LED lights

[twilson@motionwear.net]

I'm working on improving the running lights on the TC and am investigating the LED lights being manufactured for custom motorcycle applications. They use very little amperage (milliamps compared to amps), are extremely bright, very small, and last a long time. It looks like it would be an easy retrofit into existing D lamps and front parking lamps.

Anyone have experience or thoughts on this?

Tom Wilson Motionwear Inc. 1315 Sunday Drive Indianapolis, IN 46217 Office (317) 780-0609 Fax (317) 780-4188

[David and Joyce Edgar]

Tom, I have been playing around with this also. I have taken a LED stop/brake unit used in the trucking industry and taken the guts and have worked it to fit into a D lamp. I took this approach as I did not know which LEDs would be bright enough or how to wire them together. My prototype is partially done. Need to work out a plan to mount the circut board with LEDs and compontents securely in the D lamp but holding it together results in a very bright glow and very low amp draw. As far as the front parking lamps go there are white emiting LED units mounted with a bayonet base that should fit right in. Check out the following web site: http://www.theledlight.com/ledbulbs.html In fact I just went to that site and they have added some more units that may even work in the D lamp now. Expensive is a key work here. LED emit light in a directional pattern so the units have to be mounted with that in mind. David Edgar, TC 5108 La Mesa, California

>I'm working on improving the running lights on the TC and am >investigating the LED lights being manufactured for custom >motorcycle applications. They use very little amperage (milliamps >compared to amps), are extremely bright, very small, and last a long >time. It looks like it would be an easy retrofit into existing D >lamps and front parking lamps. >Anyone have experience or thoughts on this? > >Tom Wilson >Motionwear Inc. >1315 Sunday Drive >Indianapolis, IN 46217 > >Office (317) 780-0609 >Fax (317) 780-4188 > > > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the >http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>Yahoo! Terms of Service.

[Stan Kurzet]

Folks: Since this is not the first time I've seen this come up, in the past couple of weeks, here's what you need to know about this. LED signal lamps are made commercially and can be found at the larger automotive parts/accessory houses. They do get pricey. If you want to make your own, it's easy, but there are some strict rules that must followed, and like everything else, there is a right way and wrong way to do it. The problem with LED's is that unlike a light bulb, it does not draw increased current linearly as applied voltage varies about the nominal rated value. Assuming a 12 volt system, the car's electrical system under worst case conditions, can vary between 9 and 14 volts, and higher if the regulator is improperly adjusted. While this sort of variation is not fatal for a 12 volt bulb, unless one takes special measures, it will wipe out LED's. An LED is intrinsically 1.3 volt gizmo (varies slightly with color and temperature). At 1.2 volts, an LED produces virtually no light. At 1.5 volts, you kill it. A bulb, however, is almost as bright at 11 volts as it is at 12, and 15 won't kill it. Jumbo LED's made specifically for sign applications can handle upward of 0.06 amps continuously and produce a very bright light. Ten such units in an array makes an adequate tail light/turn signal. You can wire 5 to the brakes/turn signal and 5 for the running light portion. Now, if you wire 5 in series which will need 6.5 volts, you will need to absorb the remaining available voltage. Here comes the rub. If the remaining voltage is 2.5 (9V bus) a 42 ohm resistor will limit the current to .06 amps. But if the bus is at 14 volts, the required resistor to get rid of 7.5 volts is 125 ohms. Now if a 125 ohm resistor is used to limit the current to .06 amps when the bus is 14 volts, then the lamps will only get .02 amps at a 9v bus. At .02 amps, they will produce a totally unsatisfactory amount of light. The solution is a current regulator. If you're handy with a soldering iron, this can be made from a couple of bucks worth of parts available at Radio Shack. If anyone wants to do that, it takes a transistor, 2 resistors, and a diode for each circuit. That is, it takes one regulator for the stop lights/turn signal and one for the running lights. Surplus houses like Electronic Gold Mine in Scottsdale, AZ, Tel 602 451 7454 often have the jumbo LED's and the rest of the parts for well under Radio Shack pricing. That's where I buy most of the parts for my projects. Give 'em a call and they'll send you a catalog. If you give me the type and number of LED's you want to use, I'll work out the circuit values and wiring diagram for you. The thing to look out for if you decide to buy instead of build, is this. Some commercial units try to get around the voltage variation problem by simply wiring each LED with its own resistor across the bus. This way, the variation to be absorbed is reduced. With just 1 LED per circuit the voltage variation across each resistor is 7.5 to 12.5 volts. That produces a significantly noticeable but not altogether objectionable light intensity variation. So, if you want the best performance, before you buy, determine if the unit has active current regulation as opposed to just resistors. Stan TC2569

