Instrument Bulbs - LEDs

[df2]

Hi, I have instrument bulbs that do not work, and others that work when they feel like it or such that you can barely see them in any kind of light. I've seen a few LED threads but they are all from 5 years ago or more. Anyone find a newer set of LED's that work as a plug in; No modifications required solution?

 

David

[raz]

I take it you mean warning lights, not the one that illuminate the meters. Maybe you mean both, but anyway some of the warning lights need a real bulb or some kind of workaround (like a resistor in parallel or a couple of diodes). I mean apart from that all LEDs need a resistor in series (that one should be built in if you find any kind of plug'n'play replacements).

 

The oil pressure warning will work fine with a LED. And the neutral light.

 

On bikes with a single turning indicator light, you need two diodes because the polarity depends on which turn you activate the flashers. You also need to route a new ground to it.

 

The low fuel warning would need a careful mix of resistors in parallel and in series, otherwise it will either never light up or never go out.

 

I think the charging light on our bikes could be replaced by a LED without affecting charging, but I'm not 100% sure. I read somewhere that some (older) bikes need a current through that bulb to charge at all. That could of course be taken care of with a carefully chosen parallel resistor too.

[df2]

I take it you mean warning lights, not the one that illuminate the meters. Maybe you mean both, but anyway some of the warning lights need a real bulb or some kind of workaround (like a resistor in parallel or a couple of diodes). I mean apart from that all LEDs need a resistor in series (that one should be built in if you find any kind of plug'n'play replacements).

 

The oil pressure warning will work fine with a LED. And the neutral light.

 

On bikes with a single turning indicator light, you need two diodes because the polarity depends on which turn you activate the flashers. You also need to route a new ground to it.

 

The low fuel warning would need a careful mix of resistors in parallel and in series, otherwise it will either never light up or never go out.

 

I think the charging light on our bikes could be replaced by a LED without affecting charging, but I'm not 100% sure. I read somewhere that some (older) bikes need a current through that bulb to charge at all. That could of course be taken care of with a carefully chosen parallel resistor too.

 

 

To paraphrase, use standard bulbs.

[raz]

To paraphrase, use standard bulbs.

Well, I would not be very surprised if someone sells LEDs with standard bulb socket and has built-in serial and parallel resistors as well as polarity-correction diodes to exactly match a good old bulb. It would be dirt cheap to mass produce, and they would hardly ever break. But I haven't seen any. I must admit I haven't looked for them either. If I stumbled upon such a beast, I would seriously consider trying it out as long as it wasn't ridiculously priced.

[Kiwi_Roy]

Well, I would not be very surprised if someone sells LEDs with standard bulb socket and has built-in serial and parallel resistors as well as polarity-correction diodes to exactly match a good old bulb. It would be dirt cheap to mass produce, and they would hardly ever break. But I haven't seen any. I must admit I haven't looked for them either. If I stumbled upon such a beast, I would seriously consider trying it out as long as it wasn't ridiculously priced.

 

I will take this on as a challenge, this sort of thing is what I do for a crust.

I have been messing around with the idiot lights on my V11 and had the same thoughts as David.

The bi-directional current for the direction indicators is not a problem, a bridge rectifier will fix that.

As I see it there are two options,

A) Insert LEDs into the existing sockets and wire the required matching resistors to the lamp-holders.

Remove the existing lamp-holder base and make a printed circuit board with all the LEDs and resistors etc. on it.

The advantage of A) is it would be adaptable to other light cluster patens.

I will start experimenting with the different styles of LED available

Regards

Roy

[arek]

these guys have exactly what you are talking about - Super Bright LEDs -

# 74 is a direct replacement LED bulb for the 2721 wedge bulbs on the V11s. (bottom of the page) I purchased the T1.5 lamp with holder - T1.5 lamp - and with some tweaking to the holder it fit right in. (bottom of page) I bought red high power ones and they look great on the instruments. very cool, with build in resistors and diode make them fool proof. dirt cheap too! cheers. a.

[Guest ratchethack]

Looks like this could go on and on. . .

 

Can't stop myself. I just gotta ask:

 

How many Forum posters does it take to change a light bulb?

 

Enquiring minds. . . (well, you know). . .

[Kiwi_Roy]

these guys have exactly what you are talking about - Super Bright LEDs -

# 74 is a direct replacement LED bulb for the 2721 wedge bulbs on the V11s. (bottom of the page) I purchased the T1.5 lamp with holder - T1.5 lamp - and with some tweaking to the holder it fit right in. (bottom of page) I bought red high power ones and they look great on the instruments. very cool, with build in resistors and diode make them fool proof. dirt cheap too! cheers. a.

That is brilliant Arek, if you'll pardon the pun, did the indicator for the flashers work ok as well.

I think the lamp color should match the colored mask that sits in front.

I guess I will have to find another winter project

 

BTW, have you tried out the low fuel light, in my V11 Sport I think it's a thermistor that requires a certain load. The lamp may need a resistor in parallel to supply this.

Did you replace the Spedometer & Tachometer lamps also?

 

Regards

Roy

Update - I ordered a bunch of lamps from Ultra Bright will update you once installed