ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Good LED applications

gfretwell

These lamps run on 120 Volts DC so the Capacitor wouldn't work. hence the resistor option. ( loss in R's is about 1.2 Watts at 8 mA's)

I did trials with LED lamps on 230 Volts AC with a capacitor which had premature faillures of the LEDS.
Possible spikes on the mains had a different timeconstant and went straight through the Capacitor.
These were used as potential indicators on CT meters.
Also for this option a resistor was chosen. To dissipated one or two Watts in a resistor is better than having a 15 watt filament bulb lasting about 2 months.

Here is a site that has alot of LED lamps.
http://superbrightleds.com/
Rod

Dashboard lighting.

LEDs have been introduced on traffic lights here over the last couple of years ("here" for me meaning the city about 20 miles away -- I'm too far out in the sticks to have traffic lights nearby!). They really get your attention because of the quick "snap" from one light to another. As yet I haven't noticed any suffering from problems, although the climate here is much milder for both extremes of temperature than most parts of the U.S.

Some late-model cars here are using LED lights as well. The center-mount high-level brake light is the most common candidate for them, but I've seen a few using them for other lights as well. They seem to be hybrid arrangements though; I've followed at least a couple of vehicles with amber LED turn signals on the rear but still with conventional filament lamps for tail/brake lights.

Pauluk: Have you seen the new Range Rover out that uses the same set of "transparent" LED's for your normal red stop and tail lights but change to amber when the turn signal is activated? Looks really sharp IMHO !

A.D

No, I haven't seen that one, but if I'm interpreting your description correctly I don't think it would be allowable here under the British vehicle lighting regulations.

All vehicles manufactured for the U.K. since the mid 1960s have been required to have amber turn signals which are completely separate from the red brake lights. This is a problem that those of us with North American vehicles with combination red brake/turn signals often face come inspection time. It's a matter of finding a good inspector who will "bend" the rules a little for an import! (Some British 1950s/early 1960s cars also used combined red brake/turn lights on the rear.)

I thought the amber turn signal lights came from Japan and I assumed it was just because they didn't figure out how US manufacturers did the combo thing. It sure made wiring trailer lights harder.

Off topic, but it is too bad people dont know how to use turn signals.

Hmm Maybe these were some aftermarket thing that I saw but I am sure I have seen them more than once on a couple newer Range Rovers I have seen over here. That or its a North American thing for the 'Rover
Off topic a bit. Most North American vehicles I see now are going to separate lamps for turn signals and brake lights. Weather they are " red and red" or "amber and red" they are separate lamps.

Norcal: Turn signals must be the same as the posted speed limit is around here " JUST A SUGGESTION" LOL

A.D

Dashboard lighting. - Yes they are great from the anticipated reliabilty point of view, but don't make the mistake I did.
I bought a Blue led conversion kit for my old Volvo, because dismantling the panel is a *** job. Thought they should last for ever; very fashionable, blue, too.
No-one mentioned that you can't see a red pointer in a blue light when the background is black!
At least I'm getting quicker at dismantling it.