Mr. Dare? (LED 1157 bulbs)

[yellow98cobra]

Ok I will pm you my address. I think since it appears that the Diodes will slide in between the bulb socket wires and the wiring harness connectors no more than 6" to 8" Looking at your diagram I think i see an error with how i have wired the resistor?

[simplyconnected]

Eric sent me a LED bulb, the dropping resistor and a new socket.

After doing extensive current readings on his bulb, here is the retrofit diagram (click on the picture for a printable size):



Some resistor values and descriptions changed but not much else. I took pictures of my meter readout showing current draw for the tail light and Stop/Turn circuits.

The bulb Eric sent me has (eighteen - 5mm X 5mm) LEDs. These are commonly known as 5050 bulbs because each LED is 5.0mm square. (Each of these squares actually has three LEDs that look like one.) Along with "5050", sellers usually include "SMD" which simply means, Surface Mounted Device.

When I connected each side to power, they both showed no difference between Stop or Tail brilliance. Current readings were high/low but again no difference in brilliance. That tells me the LEDs are over-driven which shortens their life. Brake/Turn lights remain at full brilliance because they are rarely on for more than two minutes.

BTW, 1960 Squarebirds may use all three lights on each side for Stop/Turn & Tail lights, simply by adding another socket and an 1157 LED. LEDs also make sequential repetitions appear more crisp and focused. - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

Thanks Dave that looks real good. I was walking aroud the local o'Riellys auto parts and snapped pictures of the Red LED bulbs they have for sale (I did not buy them). They dont say how much current they draw just that it is less then the regular 1157. I liked how you could see inside where they have diodes wired in.

[simplyconnected]

Alright Eric, I finally got around to testing your LEDs in a Ford car.
Click on the picture..

I was going to put pictures up of the current readings but it isn't really necessary.

We just proved that LEDs can and should be used in your tail lights. If someone with a 1960 Squarebird wants to do all three on each side, it's an easy task. - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

WOW Looks Great, Now I think we need to add Film Editor to your resume. I have some before videos of my taillights after I do the conversion I will get some after shoots. Then I will need to figure out how to stitch it together (this where I call on my 14 year old for help). Thanks again for your help. Eric

[YellowRose]

Mr. Dare?

I have been following this thread from the beginning and learning.. I like Dave's choice of music! Thanks for the demo as to what it looks like with the LED's, vs the 1157!

[yellow98cobra]

Big Thank You to Dave

With Dave Dare's most generous help, Thank you Dave. After some trial and error we got the the Taillights swapped over to LED's. The 2 Outer lights now blink and are Red led's and the Backup lights are White led's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL2V0i8brDU

[simplyconnected]

Don't thank me Eric, I just drew the diagram and you did all the hard work.

Your lights look really great. I like the backup lights a lot, your signals are flashing at the right rate, brake lights are bright and the tail lights work well. Nice work, Eric.

Hey BTW, can we use your video as an example of a good LED retrofit? - Dave

[yellow98cobra]

"Hey BTW, can we use your video as an example of a good LED retrofit? - Dave" Sure thing, Iam still working on stitching the before videos together. but my windows movie software keeps telling me I dont have enough time.