LED rear lights

[Stimpy]

I bought some LED lights for the rear lights.brake lights of my Stag (I felt the current ones are too 'warm glow' and not sharp enough)

I got them from EJ Ward

There's no instructions but the replacement bulb came with a black box with a wire in and out.

Any ideas what this light is for?

Considering there are 2 lives (light and brake light) I thought it might be to fit along the earth lead - bit that gets earthed on the housing.

So.... what does this mysterious box do?
Ive put the new bulbs in as direct replacement and they work fine.

I was disappointed to see that the LED light was only slightly brighter than the bulb style, btw.

[whitev8stag]

i was thinking of getting the LEDs
when you say slightly brighter, could it be your lenses?

Ben

[DJT]

LEDs won't make the rear lights brighter on their own.

First you need to ensure that the reflectors are in good shape. These are plastic with a chrome coating. This coating, over the period os time, peels and discolours. The only way to restore this is to clean off the peeling coat, use a plastic primer and then a chrome paint. Alternatively I have heard of people using chrome-type sticky tape on the reflector, but in my experience repainting is the best option.

Then you need to ensure that the earth is good to each bulb holder. The best way is to buy new holders with built-in earth tags, then run additional wiring to connect them up to a good clean earth point. Again, some members have managed to solder on earth tags to their existing holders, but this isn't easy and not always successful.

Next, ensure that you have disabled the rear light dimming relay if you have one fitted. These were fitted at least up to the 4th sanction cars (LD30000 onwards). Disable the relay by disconnecting its earth, or remove it entirely. If fitted it will be behind the nearside boot carpet.

Lastly, the outer lense covers must be clean. It is surprising what a session in a dishwasher will do to clean these up.

Do all of the above and you will notice a big improvement in the brightness of the rear lights. I have tried LED bulbs in the past, but found that properly set up ordinary lights are just as good.

As for LEDs, unless you get the longer type with 360 LEDs they will be no improvement. The design of the rear reflectors means that normal LED bulbs with backwards facing LEDs will not benefit from the reflectors as they will be buried in the recess. The longer types as previously showm by RogerP will be effective as at least some of the backwards facing LEDs will reflect.

[whitev8stag]

Something for me to try that then, ill put the lenses in the dishwasher.

as for that relay thing, what exactly was it for?
and what exactly am i looking for?

Thanks
Ben

[Ian F]

Ben
IIRC its a yellow box that is inside the rear nearside wing, behind the carpet. It was originally to dim the rear brake lights slightly when the side lights were on, to avoid glare?

In our old (er) Stags we need all the brightness we can get. Occassionally there is one for sale on E-bay - if you need to see what you're looking for?

Ian F

[David Maddern]

I have made the change to LED rear lights and you can now actually see the glare in the headlamps of the car behind when stopped at traffic lights etc, I was told to use red LED's and not white as they can appear pink though the lenses. No additional earthing required, but make sure the bulbs have good connections in the fittings as this will reduce thier brightness. A successful change in my opinion

[Stimpy]

i was thinking of getting the LEDs
when you say slightly brighter, could it be your lenses?

Ben

Well - my lenses were/are clean and the reflective shiny coating is in good nick.

The thing is - the LED light is RED.

So - you have the damping factor of a VERY red colouring which then shines through a red cluster lens.
If it were plain/white - or if the cluster had a clear zone for the rear lights/brakes then it would have made some difference.

The wife and myself stood about 10 yds from the back of the car when one was LED'd and the other was 'with bulb'
The new side looked subtly brighter on lamp only. You could notice it, it wasn't THAT subtle. But not the big difference I was hoping for.
Do remember, though, that LED lamps last a billion times longer* and wont blow all at once - being a cluster of individual LEDs.

The brake light though, was rather disappointing and was not as good as the 'legacy' one (although it was driving lights that I wanted to become brighter - which I guess it is - well sort of)

Disclaimer: Yes I have put the bulb in the right way round! :-)

No-one has answered my other question though - which is probably not surprising since I got the wording completely wrong! Let me try again!

