LED or Stealth rear turn signals

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

I researched this quite a bit last night after having to replace an inboard front turn signal.
What an ordeal. Took me about half an hour.

I see 3 possible problems with the ones you're proposing.
1) I'm pretty sure the base on the H21W in the front turn signals is a BAY9s, (not BA9s, which is straight across like on the angel eyes).
Looks like those are BAX9s. They have a different angle on the pins.

2) The H21W has 600 lumens. That's a lot of punch. You may find these to be too dim. This is the closest thing I've found, 300-400 lumens, but I don't know if the heads will fit into the fixture, and there's little doubt they'll cause an error.

3) The front turn signals are also run at low power as marker lights. Results will be unpredictable with LEDs. I wouldn't call this a major concern. I don't know how they're dimmed. If they're run at partial voltage, the LED might not light at all. If they're pulsed, it may work just fine.

Attachment 979410

Excellent. Thanks for the info as always.

I started looking at aliexpress. Found these:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4pcs-...243730618.html

Claims 700 lumens with few LEDs and only 25w. That seem ridiculous to you?

[StickMon]

Says 4.9W and 350mA, so they're driving them harder that the ones I found at 3W and 200mA.
They'll make more light that way, but may impact life span.
It comes down to whether you believe the seller.

The big question is will they fit in the headlight housing.
I just pulled a taillight assembly and there's gobs of space in the panic brake light.
I don't think the front turn signals are as roomy.

[StickMon]

Got tired of hemin' n hawin' about it.
Just bought everything CREE for the rear assemblies:
Turn signals, PY21W/7505, Bimmian WTSZZY5AB
Main brakes, P21W/1156/7506, Bimmian WTSZZY8XB
Backup, W16W/921, eBay 30W CREE
Panic brakes, H21W, eBay 50W CREE

I'll give the H21Ws a fitment test in the front turn signals.

If the Bimmian PY21W pan out, which I think is a good bet, I'll be selling the 2 Silver Visions I just bought for $25/pair, firm, shipped CONUS.
Get your dibs in now. They're about $20 each, so this is about 1/2 price, and you know you'll need them before long.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

Got tired of hemmi'n n hawin' about it.
Just bought everything CREE for the rear assemblies:
Turn signals, PY21W/7505, Bimmian WTSZZY5AB
Main brakes, P21W/1156/7506, Bimmian WTSZZY8XB
Backup, W16W/921, eBay 30W CREE
Panic brakes, H21W, eBay 50W CREE

I'll give the H21Ws a fitment test in the front turn signals.

Thank you SO much. It was killing me to take a chance on $70. If you test for them, check for pulsing or flickering as well.

[StickMon]

I just figured out the glowing LED hamburgers, and how my car knew there was a front turn signal out before I used the turn signals.
It continuously pulses all the bulbs at low duty cycle to see if they're there, even when not in use.
The H21Ws for the panic brake lights may set a bulb warning even if I don't do a high-G stop.
Calculated how much resistor would be needed, and not surprisingly, since the LEDs pull next to nothing, to simulate a 20W bulb you need a 20W resistor.

The Bimmian bulbs are supposed to be error-free, but there's no way they're hiding a 20W resistor in there.
How do it do dat?

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

I just figured out the glowing LED hamburgers, and how my car knew there was a front turn signal out before I used the turn signals.
It continuously pulses all the bulbs at low duty cycle to see if they're there, even when not in use.
The H21Ws for the panic brake lights may set a bulb warning even if I don't do a high-G stop.
Calculated how much resistor would be needed, and not surprisingly, since the LEDs pull next to nothing, to simulate a 20W bulb you need a 20W resistor.

The Bimmian bulbs are supposed to be error-free, but there's no way they're hiding a 20W resistor in there.
How do it do dat?

I'd guess magnets.

[StickMon]

So I was sanity checking all the bulbs with a 9V battery.
All the white ones look pretty respectable, given it's 9V and not 14V.
Then I got to the Bimmian amber turn signals.

Holy mother of pearl. I hope my vision returns to normal by tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Devious21

I'd guess magnets.

Actually, could be a capacitor with a modest bleeder resistor.
Too bad my scope's a Tek 545B from the 70s.
It's the size of a hotel mini-fridge and weighs twice as much.
If I knew the duty cycle and rep rate, I could calculate an R/C combination.

Man. My right eye is still jazzed from that turn signal bulb.

[R0ME0]

Originally Posted by i2ichal2dZ4M

If you want a picture for reference. I had red vinyls on my turn signals. The red match the rest of lens almost perfectly Got bored of all read look few months back and took them off though, may re install again in future. LMK if you have questions.

Do you have the auction handy that you got the film from? I got this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130895183538

Hope it matches.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

So I was sanity checking all the bulbs with a 9V battery.
All the white ones look pretty respectable, given it's 9V and not 14V.
Then I got to the Bimmian amber turn signals.

Holy mother of pearl. I hope my vision returns to normal by tomorrow.



