LED bulbs revisited

[dan filipi]

I've tried a few LED's in the signals and stop light always going back to regular bulbs because the LED's were very noticeably dimmer.
There have been improvements with many more side LED's to take advantage of the reflector like incandescent bulbs do.
king1 pointed out to me that Superbriteleds.com carries a auto bulb line now with an 1157 for tail light with 18 LED's and they also have one with 45 LED's.

$17.95

$24.95

The 45 LED looks like the one to get, brighter is better.

Has anyone tried this one?

 

[rock42]

do you know of a auto parts store that might have them?

 

[AApple]

My brake/tail lights are like the top one. I'll agree that they are not as bright as I think they should be. I have heard that colored LEDS will work better...for instance, in the brake light, ad red LED would work better. Mine are white. Pep Gurls has them in red/blue/amber(orange), but they are like $30 each. The white ones are like $19.

I'm almost ready to put some incandescent 1157s back in there and see how much brighter they are...
I can't afford to spend $60-$80 for a couple of really good LEDS... :crying:

 

[joedrum]

gee thats how much they cost ...thats crazy exspensive ...not me ...they must think its gas or something ... :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :head bang: :head bang: :mrgreen:

 

[ekvh]

I thought I read that this style just dumps the voltage to ground and thus won't save any wear and tear on the stator.

 

[joedrum]

yes thats axactly what it dose...it only helps if someone is realy lighting up the bike in normal riding mode as not to exceed the maxium output its not working the sator any less :mrgreen:

 

[skiri251]

I think webBikeWorld did a test on SuperBrightLEDs in the past.

According to their latest comparison, either Radiantz or CustomDynamics LEDs are now brighter than incandecent.
This is about direct plug-in replacement for 1157 etc.

https://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/led/led.htm

Well, the curves on the LED vs. incandescent brightness graph have just crossed, because this 1.85" light cluster with 48 individual LEDs, manufactured by Radiantz, is a pretty cool product. This is the first direct plug-in replacement for an 1157 tail light/brake light that appears brighter than its incandescent cousin.

 

[AApple]

I did change my brake/tail bulbs to regular 1157s when I got home today, and they are definitely brighter then the LEDs I had in there...also much hotter! :heat: Tried to put the LED bulbs in the front turn sigs, but they wouldn't fit in the hole....story of my life... :crying:

 

[scdmarx]

I have Custom Dynamics on my 82 standard. I think they are just a tad lesser than incandecent when it comes to brightness, and that is only against direct sunlight. At night I think they are noticably brighter. Impressive for LED in my opinion. I am useing direct 1156 & 1157 replacements, same color as the lens. Red lens = red light, amber lens = amber light. I paid about 5-6 bucks each for them. My plan was to add driving lights to light up the road in front of me, but I haven't got to it yet. I'm still shopping for some good bright driving lights that won't suck the battery down without running at wide open throttle. (and won't cost $300)

 

[king1]

do you know of a auto parts store that might have them?

I know of no auto parts stores that carry the SMD line if led's.... But if they did the price would be prohibitive enough to keep them on the shelf. The round 18led dual intensity tail lamp fires straight rearward. With enough brightness to get those cagers attention day or night... SMD's just may be more than you need. And the cost of the ones i use are right around $7.00ea.! get them here.. www.superbrightleds.com just remember to match your bulb color to your lens color.. White or clear will just wash out your lens color. you do not want that.! King1

 

[king1]

gee thats how much they cost ...thats crazy exspensive ...not me ...they must think its gas or something ... :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :head bang: :head bang: :mrgreen:

Joe... thier just looking in the wrong place to buy the led's.. that's why they get this= :head bang:

 

[dan filipi]

I just found this place, good prices on bulbs we use.

https://www.ledlight.com/fog-running-light-leds.aspx

 

[dan filipi]

Those just might work, chas!
I wonder how they'd look in a light fixture at the top of a column.
I was hoping to find one with a colored lens.

Good prices.

$9.99

This is what they'd be replacing

 

[dan filipi]

Uh paint would block the light unless you know of some transparent paint made for this.

 

[89-300ce]

Sorry I just found this thread.
I recently upgraded to led and used these

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... &viewitem=

They are very bright and available in amber and red. You have to use the same colour led as the lense because led light is very narrow spectrum. Also when you are looking for surface mount led's (SMD) as in the original post look for 5050 format. These are effectively 3 led's on one chip and I would expect the $18 5050 bulb to be brighter than the $25 3528 for that reason. Note the one in my link has 30 5050's which would be equivalent to 90 3528's. They are $17 for a pair and they are bright.

The 5050's are quite distinct, you can clearly see the 3 emitters on the chip and they are much larger than the 3528's. Be aware that if you use "these" particular bulbs in a circuit with other incandescent bulbs (front blinkers) that you have to add schottsky diodes. Cheap and easy.

viewtopic.php?p=23730#p23730

Jorg

 

[dan filipi]

I never knew that about SMD's, I'm going to order a couple of the 1157 for the brake light.

 

[mcgovern61]

I never knew that about SMD's, I'm going to order a couple of the 1157 for the brake light.

The one item I noticed when I tried LED 1157's is that the light is red and the license plate (which is lit from the 1157's) is not lit anymore (which is required in NJ).

 

[89-300ce]

I never knew that about SMD's, I'm going to order a couple of the 1157 for the brake light.

The one item I noticed when I tried LED 1157's is that the light is red and the license plate (which is lit from the 1157's) is not lit anymore (which is required in NJ).

Good point.

These led's are configured for 360 degree application like the original 1157 incandescent bulbs. They rely on the existing reflector to "fill" the taillight like the incandescent bulbs did. These red LED's will light your plate just like the incandescents but it will be red. I ordered these

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... &viewitem=

to illuminate the licence plate. I wasn't sure if the license plate being lit red would have been an issue (I suspect not as the law around here doesn't even seem to notice if there is no plate at all) but I ordered the illuminated bolts just in case.

Don't use white led's in the taillights to resolve the license plate issue. Yes they would light the licence plate with white light ( going through the white part of the lense ) but you would lose a lot of output through the red lense for the brake/running light.
Jorg

 

[barlee]

Hi you can pick up the l e ds at alomst any rv suppler

 

[Ansimp]

I like the looks of these 11watt
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281054673953
They may be too bright havent tried them yet because of the cost. I have tried some white 7watter that are really bright. These ones may be too bright if there is such a thing.