I really like the look of the LED tails, and I'm planning on replacing my 93 taillights with some 97+ ones and will probably have this done. One quick question though, only slightly off topic: when upgrading tails, will the turn signals do that cheesy hyper-blink thing? If so, is there any way to get them to signal normally?

 

Get a variable resister and when you get it to a speed that you like get fixed resistors

 

Heh heh, go on, I dare you to try that.

 

 

Well thanks, I'm now completely confused.

 

the best solution i have for you is to leave the extra bulb in place and wrap it in a heat resistant foil wrap. Slide it to the side, or extend the wires to where it can be hung under the rear deck and never seen.

 

What? It says here and here to use a resister to get rid of the hyperblinker.

 

Thanks for those links 0l33l. I'm still a little confused by the inconsistency of everyone elses answers but that sheds a little more light on things

 

No problem I was just giving away info that was already posted on the board.... if it is wrong then everyone should blame the original author and not the messenger

 

To restore the blinking rate, you will probably need to suck down like 10-15 watts. Unless you are spending $30 or $40 on a high power rheostat, which will still get very hot, you will be using a 1 or 2 watt pot. Try to stick an amp through that. It cannot dissipate that much heat, and will most likely smolder, burn or pop. Whatever happens, it'll get real hot real fast. You'll burn your fingers and probably drop it onto the carpet in your trunk.

I would not wrap a bulb in foil. It will pop too in a very very short time as it cannot dissipate that 21 watts it wants to. If anyone has a spare bulb-burnout-sensor I could pull it apart and mod it. I am an electronic engineer.

 

Wow, 2 Electronics Engineers on the board. You should know about heat diss. thermal wrap then. It is designed to lower the temp coefficient, effectively lowering the bulb overal temp by as much as 35 degrees, bringing it to a safe level.

FOIL is for baking chicken.

 

Eh.. all I read was "foil wrap". I've seen some wraps that are good at lowering C/W on some devices, but I wouldn't think they would do too well around a light bulb... most of its heat leaves as radiation?

I dunno, and quite frankly it's not the right solution. The right solution is to pop open that module and modify or replace it so that it does the intended job properly for the LEDs.

In practice, I would probably just stick a bigass resistor on the LED board though.... cos who can be bothered doing all that work for a tail light? But I wouldn't want light bulbs hanging around in my trunk or something..

 

Fred i agree with you, it just isn't pheasable for the average joe. I can definately come up with more technical solutions, but the average joe needs to do it as simply as possible. I'm thinking over here

 

u can also use sandstone resistors correct? thats what i have on my led turn signals. it fixed the blink rate.

 

suprised nobody said that LEDS are SAFER as well..

response time to a LED light turning on versus a bulb adds to response time people have to react and hit their brakes...