LED vs. Incandescent

[Pelican]

My charging system is about maxed out when I plow with my F-350, there's not enough juice left to charge my cell phone.

I've been considering switching to LED lights wherever possible to lighten the load, but I'm curious if the difference would be that significant.

I've got 15 of the small 2" diameter clearance lights, plus 2 stop & tail lights. I know the saving with the stop light will be significant, but that light is only lit for a small percentage of the time.

Anyone know what the usage ratings in amps is for these bulbs (1157 equivelant) and the small bulbs vs. the LEDs?

[BWhite]

Steve try superbrightleds.com I know they say the 1157 has an extremely low draw , didnt notice a rating

[BWhite]

40 ma for tail lights 90 ma for brake lights

[wyldman]

Most small clearance lamps are in the 5W range per bulb.

Most 1157 stop\turn\tail bulbs are 8 watts for tail,and 28 watts for turn\stop.

So 15 bulbs at 5W each is 75 watts,and 2 at 8 watts brings us to 91 watts for running lamps,and i'm sure there are other on the truck too.Add in the brake lamps gives you another 52 watts,for a total of 143 watts,which is about 12 amps.

The leds would be still under an amp for the same lights.There is no comparison,the LED's win hands down.That's 11 extra amps to charge your cell phone.

[Pelican]

Sounds like it would be worth the investment. Thanks!

[BWhite]

besides cost, is there any downside to leds?

[CNY Joe]

The cost is the only real downside to LEDs. They are now available with 90 degree coverage so that helps with seeing them from the side.

[Snowboy]

Originally posted by Pelican
My charging system is about maxed out when I plow with my F-350, there's not enough juice left to charge my cell phone.



You gona switch out all the Stop Tail & Turn lights in the back and put LED's ? You got a dump box or something in the back?

I thought of that idea but just for looks and brightness. Too Expensive thou.. $100 $200 a light. 3 on either side that gets up there. You could go with just the round ones with the 52 LED's like on truck trailers, they are about half the price from what i have seen.

[JohnnyU]

Steve, I think you will notice a little improvement, but I wouldn't think it would be that great of an increase in reserve just by changung a few lights.

www.truck-lite.com and www.pmlights.com will have many of the lights that you are looking for.

I'm going to add the 2" LEd markers on the rear, as well as the slim LED marker lights on my running boards of my truck. I plan to buy Petersons.

[Alan]

Steve, I've bought a bunch of LED lights on eBay. Do a search there, by seller, for "asaddie" or "calboy1". Between them you should be able to find a mess of lights available for a decent price. I've bought from "asaddie" and know he has good stuff and is really good to deal with.

[wyldman]

While it may not sound like much,11 amps could be the difference between the truck slowly running the batteries down,and actually staying charged all night.

That's more than a set of headlamps draws when on,and we all know that turning the headlamps off makes a big difference in keeping the truck charged up if your alt is already maxed out.

[Adams Plowing]

sounds like theres an advantage to swaping out its just the inital cost sucks... definatly a project to do a lil bit at a time...

[BWhite]

I plan on switching over . I feel like I need to save a few amps of draw

[snonut12]

Just FYI for those who may not know ... LEDs are more efficient in heavy rain or snow because LEDs really do cut through whatever they can dish out. Incandiscent isn't that bad, but draws more current.

Going a little off topic but anyway...the strobes are worst in these condition because they are very easy to reflect off the raindrops or snowflakes. I have seen that happening on fire trucks in these condition. We currently dont have any type of LEDs on our fire trucks, but I am positive that the next truck we would purchase in future will be equipped with LEDs lighting.

After responsing to hundreds of fire calls in all conditions, and observing vehicles with LEDs on the road, I can tell you that LEDs are more efficient and worth the extra money, just for safety sake.

[Adams Plowing]

One other advantage to the LED's they dont burn out like the incandencents do...

[BWhite]

They are easy enough to find online but I cant yet tell if there are levels of quality or a maunufacturing (assembly ) process that would be more durable

[Alan]

The LEDs I've bought online have all been either TruckLite or Petersen brands.

[Snowboy]

Originally posted by Adams Plowing
One other advantage to the LED's they dont burn out like the incandencents do...

But the disadvatage is that some of the LED's will burn out and you have to replace the whole light instead of a $2 bulb, but the LED's will last longer then a bulb suposedly.

[Snowboy]

You can get LED's that will replace your bulb. The shops that sell all the stuff for the street racing cars usually sell them IE APC. I have put those in my taillights in the stop/turn bulb but it makes the turn signal flicker fasten because it’s less current but I am sure there would be something you can do to alleviate that problem if it bothers you.

[W-n-K Landscaping]

Wxmn6- I agree with you, the strobes suck in rain and snow, and the incandescent would be next, our newest truck has quite a few LED's on it and when we get to a scene we switch everything but the undercarraige lights and the LED's off so that we don't have the distracting glare and flash back form the other lights. I also tend to shut down everything but the rear bar and four corner flashers on the ambulances I drive to keep the glare down while responding to a call at 3am in a snow storm. I wish that the corps would look into more LED lighting on those rigs!!!

