of research which has cost me a fair bit to do and have found various LED replacement bulbs that do what they're meant to. The majority aren't that cheap but will do the job and keep doing it, unlike a lot of the cheap stuff from foreign shores and some not so foreign!

[dustbin07]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I've done a lot of research which has cost me a fair bit to do and have found various LED replacement bulbs that do what they're meant to. The majority aren't that cheap but will do the job and keep doing it, unlike a lot of the cheap stuff from foreign shores and some not so foreign!

Care to share your info? I'm sure there are plenty of us looking to go LED
in the future.

Thanks, in anticipation..

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by dustbin07

Care to share your info? I'm sure there are plenty of us looking to go LED
in the future.

Thanks, in anticipation..

Quite happy to share the information, if you're looking to do something specific i'd rather answer a few definite questions and make a recommendation for what's needed than just create a whole thesis on the whys and wherefores, pros and cons of umpteen different bulbs and whatever else might be needed if you see what i mean?

Saves me a lot of typing (that i'm not particularly good at! ) and saves you reading 900 words to get to the 100 words at the end that covers the bit you want.

[GrandadRob]

I tried a similar led replacement on the rear of my 96 965. They didn't fit because of the shape of the glass. It was square rather than plum shaped. I did test them off the vehicle, but was disappointed because it seemed to me that the brake light portion was no brighter than the side light portion, instead of the usual 5w/21w.
So I would be interested to know which ones to buy, and where.
Many thanks Rob.

[Laird Scooby]

Here you are Rob :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/col...positive-earth



These are the bulbs in the flesh, well my grimy paw actually!

Some photos to show the difference, first is standard tungsten filament bulbs, in other words, whats already there :



Next, sidelights only with just the right hand side changed to LEDs - note they are "redder" :



Finally, all changed with the brakes on :



Also notice the red puddle lamp on the door in the last pic - that has a white LED behind it and shows a bit pink as a result, hence going for red LEDs as red light transmits better through red lenses.

I haven't got round to doing the Volvo yet although i have fitted LED reverse light bulbs. These give an output of about 500Lm (Lumens) which is more than the 350Lm (ish) that the standard 21W bulbs produce.

I can't find the correct listing for these just now but they are a definite improvement on already good reversing lamps.

Going back to the stop/tail lights, you'll also need to change the high level brake light or you will get a bulb failure warning. This one will do the job :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/col...2-p21w-classic

If you're not quite sure, give Duncan at Classic Car LEDs a call, it's a freephone number and he's always very helpful!

[mjk164]

As Scooby said in the beginning, have a look at Classic Car LEDs; they have virtually all types of socket and connections, an excellent on-line catalogue, and I have them now fitted to my 960 in the front side lights.
Go for-
WARM WHITE GLB207 BA15S 5W
and they are quite a lot brighter than the conventional lamps.

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

There may well be other similar suppliers but I have'nt looked as these people are very good.
GH

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by mjk164

As Scooby said in the beginning, have a look at Classic Car LEDs; they have virtually all types of socket and connections, an excellent on-line catalogue, and I have them now fitted to my 960 in the front side lights.
Go for-
WARM WHITE GLB207 BA15S 5W
and they are quite a lot brighter than the conventional lamps.

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

There may well be other similar suppliers but I have'nt looked as these people are very good.
GH

Good advice for the front, particularly if staying with halogen bulbs in the headlamps. I've converted my main/dipped beams to LEDs as well and the inner driving and fog lights to HIDs as trying to find H3 LEDs isn't easy!
As i've converted to LEDs for the headlamps, i went for Cool White sidelights so the colour temperature matches better.

Nearly forgot, these are the LED headlamp bulbs i've used :

http://www.powerfuluk.com/h4-led-400...hite-pair.html

They are the only ones i've found to give the correct beam pattern, brightness and have actually lasted! Duncan @ Classic Car LEDs tells me he has some LED headlamp bulbs but i'd already gone through a lot of grief (and money!) finding these first so haven't tried his offerings. However, given the quality of the rest of the stuff he sells, they should be good.