----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] twilson@motionwear.net [b]To:[/b] mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Wednesday, February 28, 2001 4:40 PM [b]Subject:[/b] [mg-tabc] LED lights I'm working on improving the running lights on the TC and am investigating the LED lights being manufactured for custom motorcycle applications. They use very little amperage (milliamps compared to amps), are extremely bright, very small, and last a long time. It looks like it would be an easy retrofit into existing D lamps and front parking lamps. Anyone have experience or thoughts on this? Tom Wilson Motionwear Inc. 1315 Sunday Drive Indianapolis, IN 46217 Office (317) 780-0609 Fax (317) 780-4188 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

[LuckyFloridaLin@aol.com]

Dear Tom : Great idea. Hope we can come up with the answer! Tally Ho! Thom Collins

[Tom Poole]

Bob Watts and Jack Smittle are working on these too and have developed a neat magnetic instalation for TC's. I am using leds installed in EXU lamp housings and bolted to the gastank on my TC as well as a long LED as a brake light suspended from the luggage rack. Thanks, Tom Poole

----- Original Message ----- [b]From:[/b] twilson@motionwear.net [b]To:[/b] mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Wednesday, February 28, 2001 7:40 PM [b]Subject:[/b] [mg-tabc] LED lights I'm working on improving the running lights on the TC and am investigating the LED lights being manufactured for custom motorcycle applications. They use very little amperage (milliamps compared to amps), are extremely bright, very small, and last a long time. It looks like it would be an easy retrofit into existing D lamps and front parking lamps. Anyone have experience or thoughts on this? Tom Wilson Motionwear Inc. 1315 Sunday Drive Indianapolis, IN 46217 Office (317) 780-0609 Fax (317) 780-4188 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

[Mgt1jack@aol.com]

For those t-abc members who may be interested Bob Watts and I have developed a LED lighting system for the rear of MGs to improve safety on the road. This is a completely removable unit, held on to the top of the gas tank with 2 magnets. The light unit will have a red running light, a high intensity brake light and amber turn signal lights. A removable control will be available to place in the vehicle which will be used to activate the flashing turn signals. These LED light units provide the super bright lighting frequently seen as a third brake light on many current vehicles. Because LED lights only draw 1/5 to 1/10 the current of conventional bulbs you will not experience the discharge caused by halogen replacement bulbs, plus you will get the lighting up higher where it is readily visible to drivers following you. With an average life of 100,000 hours (over 11 years left on continously) these units will give years of safe driving. Information and pricing on these LED lighting units will be ready for mailing in approximately 4 weeks. If you wish to receive a mailing of full details e-mail your snail mail address to Jack Smittle, mgt1jack@aol.com to be placed on the mailing list. At this time we expect to start taking orders in about 6 weeks with a delivery of a completed unit, specifically designed for your model of MG, to be 4 weeks after receipt of an order. Full instructions and supplies for installation will be supplied with each unit. BOJA LED LIGHTING a division of O.F.A.P. MG Parts

[Carl Fritz]

May I suggest visiting the web-site at: http://www.superbrightleds.com This outfit has a number of products which might be of use to TABC owners, including plug-in LED units which fit into regular bulb sockets (2 varieties- one with ordinary orientation; and the other with 90 deg. offset), flashers built for use with LEDs, etc. Prices seem to be quite reasonable to me. (Usual disclaimer---I have no financial or other involvement with this outfit) Regards, Carl Fritz TC 6756 VA 2009 Saloon Gainesville, Florida _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazine s 2007 editors choice for best Web mail award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_pcmag_0507

[fnitz]

But watch out for polarity. Most bulb replacements are for negative ground and will not work on a positive ground without modification. Also check out www.autolumination.com Fred TC1353 -----Original Message----- From: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com [mailto:mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Carl Fritz Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 8:22 AM To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com Subject: [mg-tabc] LED lights May I suggest visiting the web-site at: http://www.superbrightleds.com This outfit has a number of products which might be of use to TABC owners, including plug-in LED units which fit into regular bulb sockets (2 varieties- one with ordinary orientation; and the other with 90 deg. offset), flashers built for use with LEDs, etc. Prices seem to be quite reasonable to me. (Usual disclaimer---I have no financial or other involvement with this outfit) Regards, Carl Fritz TC 6756 VA 2009 Saloon Gainesville, Florida _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best Web mail-award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migratio n_HM_mini_pcmag_0507 Yahoo! Groups Links

[i.thomson.t21@btinternet.com]

Alex in Maine wrote:

"LEDs don't care about a car's reference point. As long as DC current flows through them in the correct direction they will emit light."

While this is true for an individual light like the brakes, led lights are wired up to accommodate multiple clusters of brakes, side lights, and, perhaps, indicators.  These clusters are fed with a common return wire and individual switched wires.  If changing the polarity these need reversing by swopping around both the common wire and the switching wires.

Ian Thomson

Notts.  UK