LED Indicators

[Davidbolam]

I have bought 2 x LED indicators to go in the rear wings. I though I would give them a test to see how bright they are so wired them into the existing side indicators.

they only give off the smallest amount of light. There is nothing wrong with normal indicators bulds as these are very bright.

Have I done something critically wrong and now knacked them? Do they require some other kind of circuit?

David

[SeriesLandy]

Could you not just test them across the terminals on the battery to see if they work? Then go from there.

[Davidbolam]

ive tried that as well and they dont work either? has this maybe knackered them as the battery might chuck out too many amps??

[flyerncle]

Try across both wires without making a circuit with them in if you know what I mean,can never remember which way is parallel or series. :eek:

Could just be volt drop.

[TSM Locost]

LED's are polarity conscious , the must be + to + .

[Davidbolam]

ive tried that as well. The voltage is also ok as the car was running for 30mins the same day and it didn't blow up (bonus) lol

[beardydave]

If they are sold as LED indicators they will probably be 12V LEDs, check where you bought them or on the packaging to see if they are.

If they were giving out some light then they were wired correctly and not over volted, as they would have blown instantly.

Try again on the battery, checking polarity on the wiring is right.

Also, LEDs are directional, if they are the older dome type bulbs then they only give out light through the dome, it could be that the bulbs are side on and you are loosing most of the light which isn't being reflected.

Newer PCB mount types are flat and have a zigzag pattern on them, but they can still only be seen in 1 direction - straight ahead. If they are just LED bulbs then make sure they are pointing straight out through the lense.

[Davidbolam]

I just had a go again. Mm mm now they work. I thought I had tried both polarities! I'm so used to black being the earth. In this case it's the positive.

Thanks for all your help guys

David

[baz-r]

most of the led lights i looked at used white as the neg?

my side/ind/brake combo and my led repeaters also has white as a neg

[twinturbo]

Ford actualy use black on quite a number of their +12V wiring..

There is probably some historical reason for it.

TT

[Ste W]

7 core trailer wiring also uses white as -ve