[Stephen Edwin]

Firstly, for your information there's been quite a lot of discussion about LED in the 200 section of the forum recently. Some of you might be interested. The chat has included about legality if the car was not designed for LED. And that if a lamp depends on a reflector and or lens then LED will not perform in the same way to the reflector and lens as a filament bulb would perform. Also some reported experiences do not evidence longer lasting of LED compared to filaments.


Now I'm curious about those side light LED:

Originally Posted by mjk164

As Scooby said in the beginning, have a look at Classic Car LEDs; they have virtually all types of socket and connections, an excellent on-line catalogue, and I have them now fitted to my 960 in the front side lights.
Go for-
WARM WHITE GLB207 BA15S 5W
and they are quite a lot brighter than the conventional lamps.

www.classiccarleds.co.uk

There may well be other similar suppliers but I have'nt looked as these people are very good.
GH

Are those 960 sidelights designed for bayonet bulbs like th 240 and like most older cars, and how does the output of those 5w LED compare to a 10w filament bayonet bulb please?

Stephen

[Laird Scooby]

Just so you know :

BA15s = BA - BAyonet, 15 - 15mm diameter, s - single contact

So the answer to your question is, yes, it is a bayonet fitting.

If you look at the one i suggested for the stop/tail bulbs, they are BA15d - d being dual contact.

The outer part of the bulb/bayonet fitting is the earth terminal on modern cars with negative (-ve) earth.

The legality bit, well there's a minefield if ever there was!

The only lamps that are tested for beam pattern and hence depending on a reflector and/or lens for the correct pattern are the headlamps.
If you look at those LED headlamp bulbs i linked to, you will see the LEDs are very small and arranged not only in the same position as the filaments in filament bulbs but are the same length for effective light output.
That means they will display exactly the same beam pattern (although a lot sharper) as the original filament bulbs.

I've got photos somewhere of my cars with LED headlamp bulbs and the beam patterns produced but for any car, these are the patterns the MoT tester is expecting to see :



It's the bottom one, the ECE RHD (right hand drive, not to be confused with right hand dip which some headlamps for left hand drive cars are marked) that is the one for the UK - if your headlamps produce that pattern on the MoT testers beam setting kit then it's a pass.

Mine have passed the MoT at least twice each with these LED headlamp bulbs in (except my current 760, that's due for test soon) and will keep doing so.
Why am i so confident on this? Because LED bulbs do not generate anything like the sort of heat that filament bulbs do! Sure they get warm, but not hot!
That means the reflectors will last almost indefinitely because there is no heat to burn the silvering off.

Also the headlamps stay a lot cleaner because the glass lens doesn't get hot and instantly bake on any dirt unlucky enough to be thrown up from the road.

As for the other lamps, most LED bulbs mimic the shape of the original filament bulb so the output is similar. That means as long as they're bright enough for the job and the right colour, they should pass the test.

The cheap LEDs from China are generally best avoided, for a start they have been posted all the way from China in a Jiffy bog and kicked, thrown, dropped etc halfway round the world before they even get to you.

That means they are compromised before you even fit them. Also some of the Chinese "engineers" forget that when they choose the current limiting resistor for the LED, the alternators put out between 14.0 and 14.4V while charging.
That means they chose a resistor for 12V operation, generally for the brightest output at 12V so at 14.4V the por little LED is getting fried, slowly but surely.

For example, if an LEDs maximum forward current (Imax) is 30mA and forward voltage (Vf) is 2.4V, to run right on the limit at 12V the resistor would be (12-2.4)/0.030 = 320 Ohms. At 14.4V, it will actually have 20% more current going through it so 36mA which will burn it out fairly rapidly.

Now factor in that most LEDs will reach maximum brightness at about 20mA, the correct resistor for 14.4V operation (not 12V) would be (14.4 - 2.4)/0.02 = 600 Ohms.

Nearly twice the value! That means on the cheap, Chinese stuff, the chances are very high that it has a current limiting resistor of about half what it should be - no wonder they don't last!

Sorry for the long reply but you did ask!