LEDs

D

DBC

New member
to those that upgraded their light bulbs to LEDs,did any of you purchase resistors or flashers also to make them work with your turn/signal lamps? reason im asking is because i been pondering about upgrading mines on my 89 nissan 240 and im just wondering how hard it is do to this upgrade/mod. i been looking at the superbrightleds.com website and they have wiring instructions and all but i just want to make sure that when i do upgrade my bulbs to LEDs that i purchase all the necessary resistors/flashers i need to make them work for my car.TIA!



Rob
 
I wouldn't change the turning signals to LEDs..you can't see them during the day. More of a hazard than anything IMO.
 
just curious,how is it a hazard?i would think they emit light better than someone having tinted/covered lenses that wont show too well.. only reason i can see them being a hazard is if the sunlight is significantly brighter than some places.
 
robert said:
just curious,how is it a hazard?i would think they emit light better than someone having tinted/covered lenses that wont show too well.. only reason i can see them being a hazard is if the sunlight is significantly brighter than some places.
Click to expand...



Yes, they WILL be a hazard when used as blinkers. LEDs are extremely directional, no matter how wide of a viewing angle they may have. Ones from factory are tested for large viewing angles with ultra-bright, high-current LEDs, plus they often employ reflectors to further improve the angle. Aftermarket LED blinker bulbs do none of that; they are cheap, unreliable, and unproven; three of the reasons reputable companies do not make blinker LED bulbs. They will be several times less bright than a $2 halogen bulb from Wal-Mart. I have seen some that are nearly invisible under direct sunlight.



My opinion: Don't do it.



P.S.: superbrightleds.com is a joke. I bought their white 5-LED 194 bulb to illuminate my hatch's interior area and half of its LEDs died after no more than 20 minutes of total usage time! I know many others who had the same experience.
 
alright thanks Mani and Kaval for sharing your experiences with them.



Mani-any suggestions on any other sites i can purchase some LEDS then to use for my sidemarkers and stop lamps?im also planning on upgrading my headlamps using the Hella H4 housing conversion.
 
the same theory holds for side markers and stoo lights. Using them for stop lights is even worse IMO.



You CAN get away with using them for sidemarkers, but make sure you get the wide angle ones. I personally still think they do not belong on the exterior of the car, except for those that are built in to the mirrors.
 
ManiZ said:
P.S.: superbrightleds.com is a joke. I bought their white 5-LED 194 bulb to illuminate my hatch's interior area and half of its LEDs died after no more than 20 minutes of total usage time! I know many others who had the same experience.
Click to expand...
Funny...I've used the same LEDS now for well over a year and 30k km's. Haven't had any issues yet besides hyperflashing which was remedied pretty easily.
 
grease said:
Funny...I've used the same LEDS now for well over a year and 30k km's. Haven't had any issues yet besides hyperflashing which was remedied pretty easily.
Click to expand...



Good for you!



I have replaced their 194 bulb 4 times thus far in less than a year. They are known for over-driving their LEDs which kills them prematurely.
 
ManiZ said:
Good for you!



I have replaced their 194 bulb 4 times thus far in less than a year. They are known for over-driving their LEDs which kills them prematurely.
Click to expand...
I know all about their problems, just stating personal experience. Why replace the same bulb 4 times if its such bad quality? After 2 premature failures, Id be looking at another product.
 
robert said:
alright thanks Mani and Kaval for sharing your experiences with them.



Mani-any suggestions on any other sites i can purchase some LEDS then to use for my sidemarkers and stop lamps?im also planning on upgrading my headlamps using the Hella H4 housing conversion.
Click to expand...



If 194 bulb is all you need for your sidemarkers (generally the case), PIAA makes a nice one (w/ single LED); you will find it at many online retailers. Even car dealerships and stereo shops sell them.



For brake lights, most definitely DO NOT use LED bulbs; unless you want someone to rear-end you and transfer the blame over to you!



The LED section on hidplanet.com forums is full of very useful info.
 
grease said:
I know all about their problems, just stating personal experience. Why replace the same bulb 4 times if its such bad quality? After 2 premature failures, Id be looking at another product.
Click to expand...