The kit comes with a black brick with a wire at either end. The 'brick' is about 1.5 inches long and half an inch wide and square along its length.

Considering the LED requires 2 power inputs I guessed it cannot be anything to do with that as there would have been 2 per LED bulb if that was the case.

So my guess was that it must be to do with the earthing. so on the left side there was a third terminal and rather than use the supplied scotch blocks I went 'all professional' and attached new female connectors to the ends of the blocks (by professional I mean that I don't have a clue about electrics - just the basics - so I thought I'd do a good job of it rather than hurry it.

After fully testing I moved to the left hand bulb - which confused the f!ck out of me because it had only 2 spade terminals on it. I thought 'how does it know if the brake light needs to come on'. A few sparks later I realised that the bulb housing acted as the earth. Mystery over. Although I found it odd that both sides were a different configuration. It also proved to me that the block was basically doing nothing on the 'done' side since the casing/earthing will earth anyway. So I just took the bulb out and did a direct replacement. All seems to be ok.

EJ Ward can't be putting those blocks in for fun so what the hell do they do? Am I putting anything at risk? (I remember an exploding LED at school when I attached a power source to it without a resistor!)

SO - IN CONCLUSION
===============
I fitted the LED replacements
I did a direct replacement
I found that the result was not as different as I had hoped
I have two spare blocks which I've no idea what they're for !

However - 12 quid for a bulb which should last forever - that's probably a good thing since you never really know if one of your rear lights have blown.


--------

* Entirely made up for dramatic effect !

[cosmicwheels]

those blocks are, if you fit to a modern car to trick bulb failure warning, john

[Stimpy]

those blocks are, if you fit to a modern car to trick bulb failure warning, john

Perfect! Great answer!

I was worrying that they were needed as some form of protection but could not find out how

Great! I'm safe with my setup of straight swap!


I was all the more worried because all my lights subtly flicker like I've got gas lamps! What do you think that suggests? I suspect a 36 y/o alternator.

My dash voltmeter sometimes goes into the upper red (although I know that these voltmeter gauges are seldom correct)]]

Just don't want to be down a dark alley and then suddenly NO LIGHTS !!!

[martin]

Hi Stimpy (?) Voltmeter, the only consistently accurate gauge in a Stag, sorry mate, but they are. Your alternator is on the way out, flickering and overcharging are both signs.
I believe the box with the bulbs is a resistance, if you use them for indicators or with a bulb failure warning system, they're cheap so they just chuck one in. The bulbs are E marked so cannot be brighter. Fierce ones can be got, but they're technically not legal. The US is a good source, try Googeling > bright LED USA< or > Autolumination < I've bought from them and there's no risk. Martin.

[Stimpy]

Hi Stimpy (?) Voltmeter, the only consistently accurate gauge in a Stag, sorry mate, but they are. Your alternator is on the way out, flickering and overcharging are both signs.
I believe the box with the bulbs is a resistance, if you use them for indicators or with a bulb failure warning system, they're cheap so they just chuck one in. The bulbs are E marked so cannot be brighter. Fierce ones can be got, but they're technically not legal. The US is a good source, try Googeling > bright LED USA< or > Autolumination < I've bought from them and there's no risk. Martin.

Normally car voltmeters can be well out - but it's nice to hear that the stag one is a quality one. Mine goes to the (upper) red during the day and when the lights go on it brings it down a bit. During those times when the pointer goes into the red you can see the IGN flitter every now and again.

Managed to fill the car with smoke today. Seems that the puddle lamp bulb had ben shorting and the fuse did not blow - so - extra job for me on Sunday! Re-taping up the lead where the plastic all melted off. Bloody electrics

[Staggard]

Better ask the the other half first eh !!!!! Dishwasher - car parts Ummmmmmmmmmm