I currently run a twin beam rotator, but that's only due to funding right now- I got a deal off of e-bay on a new light for only $35 delivered, I found the light retail averaged for $189 plus shipping, so I was happy with that. I plan on trying to convert everything I can over to LED's as I can afford it.

Bill
SPC Addict

[Pelican]

Thanks for the info guys!

I read in a trucking magazine that the life expectancy of the LEDs is 100,000 + hours, they'll outlast my truck! Accident damage should be the only reason for replacement.

Chris, I agree that 11 amps is worth the investment, I often turn off my headlights where there is street lighting while plowing to allow my batteries to charge up.

[atgreene]

Has anyone had experience useing LEDs for turn signals where a converter box of some sort is needed? It was explained to me that for turn signal use, when all bulbs are LED, you need to add some sort of converter so that the turn signal will activate.

[cat320]

I don't think that is true just need a special plug set up but nothing more from what i have seen .At the show in Marlbourgh Whelen had them on display and boy are the led's bright.The rep said that these will be phasing out the strobes.

[BWhite]

I saw at superbrightleds.com, the electronics required to stabilize LEDs for turn signals.

[wyldman]

If you add on LED's to the exsisting signal circuit,and keep the stock bulbs,it will work fine.

If you remove the original turn signals and replace the with LED's,then you will not have enough resistance in the circuit to activate the flasher.

The flasher is basically just a circuit breaker,that heats up and trips,then cools down and resets,to turn the signals on and off.You need enough resistance in the bulbs,to get enough amperage to make the flasher work.

If you want to use LED only,then you will need something to either add resistance (defeats the purpose of LED's,as it will suck back power),or something to control the LED's on their own.This is what most of the add on boxes will do.

[Snowboy]

Originally posted by Pelican
Thanks for the info guys!

I read in a trucking magazine that the life expectancy of the LEDs is 100,000 + hours, they'll outlast my truck! Accident damage should be the only reason for replacement.

Chris, I agree that 11 amps is worth the investment, I often turn off my headlights where there is street lighting while plowing to allow my batteries to charge up.


Or you could stop plowing and go for a drive. A high speed drive...

Once you have let the truck idle to let the Transmishion cool down of course... :D

[Pelican]

Chris, will the mechanical relay type flashers work OK? aren't they set up to function properly regardless of load?

[wyldman]

As long as it's a relay type,that flashes by time delay,and not by load,then it should work.

[JohnnyU]

The mechanical flasher speed will vary based on load. You will need to find a solid state electronic flasher. I beleive that Signal Stat makes one, I've seen them at NAPA.

[wyldman]

Even the solid state electronic ones are load based as well.They will deal with added load,like extra lights,like a trailer,but not with th reduced load as with LED's.They think there is a bulb out,and will not flash.

You need something that is based on a fixed time delay.

[JohnnyU]

Oh. do you have a picture or a link to the relay switched type of flasher?

[atgreene]

Thanks for the info. If I understand correctly, I can change-out my Brake/Turn bulbs in the rear for LED'S and leave the front alone, that will give enough draw for the turn signal to work, but cut my draw overall. Thanks!

[JohnnyU]

One last question for anyone that has used the replacement bulbs: Do they flash fast like on the UPS trucks with the LED sealed heads or tht Cadillac DeVilles with the LED tails, or do they flash just like a regular incan. bulb?

[BWhite]

12 and 19 LED Cluster Dual and Single Contact Automotive
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1156 bulbs with 12 Red LEDS
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1157 bulbs with 19 wide viewing angle Amber LEDS

Voltage: 12~14 VDC
Max Power Consumption: 40ma tail / 90ma brake
Size: 1 inch diameter x 1 3/4 inches overall length

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NOTES CONCERNING TAIL/SIGNAL/BRAKE LED BULBS:
For best results the LED color should be the same as the lens color

LED brake/tail lamps may not work with some thermal flasher units due to their extremely low current draw. These installations will require an electronic flasher unit available at your auto parts store.

LED bulbs may cause some newer vehicles to indicate a bulb is burnt out (because of their low power consumption). Some cars indicate this by increasing the flash rate of the turn signals, some do not flash at all. This can be remedied with load resistors wired across the turn signal bulbs to simulate a filament bulb load. We have these available by our LED turn signal bulbs in our online shopping cart.

LED bulbs are generally not as bright as standard incandescent bulbs, they have many advantages over filament bulbs but brightness is not one of them.

Some of our bulbs are available with 12 or 19 LEDS, obviously the 19 LED units are brighter.

Some of our bulbs are available with Narrow or Wide viewing angle. The Wide angle (approx. 100 degree beam) will light up more area but dimmer than the Narrow angle. The Narrow angle (approx. 15 degree) will illuminate a smaller area but brighter than the Wide angle.