I had bought 4 to begin with as I wanted to use two in my headlights as well to replace the parking light bulbs so I had them sitting around. After constant failure in the hatch, I just went ahead and did a custom-drilled LED install in the headlights while I had them open for painting the housing smoked gray. They are now my parking lights.
 
hell superbrightleds . com is where I bought mine from and they worked bad ***. I had them in my tail lights/brake lights, rear blinkers and front blinkers and never had one problem. I had clear tail lamps(not that euro tail light crap, real clears) and you could see all of them during the day and especially at night. The front ones had an amber lense and they were seen just fine in the day. Just get the ones that have more LED's and cover a bigger area. They are a bit more expensive but I had no problems with them. The only thing I had (which has already been said) was that they blinked a lot faster cause I didn't get the resisters.
 
I have to disagree with people saying LED's are bad. I've made my own LED sidemarkers, my brake lights are LED stock, and I just got done fabricating my own LED turn signals :D



Sequential LED Rear Turn Signal - G35Driver



But I am using high current (70mA) LED's on all of mine, not the kind you buy from superbrightleds.com or vleds.com. My turn signals are at least as bright as stock. In that link I have a video comparing the two.
 
MidnightG35X said:
I have to disagree with people saying LED's are bad. I've made my own LED sidemarkers, my brake lights are LED stock, and I just got done fabricating my own LED turn signals :D



Sequential LED Rear Turn Signal - G35Driver



But I am using high current (70mA) LED's on all of mine, not the kind you buy from superbrightleds.com or vleds.com. My turn signals are at least as bright as stock. In that link I have a video comparing the two.
Click to expand...



My taillights are LED stock as well. That isn't what this thread is about. It is about replacing stock halogen bulbs with LED bulbs, not invidividual custom-made LEDs.
 
thanks everyone for the advice. what im gonna do is buy one bulb for the front turn signal lamp and side marker along with the flashers/resistors since i think they both work together simultaneously as parking/turn signal lamps and see if its not discernable enough to view in bright daylight that they are hazardous to use.as for the stop lamps, the same.of course ill go ahead and get the LEDs for the license plate.



i looked at hidplanet.com and couldnt really find what *I* needed to know.



Jay-the issue you had with your blinkers,is it normally because of the low power draw hence the reason why theres a need to get a resistor?what about using a flasher unit and what does it do exactly?sorry for the questions since im not familiar with this.



Midnight-cool little project you got there!hope everything works out well for you



thanks again people for the advice!
 
I wouldn't use an LED bulb in anything safety realated..such as signals and brake lights.



I went through about 4 different manufacturers and types of bulbs trying to find a good brake light replacement for my motorcycle..with no luck.



The key is that the reflector and bulbs have to work together. If you've noticed, no LED systems that are factory are of the single bulb socket type..always rows of multiple light units
 
Putting LED's is a little tricky. Since they draw less current, your car might think a bulb is blown and cause the lights to act funny (letting you know there is a 'problem').

With exterior lights, putting in LEDs causes 'hyperflash' which makes your turn signals blink twice as fast.



You can get around this by modifying your flasher module. You'd have to look on a Nissan site to see if anyone else has done this. The problem with resistors is they can heat up and could cause a fire.

061014_flasher_module.jpg




I went with the modified flasher module route using amber and white Switchback LED Tower Bulbs.

060930_switchbacks_off.jpg




Parking lamps:

060930_switchbacks_white.jpg




Signaling:

060930_switchbacks_amber.jpg




Here is a quick video at night. They are also bright during the day. I know what your thinking; no I am not trying to impersonate a law enforncement or official vehicle.

The only draw back is that they aren't pure white, more of a bluish/white.



Interior LED's (map lights, floor, and rear door handles)

051111_bridge8.jpg




I wouldn't use LED's for brake lights though. Like everyone's said, unless you can fit a truck round light, they just aren't bright enough.
 
wow this is pretty discouraging.im not blaming any one of you,just the thought of not being able to use LEDs in non LED housings bummed me out.i can understand this much at least that LEDs and the housings need to be able to work well together to perform.at least i can still use LEDs for my interior dome light and license plate right?:sadpace:
 
Yeah you could do the license plate lights and dome light. The only thing I foresee is that once you see how yellow your other interior lights are to the white led dome light, you'll want to change them all ;)



04_frontinstaled.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top