Replaced Tach and Speedo Bulbs with LED - Canadian Edition

[cogsman]

Hi All,

In my efforts to not pay a small fortune for LED bulbs from the US, I found the following on eBay and decided to purchase:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/201279513197?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I cannot speak highly enough of Still00kin007's stuff.

The bulbs were cheap, 4 for $11 Canadian shipped when I bought. 2 from SuperBriteLEDs were going to cost me $20 shipped.

The ones above are 5 emitter bulbs, but they fit perfectly into the gauges without modifications. Here is a pic of the bulb lit up before I seated it:



and here is a shot of the gauges lit up:



I was ecstatic about the outcome of this. The light dispersal was pretty decent. Even though this is a blue bulb, it gives a "purple-ish" vibe... which matches perfectly with my Valk that has the Magenta paint.

Our US brothers have a great LED selection, but we Canadians are getting screwed on the exchange rate and on shipping. Hopefully this post helps some of you in the Great White North save some money. And for our US bros, given the exchange rate these days, you might get a better deal too.

[salty1]

They turned out well, nice an bright.   

[WintrSol]

Our US brothers have a great LED selection, but we Canadians are getting screwed on the exchange rate and on shipping. Hopefully this post helps some of you in the Great White North save some money. And for our US bros, given the exchange rate these days, you might get a better deal too.

I hear the same thing on the model aircraft forums; some claim that there is a 'transfer fee' going from a US carrier to a Canadian one. Try ordering a $5 lipo battery, and you will really get screwed.

[Beardo]

Thanks for posting that. I might just have to do the same. Looks good.

Edit: just ordered them. Thanks again. 

[cogsman]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

[WintrSol]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Yes, you can just put a LED in the tail lamp. You want to find the highest Wattage 1157 equivalent bulb, in white or red. I have a 3W LED in mine.

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

Here is where the resistors or LED compatible flasher come in. If you keep the stock flasher, it will go into hyper-speed, thinking the bulbs are out. You also have to change the wiring to the turn indicator (or take it out), since it connects one side to the other.

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

Plug-and-play on the tail lamp only; if you can find the right size bulb, the license plate lamp can be upgraded, too.

[crash1980]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

I wasn't happy with the brightness of my tail light so I replaced it using 1157 LED replacement, the kind that has the flat squares all around it in white.  When I pulled the cover off, I was shocked to find a led in there already.  I was a red with the stacks of ball diodes in it.  The white upgrade inside the red cover was brighter, so I'm happy with what I put in.  I got them as a 2 pack at O'Rileys.... Brightest LED they had.

[WintrSol]

The stock bulb puts out between 400 and 440 lumens, and it can be a challenge finding a LED replacement that bright. The early ones could barely be seen in daylight (tried them, went back to stock). They are much better now, but you have to read the specs carefully.

[saddlesore]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

I use a plug and play board form Radianz.  It has the 1157 base and goes to a board.
http://www.radiantz.com/VTX-Shadow-Valkyrie-Aero-Sabre-Ace-Retro-p/9012-11.htm

[cogsman]

For the turn signals, I'm seeing LEDs on eBay that claim to have the resistor built in... is that possible? Would they work?

For the license plate light, does anyone know off-hand the size bulb needed?

[cogsman]

The stock bulb puts out between 400 and 440 lumens, and it can be a challenge finding a LED replacement that bright. The early ones could barely be seen in daylight (tried them, went back to stock). They are much better now, but you have to read the specs carefully.

I'm finding 7W LEDs that put out 500+ lumens... there are even 11W and 30W bulbs... I guess my question would be is 7W or more putting a load on the electrical system that defeats the power savings of an LED bulb in the first place?

[WintrSol]

The stock bulb puts out between 400 and 440 lumens, and it can be a challenge finding a LED replacement that bright. The early ones could barely be seen in daylight (tried them, went back to stock). They are much better now, but you have to read the specs carefully.

I'm finding 7W LEDs that put out 500+ lumens... there are even 11W and 30W bulbs... I guess my question would be is 7W or more putting a load on the electrical system that defeats the power savings of an LED bulb in the first place?

The stock bulb is 21W/5W, ~440/35 lumens. Once the stock brightness is met, the bigger concern for me is, how wide is the beam. Many are very bright to the rear only, and can hardly be seen from the side. It's only a real concern for the running light portion, of course.

[Oldnick]

The stock bulb puts out between 400 and 440 lumens, and it can be a challenge finding a LED replacement that bright. The early ones could barely be seen in daylight (tried them, went back to stock). They are much better now, but you have to read the specs carefully.

