LED clearance light upgrade
When I buy something, I can't leave it alone - I have to add stuff and things. Latest project was to upgrade to a higher quality LED clearance / marker light Here's the Installation video
Forum Discussion
RoyB wrote:
I like to do things like that as well...
With the DOD Safety lights however they are all powered by the Truck Start battery and doesn't give me any savings in the reducing the Trailer battery drains so I usually leave all of those alone.
Granted however some of those LED LIGHTS sure look great compared to older Incandescent automotive lights...
I'm sometimes a bit hesitant about changing things over to LED technology. I know sometimes I pull right up behind a big tractor trailer with obvious LED lights installed on the rear and my Ham Radio starts getting broadband hash - RFI Interference... LED Lights are known to to do this to you hehe...
Reducing battery drain is always good to do...
Roy Ken
Roy,
Very few marker/tail lights use switching regulators/drivers, in fact most if not all use nothing more than simple resistors to limit current.. You might even find some that omit resistors all together by adding one or two extra LEDs into each series string.
So your RFI hash is most likely not coming from the LEDs but in a lot of cases more likely the vehicles body control module which drives the vehicles lights..
Most automobile LED lights are cheaply built and tend to not last all that long..
Took me having to buy 8 extra spares of Bargman #84 tail lights to finally get some that last more than one camping season and those puppies run $35 each..
I have marker lights that fortunately are not sonic welded and as they die, I am removing the dead LEDS by grinding them out and putting in sealed industrial 12V LEDs made for outdoor signage..
They are an improvement in longevity over the cheaply made automotive junk..
Had I known when I bought those markers how cheaply made the LEDs were I would have simply done my own retrofit in the old incadescent markers and saved the $9 per marker I paid..
And by the way, I went LEDs not to save current draw, but to get better visibility, longevity, eliminate bulb sockets corrosion and lower power is a side benefit that comes with the conversion.
I do like the brightness of my Bargman #84 tail lights (when they are not going bad), they DO get attention and my setup has TWO sets of them on each side for good measure..
Only a legally blind person could claim they are not able to see my tail lights. :B
