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LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:17 pm
by pc13cb92
Hi,
a few weeks ago I had a sidelight bulb go off, so I decided to replace it with a LED bulb. Got a pack of 10 off ebay, very cheap and quick delivery, fitted ok, and had that blueish tinge when on, - looked good. However one stopped working within a week, so replaced, then this week with the cold mornings, I noticed that one of them was pulsing when first switched on but was ok when warmed up, then after a couple of days it went off.
So - have gone back to standard old fashioned bulbs! Thought it would also be more prudent for todays MOT. Passed ok with just an advisory for a low tyre, and deterioration to track rod and ball joint covers, and brake pads wearing down.
Thats the next few weekends work taken up!



1996 2.5td aft 2wd

Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2014 11:25 pm
by Simon Jones
It seems that a lot of cheap Chinese LEDs are not very reliable. That's probably why then tend to come in packs of 10 :).

Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:07 pm
by philpdr
Totally agree with Simon,Ive found that with a lot of cheap led's,both 240 and 12volt.

Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 10:01 pm
by Simon Jones
Having has a few LEDs fail on me before, I ordered a few pairs of these which have something like 32 or 36 seperate LEDs so even if a few die, there are plenty left. I've got a pair in my Bongo as well as my Volvo where they are on all the time the engine is running. So far, they seem to be lasting well, but I did order a few spares just in case.

I don't have an eBay link to hand, but they are readily available and only cost a few pounds inc delivery.

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Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 12:16 pm
by mikeWalsall
I use similar LEDs in my front side lights ..

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Remember they are polarity concious .. so test before you fit the light unit back in .. (if they do not work simply turn the bulb round in the holder) ..

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Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 1:56 pm
by Dr Fingers
Are these MOT -legal?


Derek

Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:06 pm
by Simon Jones
They are white with a slight blue tinge. While they might be MOT-safe, so far, I've tended to pop the old ones back in at MOT time. Its much easier to access on the later headlights so it's just a 30 second job.

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Re: LED sidelight bulbs

Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2014 8:18 pm
by mikeWalsall
None of the lights on a Bongo are strictly legal as none are not 'e' marked ..