LED sidelights & indicators

[Orkney]

Any have any experience of these?
Scored a couple of new bulb holders plates & wiring with S/H bezels and lenses on ebay the other day for a really good price.
The bulb holders on scab are shot to nothing.
Got to thinking well if I'm going to replace them then why not try and find LED replacement bulbs- that way given the longevity of them should be able to do a really good job of sealing the lenses on - they shouldnt need to come off regularly for blown bulbs so a good opportunity to eliminate a moisture collection point.

Can they be got for our type of bulbs? and do they really last as long as tey are supposed to?

[moggyminor16]

well i have them on my traveller rear side tail and indectors and on the front headlight and indectors .i dont know if they do the same bulbs for the number plates ,i have angle eye head lights so there for i have no side light with the indector like normal
but i have asked around to see if they do them bulbs we all need for the number plate lights but no answer as yet

[ColinP]

The only problem with LED indiators is that you'll need to buy the ones with the load resistors.

If you don't, the flasher unit will not pass the correct current - the flashing rate will be wrong - if it works at all...


Cheers,

Colin

[rayofleamington]

for the front sidelight unit, the main problem is sealing the wire entry - not the lense
The new ones I've had recently have a really poorly made boot so that water entry through the wire access is guaranteed. This will cause very premature corrosion and failure. On those ones I added some mastic to the wires to get them to seal to the boot.

On the original Lucas design boots, the seal to the wires was almost good enough not to worry (until the boot perishes).

If you're going to seal the lense, make sure you leave a hole at the bottom. Otherwise that could just fill up with water. I managed to do this on my first Minor when i didn't know better - selaing the rear light cluster lense worked too well as they turned into mini goldfish bowls!! Water aroung hot light bulbs is a bad thing therefore the bulbs failed

Good point about the flasher unit - these need enough current to work correctly. I fitted LED stop and tails on one car (to use clear lenses) and despite what it said on the packet, the light output wasn't as good as a normal incandescent bulb

[bmcecosse]

Not sure these LED bulbs are legal!! No point really - new bulbs are dead cheap and do last a v long time. I brightened mine up by fitting a collar of 'chrome' plastic (from a food package) behind each bulb - makes a big difference.

[Packedup]

I posted a few months ago about legality of LED bulbs. It appears you don't need e marked bulbs pre 72 (or 73, or some time around then), only sufficient light of the correct colour. So legality isn't really an issue.

LED bulbs are a little quicker to light up, use less power and last a long time. They can also be had online for not much more than Halfauds flog filament bulbs, so are definitely worth thinking about.

[bmcecosse]

Ahh - that's interesting. But since I have a large box full of bulbs, it's going to be a long time before i need to buy any!