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this help . Except I dont recommend the splice taps --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOAD RESISTOR KITS
6 Ohm, 50 Watt resistors can be connected across the turn signal bulbs to simulate the load of a regular filament bulb (2 Amp load). This will solve LED related turn signal problems such as hyper flashing, no flashing or burnt out bulb indications.
One resistor is required for each turn signal bulb. Includes gel filled moisture resistant splice taps.

CONNECTION INSTRUCTIONS: Using includes splice taps, connect one wire to ground and the other wire to the turn/brake wire. You do not have to cut your car's wires. Squeeze splice taps with pliers. One Load Resistor required for each turn signal bulb. No instructions are include with these kits.
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[snonut12]

I was just browsing through Waytek catalog today and saw this particular item.

LED Flasher
Item #47972

http://order.waytekwire.com/cgi-bin/lansaweb?procfun+wordpr01+webfunc+m36

Type in the item# in the item # search box and it should come up. $10 per unit. Not bad.

Hope that this will help.

[BWhite]

Has anyone tried LEDS yet ? How did it work out ?

[Pelican]

I converted the marker lights on my 550 to LED, and have boxes made up for the turn and stop lights too. I haven't had a chance to convert the 350 yet, I've been so busy with the repairs on that piece of crap Blizzard I've got.

I'm going to try a LED 1157 replacement for the plow light on my 550, it keeps blowing from the vibration of plowing.

[JohnnyU]

Steve, what brand of LED lightbulbs did you find. I've only seen "ricer" companies mostly, I don't want to buy something that isn't any good. At the same time, I don't want to have to take out a loan to convert my truck....

[4evergreenlawns]

Originally posted by Pelican
I converted the marker lights on my 550 to LED, and have boxes made up for the turn and stop lights too. I haven't had a chance to convert the 350 yet, I've been so busy with the repairs on that piece of crap Blizzard I've got.

I'm going to try a LED 1157 replacement for the plow light on my 550, it keeps blowing from the vibration of plowing.


Steve,

Was this meant to be a joke about the BLIZZARD on your 350?


I had a real serious AMP issue on my new 450. The truck had actually just flat our died without warning only about 2 hours into a snow event. So I tracked down a high output ALT with some help from SPC and found a 170AMP-200AMP max and 80-90AMP at idle high output ALT.

Just before the last two snow events I changed out the ALT added and -/+ 150AMP gauge. I had the gauge wired to the output side of the ALT and not the reserve side of the batt. I want to know if the ALT is given AMPs on demand not what I am storing. My thinking is if I get the high AMPs on demand than the reserve in the Batteries will not be depleted at such a high rate as to cause a supply issue.

During the 1st event after the switch the truck ran for about 20hours non-stop and no more charing problems. In smaller lots where I was using moving the plow alot after about 10-15 mins. I would start to see the lights dimming and the dash start flashing, radio cuting off and on and I would start turning things off.

During the second event about 14hours and I even run everything I could turn on and still no charing problem. Although the ALT for the 6.0 PSD cost me $400.00 the same ALT for the 7.3 would have been only $200.00.

I am still changing over to LED where I can just to give even more APMs to the plow and dump when needed. The V plow is so much faster with the high output ALT and so is the dump. I was shocked to see what kind of APM draw they were getting.

Maybe this will help.

[BOUNDS-ELECTRIC]

I had a charging problem last year! Plow movements turned lights down, flashers slowed down, plow movements were slow! Turned out to be one battery of my two bringing down both! My batterys were never being fully charged! Upgraded to two higher amp batterys & cleaned connections! Made all the differance in the world! Just my 2 cents worth!

[4evergreenlawns]

I tried that too, chaned both batteries and still was have a lack of AMPs.

[urethane dino]

When my electrician set uphis new bucket truck, he installed led stop and turn lights. They flash very quickly, but with the LED they look very nice. The faster flash actually makes the LEDs more visible.
I am sure Steves blizzard plow comment was in jest and directed at me in particular. But thats ok, it did make me smile.
Dino

[hoot]

LEDs are cool but why not go to a bigger alternator like a Powermaster?

[JohnnyU]

Originally posted by hoot
LEDs are cool but why not go to a bigger alternator like a Powermaster?

Why draw more amps than you need to by running incand. lamps?

LEDs, while they take a little more adapting, and a little more initail cost, they draw less current, and last much longer than conventional incandescent lamps.

[CPSS]

Originally posted by BWhite
besides cost, is there any downside to leds?

I've tried some LED replacements in tail light applications. The lights themselves are very bright, but when you put them in the housings, a lot of light is lost due to the fact that the factory reflector is optimized for the "all around" light output of incandesant lamps. Some of the LED tail replacements have a ring of LED's facing out to help a little with the reflector problem. In my eye, ther don't work as well as advertised. The dedicated LED replacement fixture used on large trucks are very bright, however they wouldn't work in our factory setup.

[BWhite]

So the lense has to be optomized for the LED . That would be a pricey aftermarket item > it would be like the same problem the fake HID bulbs ......they just dont work the way they should .