Instrument tell tales. LEDs? |
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Mike H
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: East Anglia Status: Offline Points: 8733 |
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And yet the ones fitted as standard in modern car dashboards seem to last OK.
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"Chicken nuggets don't dance on a Tuesday."
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Ken-Guzzibear
Moderator Group Joined: 13 May 2014 Location: Sileby Leics Status: Offline Points: 9454 |
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Not anything like as much vibration in a car dash or the differences in temperature and damp either buddy, seems to me LED's really do not like the vibes and damp. That said our newer Sprinters at work seem to eat up bulbs of both sorts at an alarming rate. I have had a new one only just over a year
6 tail or stop lights 4 dip lights 1 main beam and 4 marker lights . The old Sprinter 10 yrs use only ever changed 2 stop/tail bulbs and 1 main dip...new ones are all separate bulbs single filament or led and old one was the stop tail and dip main double filament...go figure
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The Older i Get, The Better I Was
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Brian UK
Moderator Group Joined: 13 May 2014 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 17641 |
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LEDs should be immune from vibration, they are all solid state, nothing to physically break. I have used LEDs in several applications on bikes, and only once had some fail, when I did the sums wrong and pushed them beyond their rated voltage.
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Brian.
Better 5 minutes late in this world than years early in the next. |
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telegraphroad
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: M11 J8 Status: Offline Points: 204 |
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Well my ten T5 wedge LEDs arrived today and I have replaced both indicators, main beam and neutral tell tales. Of the ten, nine worked so the dud was pulled apart in the interests of research. I can report that each one is a regular white LED with a 470ohm resistor in parallel and no reverse voltage protection diode in a small plastic case. My holders were _just_ about serviceable but I won't be surprised if I lose the odd connection after a while. The secret to finding the right items was to realise that the bulbs listed as T1 1/2 are interchangeable with T5 wedge bulbs and equivalent LEDs. In general it seems you can get drop in replacements for most bulbs in LED technology these days and not too expensive. My ten T5 wedges were a couple of quid inc. postage off eBay. I can now see the indicator and neutral tell tales in daylight which is quite a novelty. They are significantly brighter and I like the instant light characteristic of the LEDs.
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V50 Monza
VFR 800FI Herts / Essex border |
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Brian UK
Moderator Group Joined: 13 May 2014 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 17641 |
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The construction would suggest that they have to be in the right way round?
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Brian.
Better 5 minutes late in this world than years early in the next. |
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telegraphroad
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: M11 J8 Status: Offline Points: 204 |
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Yep, they do. Shiny light one way, nothing the other just as you would expect. I tested them for polarity before I used them as for the price paid I assumed there wouldn't be much in there other than the LED itself. The dud was a dud right from the packet. I did decide to subject a good one to a reverse voltage test and the sample of one was robust to a 5 second reverse voltage of 11.8V (ignition on, engine off). The series resistor is soldered to the lead right up against the body of the device and although the plastic encapsulation hasn't melted I suspect heat damage to the junction is the reason for the dud.
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V50 Monza
VFR 800FI Herts / Essex border |
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Mike H
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: East Anglia Status: Offline Points: 8733 |
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Are you absolutely sure about that? E.g. a car can be like a greenhouse if parked out in the hot sun. |
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"Chicken nuggets don't dance on a Tuesday."
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Mike H
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: East Anglia Status: Offline Points: 8733 |
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As far as I can see the main reason for using LED's is so there's no filament that can fail. Which they can typically merely by being used and so have a lifetime of so many hours.
Also power is much less. Proper automotive LED lamps will have not only a dropper resistor but may be reversible, by virtue of having 2 LED's actually, arranged 'back-to back' in parallel and with opposite polarity. |
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"Chicken nuggets don't dance on a Tuesday."
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telegraphroad
Senior Member Joined: 21 May 2014 Location: M11 J8 Status: Offline Points: 204 |
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My incentive for using LEDs was primarily for visibility. The 1.2W filament bulbs are just not bright enough to be seen through 30-year-old plastic lenses in bright sun, or any sun for that matter. The small indicator repeaters are particularly difficult to see and as far as I'm concerned are a safety critical item particularly on a bike when you have no audible feedback. If I replace them less often that's a bonus. If I end up replacing them more often I won't mind because I prefer to be able to see them. The difference in visibility between the filament bulbs and LEDs is significant and LED brightness does not vary with voltage in the same way. As has been said before the LEDs are so bright I would not use them for anything which is permanently illuminated as it would become annoying very quickly at night.
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V50 Monza
VFR 800FI Herts / Essex border |
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