Actually, could be a capacitor with a modest bleeder resistor.
Too bad my scope's a Tek 545B from the 70s.
It's the size of a hotel mini-fridge and weighs twice as much.
If I knew the duty cycle and rep rate, I could calculate an R/C combination.

Man. My right eye is still jazzed from that turn signal bulb.

That was just me being a smart ass.

Did you get a chance to test fit the bulbs up front? Or did the self induced blindness push that back to a later date

[StickMon]

The weather this weekend is going to push that out until next Friday.
I'll be spending tomorrow researching how to cure the bulb-out warning.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

The weather this weekend is going to push that out until next Friday.
I'll be spending tomorrow researching how to cure the bulb-out warning.

Checked with a buddy of mine who's an engineer. He doesn't think a 20w resistor is needed.

Found this:
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/a5-s5-top...stor-do-i.html

Contains a formula I think is applicable.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Devious21

Checked with a buddy of mine who's an engineer. He doesn't think a 20w resistor is needed.

Found this:
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/a5-s5-top...stor-do-i.html

Contains a formula I think is applicable.

...and how many watts do you think that 7-ohm resistor is dissipating?

The only way to avoid a high power resistor is to do some type of RC circuit (to filter out those pulses) per stickmon's suggestion.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by XMetal

...and how many watts do you think that 7-ohm resistor is dissipating?

The only way to avoid a high power resistor is to do some type of RC circuit (to filter out those pulses) per stickmon's suggestion.

I read that as he would need like a 3ohm resistor. But I really don't understand it.

[StickMon]

V=I*R
P=I*V
The rest is an exercise for the student.

Anyhoo ... The Cree H21W was a fail. The distance from the "head" to the locking pin is just a mil or so too short to allow it to go far enough into the socket to turn and lock.

Could probably file down the end of the socket, but I wasn't willing to just yet.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

V=I*R
P=I*V
The rest is an exercise for the student.

Anyhoo ... The Cree H21W was a fail. The distance from the "head" to the locking pin is just a mil or so too short to allow it to go far enough into the socket to turn and lock.

Could probably file down the end of the socket, but I wasn't willing to just yet.

Attachment 985053

Well damn. This was in the rear correct?

[StickMon]

No that was the front. I decided to do it this weekend after all.
The rear is going swimmingly. Last night I found the solution (I think) to the bulb-out on the panic lights. It was a "Duh" moment.
I disconnected my somewhat elaborate transistor/relay circuit that lights the panic brake lights all the time and just jumpered them to the main brake lights.
I tried that before with the incandescents, which was silly, and it drew to much current from the main and set the bulb-out. I'm lucky I didn't break the driver in the light module.
But with LEDs, no problem.
The left side is the LEDs. The H21W LED isn't quite as bright as the incandescent, but I expected that. It's bright enough, and the rest are brighter.
The turn signals are insane.

[Devious21]

Wow that does look bright.

Shame about the fronts. I'll have to look into something else.

[StickMon]

Some observations:
No "hamburger glow" from the rears.
The brake light LEDs are so white that the brake lights are now a bit pink.
If you're concerned you might be driving a hairdresser's car, it won't help.
Worst of all, the 3rd brake light is still deep red, so they don't match.
Red 1156s would have been better. Bimmian doesn't have them.
It'll work great if you're going to do the red film.

When you first turn on the ignition, it pulses the brake lights and turn signals in sequence for about 10-15 seconds. It's quite a show.
Hopefully I can corner my Son and have him make a video for YouTube.

For now, I need to go rest my rods and cones.

[Devious21]

StickMon - Did you ever find any bulbs or attempt to replace the alternate corner lights? Not sure what you actually call them.

[StickMon]

I didn't like the 5x5630 bulbs from Amazon. They were too blue, and not as bright as the 9x5050 that I had in the hamburgers. The ones that I couldn't remember where I bought them.
I finally figured it out they were "New 9 Led SMT Tower II" (fifth one down the page).
I ended up moving those from the hamburgers to the front corner markers and putting these in the hamburgers.
It was a little tricky, because they were too long to fit in the housing.
I put them in as far as they would go, and then glued them in place with a blob of silicone calk. Cheesy, but the result is great.

[Devious21]

Originally Posted by StickMon

I didn't like the 5x5630 bulbs from Amazon. They were too blue, and not as bright as the 9x5050 that I had in the hamburgers. The ones that I couldn't remember where I bought them.
I finally figured it out they were "New 9 Led SMT Tower II" (fifth one down the page).
I ended up moving those from the hamburgers to the front corner markers and putting these in the hamburgers.
It was a little tricky, because they were too long to fit in the housing.
I put them in as far as they would go, and then glued them in place with a blob of silicone calk. Cheesy, but the result is great.

I think you're talking about the un-monitored corner bulbs right?

I'm talking about the other front/corner bulbs. The ones that are monitored and 2 per side. Have you done anything with them?

[StickMon]

Still haven't done anything with the angel eyes or front turn signals.
Angel eyes will be next, but first I have to find the ambition to figure out NCSExpert.

Turn signals will be a beatch. Monitored, need high wattage, and danger of damaging the amber bits jamming in a bulb that's too long.