old guy wrote:
HELP!!. I am so confused over led lights right now. I would like to go to led lights inside and out. I finally found flush mount tail lights but heard negative things about the turn signals and their issues. inside the only thing I can not figure out is the intensity like a 5000 bulb or a blue bulb. help set me straight, what do I need. I have gone to many web sites and I just get more confused.
Converting turn signal bulbs on a vehicle to LED will reduce the current drawn. Old school vehicles used a thermo/mechanical "flasher" unit for for determining the flash rate.. Typically designed to need the equivalent of 2 incadenscent bulbs worth of current.
These flashers used a bimetal strip that heated up from the current drawn and when the strip got hot enough the strip would spring away from the contact.
When the strip cooled down (from no current flowing) it would spring back to make contact again..
This was known as a standard duty flasher..
You could replace the standard duty flasher with a "heavy duty" version which did not require a specific current to flow and would allow you to add more lights (this was often needed for towing since your trailer lights would make a standard duty flasher hyper flash)..
Fast forward to modern newer vehicles.. many since the late 1990s use a electronic body control module.. The module is designed to detect the amount of current flowing through the bulbs.. If not enough current flow (like LEDS) the body control module will hyper flash. This hyperflash is there to indicate to the driver that a bulb is out.
You can't change the body control module or reprogram it so you have to fool it into thinking everything is fine by adding a load resistor to both left and right turn signals.
Now, if you are talking about LEDS for a travel trailer then there is NO NEED for a load resistor. The vehicles system does not "check" the current on the trailer..
For inside you have several important measurements to look at.. The color of the light is one.. This is measured in color temp in Kelvin..
Incadescent bulbs tend to be 2700-3400 K and is typically known as Warm White.. Has a yellowish tint in color.
3500 - 4500 K is sometimes called Bright white.. Kind of has a pinkish tint.
4600 - 6500 K is often called "daylight" or cool white.. The higher temps in this range look very blueish and 6500 K often makes you look pretty ghostly dead looking..
I have found that the color in K varies greatly with these LEDs so you may have a multi LED module with a bunch of different color LEDs or you may get a module with all the LEDs nearly the same..
Then there is lumens.. This is a measurement of brightness, LED manufacturers often way overstate the actual lumens and often give you a comparison to what the equivalent incadescent bulb it will replace.. I have found that in most cases if they say a LED replaces a 25W incadescent bulb it is more like a 15W bulb and that is being generous!
My suggestion is to buy a LED with DOUBLE the advertised lumens and you will get pretty close to the brightness of the incadescent bulb you are replacing..
Then you have how many watts the LED uses.. you want to compare how many lumens are produce per watt.. Many of these LEDs are low grade quality and often are not as efficient in the lumens per watt comparison.. So it is buyer be aware!
Another item to take into consideration is the actual voltage range the LED is rated for.. Many do not give you this range.. These typically are designed for use in a vehicle with engine running at no more than 14V.. These typically will go up in smoke very quickly if you put them into a RV with a converter shoving 14.4 or 15V into them..
Some however have a constant current regulator built in and will have a specified voltage range of 9-30V.. These work well in a RV however you do need to consider potential RFI that the regulator WILL create.. This RFI has been known to block OTA TV or make AM radio or shortwave/Ham radio listening impossible..
There you are, a no nonsense look at the world of LED lighting..
