LED Bulbs

wny_pat wrote:
And some LEDs have problems being seen when you view then at a angle.

Fortunately, they are often behind a plastic panel that helps reduce this effect.

wny_pat wrote:
Anthony,
I doubt the problem was low voltage. Usually LEDs are fine with low voltage, but you often need to limit the current on the circuit by adding a resistor.
http://led.linear1.org/why-do-i-need-a-resistor-with-an-led/. But as long as those relays work the circuit, your in good shape!

I see your point... had not thought of that. However, one of the tests I performed was to check the voltage at the end of the line and it was around 10.6 volts. I managed to increase that a couple tenths when I cut out about two feet of excess wire that the RV manufacturer had tied to the frame during conversion but it was not enough.

The relays were a last ditch effort that seemed to work.

Anthony,
I doubt the problem was low voltage. Usually LEDs are fine with low voltage, but you often need to limit the current on the circuit by adding a resistor.
http://led.linear1.org/why-do-i-need-a-resistor-with-an-led/. But as long as those relays work the circuit, your in good shape!

I created my own tow lights for my Dodge Dakota.

I had two OEM 1157 twist in sockets that had been salvaged from an unknown vehicle many years ago. I drilled and slotted two holes in the back of the tail light units that the sockets would fit in to and twist lock. I wired the thing like a regular trailer and installed two LED 1157 replacements. When I connected it all to the RV the LEDs did not work properly. After hours of testing and futzing around I determined that there was too much voltage drop from the front of the RV through the tail light wiring harness to operate the LEDs properly.

So.....

I found a hot wire that fed from the battery through the fuse block. I ran a 12 gauge wire to the rear of the RV. I then purchased two relays and attached them to the hot wire and to the trailer light plug instead of wiring the trailer plug in to the tail light circuit.

I then used the tail light circuit as a "Signal" for the relays.

Now I get full battery voltage to the toad instead of the voltage loss before. The relays open and close the Brake/turn circuits and the RV Brake/turn circuit activates the relays.

Whenever I brake or use the turn signals the relays make an audible click near the rear of the RV but that is OK since the relays allow full voltage to get to the toad's LED bulbs.

And some LEDs have problems being seen when you view then at a angle.

The resistance of some LED bulbs, compared to standard incandescent bulbs, can cause some problems in lighting circuits. Fortunately it is not too expensive to find out if LED bulbs would work or not. My guess would be that they would work fine but actually changing them is really the only way to find out. Make sure that you get LED bulbs that are bright enough to replace the old bulbs. Some of the less expensive LED bulbs are pretty dim which is not a good thing when you want to be seen at night. LED replacement for 1157