LED's 1157/1156

[humboldtfjrz]

I have an 07, i just put in the Kragen Auoto 1156 and 1157 LED bulbs in the tail and turn sig. i noticed the turn sig flash quicker. is that just from les resistance in the bulb causing the flasher the be quicker or am i about to damage something ? thanks

 

[PhilMills]

I have an 07, i just put in the Kragen Auoto 1156 and 1157 LED bulbs in the tail and turn sig. i noticed the turn sig flash quicker. is that just from les resistance in the bulb causing the flasher the be quicker or am i about to damage something ? thanks

Yes, it's because of the lower resistance of the LED, no, you're probably not going to hurt anything.

I think this is what happens: Fancy electronic turn signal flashers (like in many new cars and the FJR) use that fast-flash to let you know that one of your signal lamps is out). A nice, efficient LED draws little enough current that it gets mistaken for a dead lamp.

You can either:

1) Add a resistor in-line with the tail light (cutting, splicing)

2) Replace the flasher module (there's been some recent threads on this - it's up in the nose someplace)

3) Find a different LED module (there's some out there with a built-in resistor)

4) Live with it.

When I had my BMW F650, I had an opposite problem - i put in aftermarket turn signals (the originals got scraped off by some rocks) that drew double the power (22W each) of the factory ones. On the BMW, this gave an ultra-fast flash because the flasher was drawing too much current and heat-cycling. I replaced it with a $5 mechanical flasher unit from the autoparts store - plug and play on the F650.

 

[mcatrophy]

...Yes, it's because of the lower resistance of the LED, no, you're probably not going to hurt anything.

...

Higher resistance (less current draw).

...1) Add a resistor in-line with the tail light (cutting, splicing)

...

Add resister in parallel (across the LED) to draw the conventional bulb's current from the flasher - a 21 watt bulb has a (hot) resistance of about 6.8 ohms. I would guess a 10 ohm, 20 watt resistor across - it will need mounting on a heat sink - one for each side.

 

[Fred W]

adding a resistor in parrallel would satisfy the flasher, but negate the power savings of the LEDs. A special LED flasher that doesn't have the blown bulb nanny built in is what you really want.

 

[Patriot]

use add-ons...I kinda like Hyperlites

 

[Zissky]

I did the same

added the 1156/1157 LED bulbs to the rear AND added the resistor to fix the 'hyper-flash'

While I was able to get the LED bulbs to work at their normal flash rate, my ABS warning light would blink while the LEDs were in.

(I went for a spin around the block to make sure it wasn't an issue of the ABS sensor/wheel up on centerstand/yadda yaddaness)

I don't know how the ABS ties in with the whole load resistance thaing..

 

[Fred W]

I don't think the ABS should care a whit about your brake lamps. Maybe it's unhappy because it thinks your brakes are on all the time?

Did you happen to compare the light output on your LED tail lights (brakes off) to the stock bulbs?

 

[Harald]

I don't think the ABS should care a whit about your brake lamps. Maybe it's unhappy because it thinks your brakes are on all the time?

Did you happen to compare the light output on your LED tail lights (brakes off) to the stock bulbs?

The ABS does care about the brake lamp for exactly the reason you stated. If it thinks the brake in on all the time, it will turn on the ABS light. And I know this how? My rear brake light switch was out of adjustment, causing the brake light to stay on and triggering the ABS warning. :angry: Adjusting the rear brake switch fixed the problem. :yahoo:

 

[Zissky]

I found that when I put the stock bulbs back in place, the ABS light stopped blinking and all was fine.

which sorta bugs me..as I want to go with LED bulbs

 

[todd493]

use add-ons...I kinda like Hyperlites

Thanks for the link those are Saweet

 

[dcarver]

What was the intent?

Reduce current draw or greater night visibility?