I'm finding 7W LEDs that put out 500+ lumens... there are even 11W and 30W bulbs... I guess my question would be is 7W or more putting a load on the electrical system that defeats the power savings of an LED bulb in the first place?

The stock bulb is 21W/5W, ~440/35 lumens. Once the stock brightness is met, the bigger concern for me is, how wide is the beam. Many are very bright to the rear only, and can hardly be seen from the side. It's only a real concern for the running light portion, of course.

I feel 400-440 is a bit high for brakes, and 35 for running a bit low. The maths do not add up, lm/W, between the two and I thought incandescent gtlobes ran at bout 12...maybe 15 at best lm/W. That would give 240-300 brake and 60-75 running. I would be interested in your thoughts.

[Oldnick]

I do have a comment about ebay vs such as Ledsupply. With Ledsupply I reckon you will get pretty much what you are told you are going to get in lumen terms. Ebay and other places play pretty fast and loose with figures. They will say you are getting "9W" of LEDs that put out say, 800lm, when in fact they underdrive them and you get 5-6W LEDs putting out ...500-600lm. You are getting 9W LEDS, but not 9W's worth of light. In lower-power auto versions this is not so bad, because many of them have no drivers, relying instead on resistors, but I bet there are still plenty of dodgy ones, because even "the same" LEDs can vary hugely in light output for the same power, if they are not sorted (binned) properly, but bought as a job lot by the manufacturer. They can seriously vary differ by as much as 50% at worst case.

Then you get the ones that are _over_ driven to get more light, shortening their life....sometimes drastically.

[Gryphon Rider]

The stock bulb puts out between 400 and 440 lumens, and it can be a challenge finding a LED replacement that bright. The early ones could barely be seen in daylight (tried them, went back to stock). They are much better now, but you have to read the specs carefully.

I'm finding 7W LEDs that put out 500+ lumens... there are even 11W and 30W bulbs... I guess my question would be is 7W or more putting a load on the electrical system that defeats the power savings of an LED bulb in the first place?

The stock bulb is 21W/5W, ~440/35 lumens. Once the stock brightness is met, the bigger concern for me is, how wide is the beam. Many are very bright to the rear only, and can hardly be seen from the side. It's only a real concern for the running light portion, of course.

I feel 400-440 is a bit high for brakes, and 35 for running a bit low. The maths do not add up, lm/W, between the two and I thought incandescent gtlobes ran at bout 12...maybe 15 at best lm/W. That would give 240-300 brake and 60-75 running. I would be interested in your thoughts.

The relationship between Watts and Lumens (with incandescent bulbs, anyway) is not linear.

E.g. Typical household bulbs:
40W - 450 lumens
60W - 800 lumens
100W - 1600 lumens

Standard specs for an 1157 bulb:
27/8.3W
32/3 candlepower
402/38 lumens

[WintrSol]

Also, the stock bulb is not an 1157: http://www.webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-technical-articles/triumph/brake-lights/light-bulbs.htm

[..]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

I use a plug and play board form Radianz.  It has the 1157 base and goes to a board.
http://www.radiantz.com/VTX-Shadow-Valkyrie-Aero-Sabre-Ace-Retro-p/9012-11.htm

Being a cheapskate I decided to buy an eBay alternative.

What a piece of poop. Doesn't fit the shell  and about 30 percent of the LED's didn't work. Still brighter than a regular bulb.

eBay decided I could return the item for a full refund. Return it to Hong Kong. I don't think so.

I'm going to take another look at it and see if I can "make" it fit.

Might end with a Radiantz anyway.

[saddlesore]

I have been reading about replacing the rear brake light with an LED, and the threads that pop up talk about replacing a lighting board, adding resistors, etc.

It's all giving me a headache lol...

Question 1: can i just pop an LED bulb (red) into the socket where the current brake light bulb sits?

If so, what size bulb do i need to fit?

Question 2: can i do the same thing with the turn signals (amber LED bulb)?

I'm looking for a plug-and-play solution, just like the gauge lights. If I have to start adding circuit boards or resistors and such, I won't bother. My goal here is to add brighter, longer lasting lights wherever I can, and reduce the load on my electrical system overall.

I use a plug and play board form Radianz.  It has the 1157 base and goes to a board.
http://www.radiantz.com/VTX-Shadow-Valkyrie-Aero-Sabre-Ace-Retro-p/9012-11.htm

Being a cheapskate I decided to buy an eBay alternative.

What a piece of poop. Doesn't fit the shell  and about 30 percent of the LED's didn't work. Still brighter than a regular bulb.

eBay decided I could return the item for a full refund. Return it to Hong Kong. I don't think so.

