24V LED light bulbs

[wallew]

OK, I searched the forum and read several threads that mentioned using the LED's. The main complaint seemed to be that they were not as bright. I found that odd, as every LED bulb (12V) I've compared against a normal (12V) bulb out performs in every category, including brightness.

SO, being somewhat leary, I found this company that offers a low cost solution. You can choose either a 12 LED 24V bulb ($7 ea) or a 19 LED 24V bulb ($11 ea) in several configurations, including red for the brakes.

Heres the link:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=OTHER

 

[cranetruck]

Jim, I have never seen a complaint about LED's not being bright. I have them on my deuce and M105 and they are super bright and blood red.
They are designed to handle 12-28 volts....

 

[emmado22]

I really like the TruckLite LED military replacement lights, but they arent cheap!

 

[rmgill]

I think the brightness depends on the cost and quality of the bulbs. I bought a set of bulbs that are pretty good, but they're not significantly brighter than the standard bulbs. My main aim was to find some lower wattage draw bulbs that were able to handle the 24 volt setup on my equipment trailer.

 

[CGarbee]

So, which is better, a red LED inside the housing with a red lens cover (tailight assembly on a M37, etc) or a white LED inside the housing with the red lens cover??

I read somewhere that it was better to have red LED even though you have red lens cover to convert a white one to red (as it does with the incandescent bulb), but I'd like to have an opinion from this group (whom I know and trust) before I place an order for a bunch of unit...

TIA

 

[rmgill]

The reason I saw for a red led is that the led's light production is a function of the type of led material, not the plastic around the LED. What this means is that a white LED is wasting energy producing colors that will not be allowed past the filtering effect of the red lens. Thus a red LED is more efficient.

For some $25 and above LED bulbs I'd pay close attention to that. For some $6 LED bulbs, well, they cost less and the quality is less, thus you're not going to get as much light anyhow and the efficiency isn't as big of a deal. But, why not get Red LEDs if you can. The big advantage is that it reduces the amount of current consumed by the lighting circuits.

 

[cranetruck]

You are right Ryan, in addition the red from the LED is more true red.

I compromised and installed the red LED assembly extracted from a commercial "Track Master" model 61 light as shown in the picture below. Fits perfectly!

Cost abot $17.00/ea on ebay. It has 40 some LED's and a regulator to make it work for 12-28 volts.

Some of you may have seen them on my trailer at the Aberdeen show/convoy last year.

 

[jasonjc]

I sell alot of emergency lights to ploice.
and led are takeing over fast. Red's are alot cheaper to make than white or blue. that maybe why they say to use red. On my trucks I still have bulbs but i painted the inside of the houseing sliver and it make the lights alot brighter. jason

 

[Jones]

From a purely practical standpoint; if you ever break a lens, the red led will get you home without chancing a ticket for "showing or projecting white light to the rear", which is an equipment violation (fix-it ticket) out here in the golden state.

 

[G744]

Leds also have the inherent ability to produce light with a much smaller current flow than an incandescent lamp. This is really a good thing for a tactical with a real milspec turn signal system. The control switches (lever arm) won't tolerate much overcurrent from extra lights in trailers and crap out irrepairably, usually on the road and far from home.

dg

 

[cranetruck]

Silly me added a relay in the turn signal circuit (the flasher controls the relay and the relay switches the lights). No overload problem and I get full battery voltage on the lights....

 

[G744]

Every circuit on my trailer plug is powered thru relays. The worst that can happen is a popped breaker from a short.

dg