Inexpensive LED brakelights

[cederholm]

Hi guys,

NY drivers can scare the crap out of you sometime, and I'm one of them. To help the phone-fumbling taxi driver behind me notice that the bright yellow antique in front of him is stopping, I made some LED brake light "bulbs" from some Harbor Freight shop lights. They plug into the standard socket, run on 6v pos ground and fit behind the stock lens. Just put them in last night and I'll report back in a few weeks on how they've held up.

I posted a small "how to" on the HAMB

Hope you find it helpful.

~ Carl

[jwilliams81]

Originally Posted by cederholm

Hi guys,

NY drivers can scare the crap out of you sometime, and I'm one of them. To help the phone-fumbling taxi driver behind me notice that the bright yellow antique in front of him is stopping, I made some LED brake light "bulbs" from some Harbor Freight shop lights. They plug into the standard socket, run on 6v pos ground and fit behind the stock lens. Just put them in last night and I'll report back in a few weeks on how they've held up.

I posted a small "how to" on the HAMB

Hope you find it helpful.

~ Carl

Nice job.
I just bought a pair of these:
https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/l...l-light-lenses

[jhowes]

Can you give us a Harbor Freight number to go by? I see LED's advertised that run on a different voltage than 6, so I wonder how sensitive they are to voltage. I am told that they will burn out if the voltage is too much. How about some guru in electronics chiming in. Jack

[cederholm]

Hi Jack,

The item number is #67227. Out of the box they run on on 4.5v and they do have a resistor on the board. My electronics buddy says most LED work within a range and since i'm only 1.5v over the intended use, I should be good.

That said, you might very well be right which is why I built it 100% reversible. I'll keep the original bulb in my on-board tool bag and if they burn out I can go back to stock in minutes.

~ Carl

Originally Posted by jhowes

Can you give us a Harbor Freight number to go by? I see LED's advertised that run on a different voltage than 6, so I wonder how sensitive they are to voltage. I am told that they will burn out if the voltage is too much. How about some guru in electronics chiming in. Jack

[katy]

1.5 v is a lot when it comes to LEDs. I'd either add a resistor or replace the original one.

[Jerry in Shasta]

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Be careful which LED you use.The bright white soetimes called cryistal white, has a blue tint to it.
When that blue white shines thru a red stop light it shows up GREEN. IE red and blue make green

.JB

[P.S.]

If you over-current LED's, they will certainly be brighter...for a little while. They will fail much faster when run over-current. Usually, just one individual LED at a time. Or, in the case of your adapted HF units, they will fail in groups of two or three.

Remember, your 6 volt Model A has about 7.5 volts (or more) on it when the motor is running and the alternator or generator is charging.

[Hoogah]

Originally Posted by Jerry in Shasta

Be careful which LED you use.The bright white soetimes called cryistal white, has a blue tint to it.
When that blue white shines thru a red stop light it shows up GREEN. IE red and blue make green

.JB

???

My red and blue crayons make purple! My blue and yellow crayons make green.

[daveymc29]

So the Ace Mechanic is back with a question about LED's. Do they put out light or do they, just like conventional bulbs, absorb dark until they are full and fail. Look at a conventional bulb that no longer works and you will see many of them are black. The dark has not drained out of them and the ones it has drained out of are no longer capable of absorbing more dark. I'm no electrician so I can't explain it. I discussed this with a physicist friend and he could only tell me that I had spent too muck of my youth out behind the barn when I should have been chopping wood. Not sure how that has anything to do with LED's.
Dave Confused

[cederholm]

You might be right, more so when the car is running and the voltage spikes. I'll investigate what resister to use. Ohm's law I think

Originally Posted by katy

1.5 v is a lot when it comes to diodes. I'd either add a resistor or replace the original one.

[cederholm]

30+ years as an artist/graphic designer/creative director and I can tell you blue and red do not make green.

That said, I see the point you are making. And even more important I've discovered my brake lens is yellow, not red. I think I should do something about that.

~ Carl

Originally Posted by Jerry in Shasta

Be careful which LED you use.The bright white soetimes called cryistal white, has a blue tint to it.
When that blue white shines thru a red stop light it shows up GREEN. IE red and blue make green

.JB

[cederholm]

Whoa! I'll need more coffee before I can tackle this.

Originally Posted by daveymc29

So the Ace Mechanic is back with a question about LED's. Do they put out light or do they, just like conventional bulbs, absorb dark until they are full and fail. Look at a conventional bulb that no longer works and you will see many of them are black. The dark has not drained out of them and the ones it has drained out of are no longer capable of absorbing more dark. I'm no electrician so I can't explain it. I discussed this with a physicist friend and he could only tell me that I had spent too muck of my youth out behind the barn when I should have been chopping wood. Not sure how that has anything to do with LED's.
Dave Confused

[KGBnut]

Originally Posted by daveymc29

So the Ace Mechanic is back with a question about LED's. Do they put out light or do they, just like conventional bulbs, absorb dark until they are full and fail. Look at a conventional bulb that no longer works and you will see many of them are black. The dark has not drained out of them and the ones it has drained out of are no longer capable of absorbing more dark. I'm no electrician so I can't explain it. I discussed this with a physicist friend and he could only tell me that I had spent too muck of my youth out behind the barn when I should have been chopping wood. Not sure how that has anything to do with LED's.
Dave Confused

Dave,

Nice use of the "dark suckers" theory. Do we next discuss the use of dihydrogen monoxide in the radiators?

Ken

[slammin]

Originally Posted by KGBnut

Dave,

Nice use of the "dark suckers" theory. Do we next discuss the use of dihydrogen monoxide in the radiators?

Ken

Whats to discuss?

I replaced the standard 6V brake light bulbs with LED bulbs. I was not impressed. Before switching both sides, I compared brightness and didn't see a major difference between the LED and incandescent. Next I guess I will spend the extra bucks on the replacements that have an array of LEDs.

[updraught]

LED's are quite directional. That is, the light comes out in one direction. The led equiped lenses point them in the right direction.