LED upgrade for brake, turn, and tail lights

gus · December 09, 2014, 07:48:11 PM

Quote from: lostagain on December 09, 2014, 08:44:10 AM
I am thinking about making my lights brighter, so I will be seen on the highway better. Should I just replace the bulbs with LED ones? Would they make it brighter? Looking at bulbs online, I see 130 lumens, 250 lumens, etc... How many lumens does it take to be brighter than the old incandescent bulbs? And if a LED bulb is rated 12 volt, but the data sheet says 8V to 30V, could it be used in place of a 24V bulb?

Or should I replace the fixtures? My bus is a 5C, same lights as a MC8. 7" stop lights, and 5" tail and turn signal lights.

I would prefer just replacing the bulbs if doable.

JC

There are many directly LEDs that directly replace bulbs.

There is one problem with turn signals. a resistor is necessary to make the low power LED operate the blinker.

LEDs are no brighter, brightness depends on design, the LED advantage is life and low power draw. The disadvantage is high cost and getting an LED to throw light in the correct direction, there are dozens of configurations. Their greatest advantage on a bus is for tail and running lights because there are so many of them and they draw a lot of power.

So far I've found none suitable for HL.

Scott & Heather · December 11, 2014, 02:33:39 AM

LED's can be brighter than an incandescent bulb. Just compare some late model LED brake lights on a car with the incandescent brake lights of a car next to it at your next stop light. Quite a difference. But as Gus said, depends on design. Cheap LED lights can actually be dimmer. If you put LED's in your front and rear turn signals and don't change anything on the side marker turn signals running down the side of the belt line of the coach, you won't have an issue with your blinking rate changing. No need for a resistor. I'm running LED turn signals and brake and tail lights without issue. They are from American Superlite and they work well. Rated for 24v. My clearance lamps are superbrightled brand and they are 12 volt.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Clumsy fingers may contribute to mistakes.

bevans6 · December 11, 2014, 04:06:52 AM

Scott, my brake light is a 24v superlite 7" unit fwiw. Are those the 4" units just held in with a rubber gasket inside the 5" holes in the MCI plinth? That would be exactly the upgrade I'd like to see for my bus.

Brian

Scott & Heather · December 11, 2014, 06:57:43 AM

Yes sir. The top and bottom came like that matching the holes. The center one as you can see wouldn't fit, so my uncle
Mike fabbed an aluminum ring that I riveted in place. Never got around to painting it black tho

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Clumsy fingers may contribute to mistakes.

Iceni John · December 11, 2014, 12:58:29 PM

I have to replace my bodyside turn indicator lights, so I was thinking of having two LEDs per side instead of the present one incandescent per side. I'll be keeping my front and rear incandescent turn indicators, so each turning side will have two incandescents and two LEDs in total. Will this still work OK with my present flasher, or will I need a resistor? I'm hoping the overall load per side won't be much different than now.

Thanks, John

bevans6 · December 11, 2014, 01:15:12 PM

It depends to some extent on the flasher. Old ones were quite current sensitive, and the "feature" was they changed speed with even one bulb out. Other ones were "trailer" flashers, so they flashed the same speed if the trailer was connected or not. Solid state ones flash the same regardless, even if there is no bulb or LED at all. Mostly you will find that if you keep one incandescent per side you'll get some kind of flash, regardless.

Brian

gus · December 11, 2014, 06:29:04 PM

Quote from: bevans6 on December 11, 2014, 01:15:12 PM
It depends to some extent on the flasher. Old ones were quite current sensitive, and the "feature" was they changed speed with even one bulb out. Other ones were "trailer" flashers, so they flashed the same speed if the trailer was connected or not. Solid state ones flash the same regardless, even if there is no bulb or LED at all. Mostly you will find that if you keep one incandescent per side you'll get some kind of flash, regardless.

Brian

True, sometimes they flash super fast, but you never know for sure until you try one.

I tried some just recently on my minivan with double filaments and they didn't work.

Iceni John · December 11, 2014, 08:48:33 PM

Thanks, I'll give it a try. Maybe if they flash slightly faster it will get people's attention better, maybe? That's another mini-project to do, along with all the other mini- and maxi-projects . . . (I've learnt to always have a simple mini-project at the same time as a bigger project, so if/when I hit a snag I've still got something else to do!)

John

Jim Eh. · December 12, 2014, 12:53:42 PM

If you want to stick with incandescent lighting, simply putting in new bulbs should make a noticeable difference.

The main advantage to going with LED is the speed in which they illuminate. Next time you are beside a tractor trailer watch the timing difference between truck and trailer. If one is much faster then those are the LEDs. You can actually see a difference. It may not make a difference city driving but could relate to illuminating as much as 50 feet sooner.

Jim Eh. · December 12, 2014, 12:54:02 PM

Quote from: krank on December 12, 2014, 12:53:42 PM
If you want to stick with incandescent lighting, simply putting in new bulbs should make a noticeable difference.

The main advantage to going with LED I think is the speed in which they illuminate. Next time you are beside a tractor trailer watch the timing difference between truck and trailer. If one is much faster then those are the LEDs. You can actually see a difference. It may not make a difference city driving but could relate to illuminating as much as 50 feet sooner.