This apparently cures automotive manufacturer's morphidite flasher tantrums that go into Charles Manson mode when a person converts from incandescent to LED turn signals.http://ledguy.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_40&products_id=122&zenid=ppdlnpp4q9bbphb70kgq8mk004

Many who 'upgrade" to LED's retrofits in incandescent housings are possibly inviting more issues than just hyper flashing of the signals.The Incandescent housing are designed around a filament light source and project the light from that to meet all sorts of visibility requirements. Not just from straight behind the vehicle, but from all angles.We will no doubt get posts by those who installed LED's and say they are brighter and better.I see LED bulbs all the time retrofitted into incandescent housings. Usually the brake lights are pinkish, blindingly bright or too dim, and there is not enough difference between running lights and brake lights. At angles not directly behind the light might not even be visible at all.If an accident occurs, and the lawyers get a hold of the fact that LED retrofit bulbs were used inside of incandescent housings, well the lawyers get rich, and most everybody else get's screwed.The Only advantage I see to using LED bulbs inside incandescent housings is if one abandons the car on the side of the road with the hazard lights flashing for a day or 3.I do like the instant on and off. I might parallel some red led bulbs inside my housing next to the incandescent just so they illuminate quicker when I step on the brake.Probably won't make a difference as the person behind me is invariably on looking at their phone more than the road and their surroundings anyway.And to Those that put HID lights into halogen housings. You are dangerous to yourself and everybody else on the road, and I despise you and your blue light and aim flatulence in your general direction.

And to Those that put HID lights into halogen housings. You are dangerous to yourself and everybody else on the road, and I despise you and your blue light and aim flatulence in your general direction. AMEN

HID conversions Landyacht? Shirley You Jest!!!One pink and one green dazzling headlight is well hell it is culturally aesthetic.Exactly like the PREVENTION of operating with an "unknown" burned out bulb, obtaining the required results is strictly up to the owner.I have followed many 2010-2014 cars that have factory LED lights so bright their freakin' stoplights are brighter than my headlights. HID headlight regulations are wacko as well -- right from the factory. Some are intelligent design, others are so stupid they blind oncoming drivers on the opposite side of a divided highway ON LOW BEAM.I seem to prefer to use my intelligence when choosing which light is appropriate as a replacement lamp for my vehicles. My toad has terrible side visibility at night. I intend to correct it.Course I could buy a new Lexus or Infinity and automatically get my very own "Mother Fletcher's Do-It-Yourself Star Wars Laser defense kit".

I tried an 1156 Cree LED in my reverse lights, and they were not visible to other drivers at any angle but directly behind in daytime. Obviously results will be different in different vehicles.I do have some non flashing side marker lights that call for 194 incandescent bulbs with the t10 wedge base. I happen to have a bunch of LEDs that take this same base for my interior lights, so I tried some in these housings. The brightest LED's I had were too bright and too pink. I tried dimmest RED colored LED bulb in this light is perfect in intensity and fills out the reflector well from all angles, and the light is red, not pink.So get the LED's the same color as the reflector housing. Makes a big difference in light color and the amount of light filtered out by the lens.In that photo, the brightest blue white LED was only about 25% brighter than the red led when inside the red colored housing, but is about 90% brighter when unfiltered.The two Red led's account for almost a 1 amp savings over the 194's IIRC.Higher voltages then make it to my other incandescent signal bulbs, which is also increased since I removed the headlight current from my headlight switch.My Vehicle might be old enough to drink, but my lighting, interior and exterior, is as good or better than stock.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:This apparently cures automotive manufacturer's morphidite flasher tantrums that go into Charles Manson mode when a person converts from incandescent to LED turn signals.http://ledguy.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=29_40&products_id=122&zenid=ppdlnpp4q9bbphb70kgq8mk004That item is nothing more than a 10W LOAD RESISTOR in a box for $10 which basically negates any "benefit" of lower wattage LEDS :SYou can get the same type of resistor for HALF the price HEREBetter yet, KEEP the incadenscent lights instead of opting for the bling of LEDs in your turn signals.That auto manufacturers INTENTIONALLY make the blinkers blink fast when the proper amount of current is not drawn FOR A REASON... SAFETY.. It is a WARNING SIGNAL to the DRIVER of said vehicle to let you know that you have a turn signal lamp out.Adding the resistor "fools" the car (and the driver) into thinking all is well if you add a resistor and you will never know that a LED module fails (and they DO FAIL).

Curing LED Turn Signal Conversion Problems | Good Sam Community

34 Replies

intheburbs
Explorer
Feb 12, 2014
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Change all 4 turn signal lamps. How many AMPS does that save? Or better yet allow me to get snotty - how many watt minutes would that save in 10 years?

