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What do you think of the Amber LED turn lights??

1K views 10 replies 0 participants last post by  Tom 
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#1 ·
Guys:<br> <br> I just got off the phone with Jerry from myroadster. He says that he is going to be receiving some AMBER LED bulbs for the front & rear turn signals. He noted that it will also have a load resistor on it since the LEDs itself do not draw enough current to trick the flasher circuit to know that the bulbs are ok. Hence, without the load resistors, the flashers would blink real fast.<br> <br> Anyway, the bulbs are about $25 each, so would be $100 for 4. What do you guys think about this addition?<br> <br> I just ordered the brake light LED bulbs for now.<br>
 
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#2 ·
LED brake lamp bulbs are now available for $19...

As I said in the subject line, the super high intensity red LED bulbs are now available for $19 through formymercedes.com. However, I also already have the $25 amber ones (ambers are more expensive since they will now come with the load equalisers as part of the package).<br> <br> I ordered them from Jerry a little while ago (received them with my LED brake lamp bulbs) and boy do they look nice. Very crisp on/off when flashing, and they're clear when unlit so you get the same clean looking styling effect that you would from the Phillips SilverVision bulbs.<br> <br> I ran into the load equalisation problem though, and await the load equalisers to correct the problem. I'll keep everyone updated on that.
 
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#3 ·
Re: LED brake lamp bulbs are now available for $19...

Hi, Drew<br> <br> This could be interesting. There's just one thing that puzzles me: The rear turn indicator bulbs are mono-filament - and could thus be replaced with a LED bulb without any problems. Likewise, non-US/CAN ML's have mono-filament turn indicator bulbs in front - no problem. But how is the issue of the dual-filament (5/20 W) bulbs used in North American ML's solved??<br> <br> BTW, I'm still searching for a way to put LED bulb(s) in the stock CHMSL. It will require some fiddling about, but I think it can be done. While I do like the 20-inch strip, I'm a bit wary about 'leakage' during night driving.<br> <br> Kind regards,<br> Birger
 
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#4 ·
No problem...

The front headlamp turn signal bulbs in the N.A MLs are 1157 bulbs. Since the LED bulbs are available in this size, it's not a problem. The 1156 bulbs will work with the European headlamp signals with a little bit of tweaking.<br> <br> As for the 3rd brake lmight, the issue is not whether you can physically fit an LED bulb in there (because you can). The issue is that the odd angle that the bulb is positioned at causes the bulb's 'head' to point towards the passenger's side of the vehicle instead of directly back. This also causes dark spots in the reflector when it's lit using a conventional LED bulb.<br> <br> Unless you instend to break the bulb holder out of the reflector and reposition it, or do some soldering and taping, I don't see how it could be done. I'm working on an alternative though, which you should see in a couple of weeks.<br> <br> As for light leakage from the 20' strip, there is very little that reflects off the glass and downwards onto the cargo floor (you cannot see it in your rearview mirror).
 
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#5 ·
Re: No problem...

Good morning, Drew!<br> <br> What I'm wondering about is how you get the low-intensity amber light at the front to work with the LED bulbs. Do those # 1157-similar LED bulbs have the LED's divided into two sections, one small for the marker function and a larger one for turn indicator?? If this is the case, this is really cool!!<br> <br> And, moreover, if you could get two-intensity red LED bulbs, you could use these in the lower rear light/rear foglight positions. Complete LED rear light units would be a first (apart from the (halogen) backups). Worth thinking about....<br> <br> My (as yet unimplemented) plan for LED'ing the CHMSL would involve other bulb sockets, maybe off a Chrysler minivan. I've done something like that before with the CHMSL on my wife's Sebring cabrio, which was delivered with a dummy (empty) CHMSL. ANd as I still see it driving around town, I know it works 3 years later ;-)<br> <br> Enjoy your day - the latest news from PP has certainly made mine a bit brighter<br> <br> Birger
 
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#6 ·
Re: No problem...

Nah, the bulb just lights 1/2 as bright for the parking lamp position. Moot point for me since I disabled that feature. This way, the bulb flashes on/off for my ML. I'll work on city lamps in the headlamp a little later.<br> <br> I've got to ask, why bother with the 3rd brake light? I would be inclined to simply buy the two LED bulbs for the main taillamps and leave the 3rd brake light alone<br> <br> The ML uses a odd bulb type for the rear taillamps. Additionally, the lamps are seady on all of the time, so you wouldn't get the quicker lighting benefit that the LED provides anyway (unlike the brake lamps). This is why I haven't bothered trying at all. Amber LEDs, on the other hand, then on/off a lot more crisply and really do set one's vehicle apart from the others out there.
 
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#7 ·
More on LED bulbs....

Hi again<br> <br> Very interesting - it was my impression that LED bulbs were either fully on or fully off. You learn something new every day ;-)<br> <br> So, at this moment, you have no amber front marker lights? It will be interesting to see what solution you find for the 'city lights'. I have a hunch you may go LED there also, as the needed hole is really much smaller than what is needed for a normal 5W bulb.<br> <br> Are they using the same bulb type for front and rear??<br> <br> The reason why I'd bother with LED'ing the stock CHMSL is that I find the instant-on feature very useful. But I also care about the esthetics - otherwise I would just have re-fitted the LED bar from the old Chrysler. Unfortunately, because it's made up of a number of Hella units, it doesn't give of a constant light, it's more like this:<br> <br> ********** ********** ********** **********<br> <br> which bothered me a bit already back when I had the Chrysler.<br> <br> You're right that LED isn't required for it's instant-on qualities in the rear light/foglight cluster. I must admit that it's more a question of looks and durability ;-)<br> <br> Cheers,<br> Birger
 
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#8 ·
For a tutorial on LEDs, please go to-

http://www.lumiled.com/technology/technology_index.html<br> <br> and click on 'Technology Overview'. Foil 7 shows L-i (light vs. currect) curves indicating the possibility of varying the light output in a continuous fashion via current control. Note that this company has its roots in HP Labs and has been the driven in high brightness LEDs such as those used in traffic lights and auto lights.
 
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#9 ·
Birger...

I think that I was a little unclear in my last message (3:47am ;-)). What I meant was since the ML's rear running lamps and brake lamps are separate, why not fit the LED brake lamp bulbs for the ML's main brake lamps and then leave the 3rd brake light alone with the incandescent bulb. <br> <br> This is currently what I have for my own vehicle and it actually works pretty well; I think I sent you the video clips in which you can see the main brake lamps illuminating faster than the 3rd brake lamp.<br> <br> Heh, city lamps should be interesting since I'll have to do some drilling. Yes indeed, I do not have any amber side markers right now.<br> <br> The way that the '02 lamps are designed though, the city lamp hole (which is not punched through for the N.American lamps) is not in direct view of the lamp opening. That is to say, you cannot drill it easily since the drill bit will go in slanted. I'll have to see if there is some sort of flexible attachment that I can purchase to alleviate this.<br> <br> Actually, I did think about using the incandescent W5W bulb for the city lamps (which is what you have). However since I may not be able to find a socket for the bulb, I may have to bodge the installation (some solder, wires, and a glue gun perhaps) and therefore I will go with LEDs so that I never have to worry about them burning out.<br> <br> As for my 3rd brake light bodging, think along the lines of twin high intensity mini LED strips ;-)
 
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