I'm going to take another look at it and see if I can "make" it fit.

Might end with a Radiantz anyway.

If I remember correctly I had to modify something in the shell even though it was said it wasn't needed.. I used a cutting disc on a dremel tool to cut a portion of the metal insert.

[Oldnick]

"
The relationship between Watts and Lumens (with incandescent bulbs, anyway) is not linear.

E.g. Typical household bulbs:
40W - 450 lumens
60W - 800 lumens
100W - 1600 lumens

Standard specs for an 1157 bulb:
27/8.3W
32/3 candlepower
402/38 lumens"

Interesting. Been a long time for me. More tied up with LEDs lately. NOw I have to go and find out why the globes do that....

[Oldnick]

Just (another  ) comment. Those dash lights look nice and bright and maybe too bright on a dark road at night. For a couple of bucks off fleabay you can get little plastc-cased clickers that dim 12V LEDs by stages.They are designed to take 5050 LED strips and can handle quite a current. You should be able to dim yours usiing one, I think. They should be simply resistor controlled just like the LED strips.

I  am assuming that dash lights you have modded  are all wired together. If so you can control the lot with one dimmer.

The only thing that makes me wonder is that a single LED running on 12V is a different story from 3 LEDs in series running off 12V....higher resistor value

I installed LEDs for my headlamp repeaters for indicator  etc and the HB light is way too bright at night, though useful during the day in case I trip the HB switch by accident. I am going to grab a dimmer and give it a go. If you want to waita dn avoid stuffing about, I can tell you of success or failure. It will goad me into action .

.

[MarkT]

As I mentioned in another thread I replaced Jade's instrument bulbs with LED's (from superbrightLEDs I think) and then added a pot to dial them up or down.  The pot really adds to the mod.  You can dial the lights off until after dusk then turn them on to whatever brightness you like.  With the lights off, at dusk when your numerals used to disappear, now they stay black and have great contrast.  The pot was a pretty easy install, just running the wire and it's connection is the most effort needed.



BTW I also installed a Radiantz board in Jade's taillight.  It required a small mod with a Dremel.  Also modified the turn signals with LED boards, the relay circuit mods detailed (for Deerslayer) at ]http://www.horseapple.com/Valkyrie/Tech_Tips/VTX_signals/vtx_signals.html], 1157 sockets and clear lenses.

[Oldnick]

Yeah I was going to say you could just use a pot. Hoiw did you calc the value and what power capability was the pot? I know that all  depends on the LED, but it would be interesting and to know how you calc'd the values. If my little controller works, it would handle any LED that did not have its own driver installed (most auto stuff I reckon)

[MarkT]

Don't know & didn't calculate it.  I just have some pots in various ranges in my kit and plugged them in for a smoke test.  This one worked great and I wasn't curious enough to meter it before I installed it. Sorry can't say what to buy.  But if I was to figure it beforehand, I'd use one of the online LED hobby blogs like http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/ledcalc.php, use their formulas with the specs of the LED's to narrow down the range.  Maybe just buy several of them in ranges close to the calculations, cheap at Electronic Goldmine.  http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1111

[Oldnick]

HAH!  Luck of the draw enginerring! I am rather fond of that myself.

[Oldnick]

Hi All,

In my efforts to not pay a small fortune for LED bulbs from the US, I found the following on eBay and decided to purchase:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/201279513197?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I cannot speak highly enough of Still00kin007's stuff.

The bulbs were cheap, 4 for $11 Canadian shipped when I bought. 2 from SuperBriteLEDs were going to cost me $20 shipped.

The ones above are 5 emitter bulbs, but they fit perfectly into the gauges without modifications. Here is a pic of the bulb lit up before I seated it:


and here is a shot of the gauges lit up:

Can aynone tell me what I am asking for to order these, please? I have emailed the Canadian guy asking about postage, since they seem good. But I am not looking forward to a cheap freighted to Australia! and I may have to source somewhere else.

Thanks

[Blackduck]

Nick,
Have a look at Bright Light Auto Parts.
I run the 5 LED ones in mine, tight squeeze getting them into the housing.
Had 1 only last about a year, so no real thoughts on quality.
Still tied up painting panels.
Cheers Steve

[Oldnick]

OK thanks for that. I will check them out. Yeah LEDs and lifetime is always dodgy,

Nurries on the carbs, mate. I have other troubles. I forgot to dog the catches on the storage box on the trike on a country run. Box is a "suicide door" version...figure the result. Bit of repair work to do.