Has anyone replaced the brake/direction indicator bulbs with LEDs? If so, what LED’s did you use, where’d you get them, was it a direct replacement, did you have to do any wiring?
Thanks for your time.
Paul
NEVAccessories.com sells a complete GEM LED brake light unit that should be a piece of cake. SuperBrightLEDs.com sells all sorts of auto LED bulbs which should physically fit. Only problem may be the LED current draw on the turn signal which is much less than the draw from a non-LED. The mechanical blinker assembly is designed for a higher current draw and may not blink or may blink at a faster rate. To solve this, you might need to add a load resister to the circuit to increase the current draw. Haven’t tried it so can’t give you any first-hand advice.
I’ve looked into the idea of LED lighting but never found any compelling reason to replace brake/turn signals. These two circuits aren’t that much of a current draw and aren’t “on” often enough that often to justify the expense and bother IMO. Now headlights {and tail lights} would be but I haven’t found any direct replacements without a significant “fiddle factor”.
Al
Paul I put these on my eS… they are the great… I added the LED turn signals to the front and find that I haven’t had any blinking or power problems… not sure what NEV’s pricing is but these were $27 and they came in about 4 days… seller is great
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Bob
Bob,
Good point! I believe you added the LED units in addition to the existing bulbs. In that case, the current draw would be cumulative and everything would work fine. From reading Paul’s original post, it sounded like he wanted to replace the units which would result in a vastly reduced draw. The NEV units appear to be a direct replacement for the OEM rear lights and as such may include a built-in load resister. They’re $31 btw.
Al
thanks Al for pointing out the pricing… I think I paid the $27… the rear lights were a ‘replacement’… the front lights were an add on and I left the stock ones in line… I also added a ‘squeaker’ to remind me to turn the signals off…
Bob
One thing I’ve learned recently is that you can purchase an electronic replacement blinker at NAPA rather than a thermo-mechanical unit. The price is a bit higher for the electronic unit but not terribly so.
The electronic version flashes consistently regardless of circuit load. That would be ideal for LED turn signals with their low current draw. The “old school” thermo-mechanical unit relies on the circuit’s total current draw to flash at the right rate. That’s the reason when you burned out a bulb, the circuit would “hyper-flash” rapidly and you knew a bulb was out on your turn signal somewhere.
I learn something everyday!
Al