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Bought some rear LED lights to replace the standard bulbs for the rear lights. Unfortunately after fitting the following happened:
1).. The rear T20 Amber indicator LEDs made the indicators flash too quickly (requires a resisitor)
2).. The Rear T20 white tail/stop light LED made the light look too orange, would easily be pulled by Plod & fail M.O.T.
3).. Could only manage to source a 5 SMD LED T10 LED for reverse lights (same as side lights, should be T15 for rears) These worked but did not project the same amount of light as the original bulb.
See picture above of New LEDs in action (Except rear LEDs)
Next step is to try some red LED T20's and some larger T10 White Leds for the rear reverse lights
Comments
led's
Unfortunately you WILL have problems with replacement LED bulbs!
First off, if you use for indicators you MUST install the resistive kit which you can usually get from same suppliers. With the INDICATORS this is(mainly) to fool the flasher unit into thinking the LOAD is correct. If you don't do this they will flash at incredible rate or not at all.
The colour quality varies from one supplier to the next. I got some for my trailer (cos standard bulbs don't last due to vibrations!)
- the indicator ones are great as they are brighter.
The side/stop lights are good too and VERY RED. I got them from M99.com and very cheap too!
Sometimes my wife calls me Victor................
www.fourwheeldriveclub.com
www.surrey4x4response.org.uk
Agreed.
Have now put in Red SMD T20 LED Tail/Stops and this has improved the colour output. I have kept the Indicator bulbs at the moment. Also put in some SMD T10 LEDs to replace the T15 standard Reverse light bulbs. These are brighter than the standard bulb but will need to see what they are like in the dark to see how much light they project.
The White T20's I oroginally bought for the rear Tail/Stop I have now used one of these for the rear Fog light.
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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP
Savings
I support the view that LEDs can save the world and having already changed to sidelight LEDs I shall change the tail/stop similarly (and thanks to jpor for doing the research).
However, in a rare free moment (huh?) I thought I'd calculate the savings made by changing to LEDs - in this case only the side and tail lights which are on all the time in night driving. All other lights which could be converted to LEDs are very intermittent.
The power saving in fitting the LEDs is 7W. If you cruise at say 40bhp, nearly 30kW, the saving of 7W represents 0.024%, so you would be saving that percentage of fuel costs. Hmmm!
Offset this saving by the cost of the LEDs if you weren't replacing a dud incandescent, reinforce the gain by the extended life of the LED...and I've suddenly thought of something else I should be doing.
YRV Tony
Forgot to mention the rear license plate Illumination
Forgot to mention that I have also replaced the standard rear license plate bulbs with the same LEDs used for the side lights. One thing to bare in mind if the license bulb covers haven't been touched for a long time then 2 things may have happened;
a).. The screws have rusted badly (mine had) so make sure you have replacements
b).. The covers can become brittle, so be careful when removing.
Again these lights play a part when you put you side/main lights on and as Tony has pointed out can give you a saving.
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'12' Plate Mazda MX-5 2.0 litre NC 3.5 Venture Roadster 160BHP
'15' Plate SEAT LEON 184 FR TDI. 240BHP/500nm Torque.
Past: '53' Plate Yellow YRV Turbo Approx. 150BHP
Oh no!
Oh no, I always forget something! I'll change the rear licence plate light too.
Re the rusted screws, I always give any rusted screw a squirt of Supertrol when I notice it...when the rear hatch is lifted in this case.
YRV Tony
Correction
Unfortunately my hypothetical car above was only fitted with one side light, one tail light and no licence plate light.
The real car will save about 18W if correctly kitted out with LEDs in these positions. That's a saving of about 0.06% in power and fuel when cruising at 40bhp (30kW).
YRV Tony