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The issue is about safety, not about energy savings.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Your argument does not make sense to me. Sorry.
Raften
Explorer
Feb 11, 2014
G, I wasn't trying to be cute. You objected, I removed it, that's all. Don't get your panties anymore twisted.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Feb 11, 2014
I think vibration would be a far bigger culprit. Highway Patrolmen in California keep pretty good tabs on big rigs. There must be dozens of official roadside truck inspection sheds. If a big rig is missing lighting say for a turn signal, it is black-flagged. It has seen it's last inch of travel until the problem is fixed. BTW, dig out your meter and MEASURE voltage on tail lights on a big rig. Got news for ya, first of all The load-handler and Delco alternators have set points of 14.0 - 13.8 volts. Walk seventy feet to the rear of the trailer. You'll be fortunate to see 13.4. Been there, done that.

But I was not trying to infer there are NO LED failures. My point is LED lighting for SIGNALLING on an RV is a lot more reliable than incandescent. That's a WORLD APART from TAIL LIGHTS on big rigs. This is why they use MULTIPLE REDUNDANT lamps. If your rig rode like a KW pulling a Freuhoff, all the cabinets and roof air would be laying on the floor inside 100 miles.

FYI, my last moving violation - 24 December 1967, NO accidents except idiots that rear-ended me. Perhaps 700,000 miles driven, 200,000 of which in Mexico.

But pardon me for being a safety nut. Today I have to take time at the end of the day to change ANOTHER brake-light bulb in my toad. I got self conscious after posting my last comment here, so I checked this morning, and sure enough, this one lasted what, a year and four months? Dodge, computer module voltage regulation with a high and low voltage alarm. The alternator voltage at the stud averages 13.9 This is a purchased in the USA General Electric incandescent bulb like all the rest.

Yes I am going to replace these bulbs with CREE replacements. Not brighter, not dimmer, not mauve or chartreuse, red light with adequate SIDE MARKING LIGHTING like the other 73% of the cars on the road. Of course spending 15 dollars is a lot stupider than spending a few grand for an "at fault" accident -- god forbid any injuries.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Feb 11, 2014
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
If an individual is mentally challenged to the point where they cannot test their new lights and determine if they are suitable replacements or not I would suspect that their "new" lights would rate way down on the list of things that driver poses as being dangerous to other drivers. Get my drift? Few RV'ers especially the ones on this forum are likely to settle for purple tail lights or green front turn signals. Or for laser beam projection where the lamp cannot be reasonably be seen from an angle that meets or exceeds OEM and State law standards. Most RV'ers are very fussy.

If you doubt that LED lighting is significantly more reliable than incandescent, you have a big job ahead of you --- contacting the owners of several tens of millions of big rigs to argue your point.

Here we are nibbling on the finesse of proper battery float set points at -20F and then publicly questioning the intelligence of others regarding whether a change to LED signals is rational or not. Frankly this amazes me.

I have 1hr commute each way every day to work so I have plenty of time to notice things along the way. 40 minutes of the 60 minutes is on Interstate highways which is a MAJOR trucking route north to south.

Daily I see hundreds of big rigs on the road, it is easier to count the ones that DO NOT have partial burned out or fully burned out LED markers and tail lights.

Nearly every big rig I see daily will have at least one non functioning or malfunctioning LED light on it.

Many of this rigs are most likely more modern than what you see in Mexico..

LEDs when PROPERLY setup WELL BELOW the maximum current allowed can operate for 100,000 hrs.

The problem is the manufacturers of these fixtures are driving the LEDs AT or ABOVE the maximum recommended current levels.

This is done to gain the most brightness from the LED but at the expense of the LIFE of the LEDs.

LED manufacturers give SEVERAL different life expectancies according to the current drawn.. The 100,000 hr life is typically given at 75% of the max allowable current and at 100% max allowed current the life is typically 25,000-50,000 hrs.. go over that and all bets are off on how long they will live.

While I do like the brightness of the Bargman fixtures I have I am thoroughly disgusted with the FAILURE rate of them. So far 50% failure rate in under three years (grand total of 6K miles, that's less than 100 hrs of usage if they were on the entire trip) is dismal and unacceptable.

My next move is to add in current resistors to drop the current through the modules to see if that extends the life to something a bit more acceptable. At $50 per module every few years, it hurts...
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Feb 10, 2014
Raften wrote:
I guess I could wonder what GPS, LCD TV, cell phones and T tops has to do with LED's, but I won't. LOL

Cute move deleting your post I quoted...

Its called "distracted driving".

People now days are driving so distracted by technology (and even non technology like makeup, brushing your hair or teeth) that they are paying less and less attention to the road, traffic and stuff like turn/brake lights.

While one may contend that the extra brightness and faster speed of LEDs should make for a safer drive. In reality unless folks give 100% of their attention DIRECTLY in front of them (instead of looking at bright glowing screens inside their vehicle), hundreds of bright LEDs on a vehicle will not do any good.

You have to look up and out of the windshield and observe the world outside your phone, GPS and TV screens to be a safe driver.. People just don't care now days...

LED lights simply are not any more effective to distracted drivers...
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
If an individual is mentally challenged to the point where they cannot test their new lights and determine if they are suitable replacements or not I would suspect that their "new" lights would rate way down on the list of things that driver poses as being dangerous to other drivers. Get my drift? Few RV'ers especially the ones on this forum are likely to settle for purple tail lights or green front turn signals. Or for laser beam projection where the lamp cannot be reasonably be seen from an angle that meets or exceeds OEM and State law standards. Most RV'ers are very fussy.

If you doubt that LED lighting is significantly more reliable than incandescent, you have a big job ahead of you --- contacting the owners of several tens of millions of big rigs to argue your point.

Here we are nibbling on the finesse of proper battery float set points at -20F and then publicly questioning the intelligence of others regarding whether a change to LED signals is rational or not. Frankly this amazes me.
Raften
Explorer
Feb 10, 2014
I guess I could wonder what GPS, LCD TV, cell phones and T tops has to do with LED's, but I won't. LOL
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Feb 09, 2014
Raften wrote:
I know a guy that has a unique but I suppose illegal way of dealing with tail gate drivers. He built a system that injects a small amount of anti freeze into the hot exhaust right after the turbo. Small cloud of white smoke gets attention and a back off.

:h

So, what does that have to do with LEDs?

If you are hinting about folks driving too close.. All that is going to do is cause an accident which may harm others...

I don't care what turn signals you use, there is no replacement for "alert" drivers..

There are too many "gadgets" now days which takes the drivers attention from the BUSINESS of driving..

I see this on a daily basis, folks with GPS units mounted on their dash, people texting, talking to others inside their vehicle with BOTH hands waving??? Who the heck is holding the steering wheel???

Drove behind a van last week in the morning with a huge LCD TV playing????

Over the years I have seen a lot of stupid moves by people... How about the one that was putting makeup on in rush hr traffic.

Or the one that was removing car "T" tops AND talking on a cell phone while driving 65 MPH???

Honestly, you simply can't fix stupid and using brighter and faster on tail lights simply is not going to "improve" your statistics..

But really, I myself am getting tired of replacing those improved LED modules :M
Raften
Explorer
Feb 09, 2014
deleted, off topic even if following too close was mentioned more than once.
Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Feb 09, 2014
j-d wrote:
Agreed. I went LED because my OEM lights seemed to be having socket problems. That's why I ruled out Bargman's LED "upgrade" modules. Those should have offered proper "focus, directionality", whatever you want to call it, but would still connect via those troublesome sockets. The LED setup is all wired.

I used Bargman #84 LED triple (two red stop/turn and one incadesent backup light) fixtures to replace the older obsolete Bargman fixtures (which could not find new lenses to replace the broken ones).

These fixtures are wire in only.

Found out the hard way that the #84 LED modules simply do not last..

Two LED modules in three years are DEAD and BOTH times while I was ON THE ROAD, far, far way from home..

The only good thing is I have redundancy since each side has two modules but still none the less extremely expensive to replace and rather difficult to find replacements while on the road.

The only upside to these modules is they ARE bright but only when they work (which like I have found you can not count on them to work).

Yes, they do have a "lifetime" warranty but really what good does that do you if you are 100, 500, 1,000 miles from home and they quit working? Not to mention the cost of shipping them back to Bargman is almost half the cost of a new module...

With incadescent bulbs you can find them anywhere and they cost a $1 for two...

Even worse, when I convertered to LED tail lights I thought changin the markers was a good idea to LEDs after all I am used to LEDs lasting tens of thousands of hrs... Well you guessed it, I now have one intermitant LED marker and two which are half lit as of end of camping in 2013..

Yep, now I get to replace the ENTIRE LED $7 marker :S instead of a 25 cent bulb :S :S ...

I am looking at buying some LEDs and DIY my own markers and do it right instead of these haphazardly made ones..

Incadescent bulb sockets ARE looking better each day...

Forum Discussion

Curing LED Turn Signal Conversion Problems

34 Replies

About Technical Issues

Related Content

Troubleshoot fridge problem...

Atwood water heater problem

Norcold Model 611 Fridge problem

double conversion problems

bpconversion goose neck conversion