question 6 volt LEDs

[Pete Ashby]

I'm looking at options for up rating 6 volt lighting systems and I wondered if any body on the forum had experience with using 6 volt LEDs for side lights, brake lights and flashers.

[Tony B]

!2 volt LEDS worl quite happily on 6 volt. But if your using LED indicators bulbs, you eithe rhave to use loading resistors or easier still just buy a LED flasher unit. There the same price as standard units, but make life so much easier.

[fv1609]

Pete I have no experience of 6v LEDs. But I did for a short while play around with 12v ones. Two problems to my mind.

 

Yes very bright immediately behind (or at the front) of vehicle. But poor coverage obliquely or at the side, much poorer than a filament bulb. Some replacement units have a few sidewards facing LEDs but even these have a limited arc of coverage.

 

If your using them for turn indicators bear in mind the flasher is likely to be a thermally switched. To operate it needs the load of the filament to draw a current to make it flash. The slight current drawn by the LEDs is insufficient for the flasher to work unless you change to a solid state flasher. The other alternative is to wire a high wattage resistor across each LED turn light to draw significant current to make the flasher work.

 

On other forums an issue has been raised that in the event of an accident having non original lighting may not be compatible with insurance cover. Whether that is a real issue I don't know as my LED conversion did not progress as I felt the light visibility obliquely was reduced & hassle with changing the flashing system.

[Pete Ashby]

Thanks for that Tony

in my wandering around the web looking into the subject I had read that a load would have to be introduced into the flasher circuit or as you say a use a LED designed unit. Have you got LED's on your ambulance?

 

Pete

[Tony B]

Thanks for that Tony

in my wandering around the web looking into the subject I had read that a load would have to be introduced into the flasher circuit or as you say a use a LED designed unit. Have you got LED's on your ambulance?

 

Pete

 

Yes, I've got two under front wing strips on both the WC51 12 volt and Katy the ambulance 6 volt. You can't see them but when on at night show the real width of the vehicle. I had some spare 12 volt so tried them, as LED's really work on a maximum voltage, they work fine on the 6 volt. I haven't altered the 6 volt indicators, just to much hassle working out what resistors would be needed.

[Pete Ashby]

Interesting point regarding the insurance Clive I'd not considered that at all but I see the potential issues now that you raise them.

 

The flasher relay I think I can work out but I have no experience with the use of LED's in the automotive world............. in short are they as good as they are claimed to be.

 

I'm interested to hear how much of an issue you think the lack of Oblique illumination is?.

 

I particularly have in mind the standard war time US red bulls eye stop and tail and I'm not sure that these give much in the way of Oblique lighting when using conventional bulbs.

 

Pete

[Tony B]

Every one of our new fleet of buses uses LED clusters on the back and as indicators. Only the front lights are conventional bulbs. The rufurbished vehicles have been retrofitted so must be legal.

[N.O.S.]

Do a search on here for LEDs It has been discussed in depth before.

 

Not all (in fact I don't think many) 12V LED light units will work on 6V - I've tried a couple without luck.

 

A lot of commercial vehicles and artic trailers have LED lamps now.

[R Cubed]

Don't forget all lights used on road going vehicles must be E marked otherwise if not you could get in to all sorts of stickiness with law and insurances...

[Hoseman]

Do a search on here for LEDs It has been discussed in depth before.

 

Not all (in fact I don't think many) 12V LED light units will work on 6V - I've tried a couple without luck.

 

A lot of commercial vehicles and artic trailers have LED lamps now.

 

behind a wagon today that had LED rear light clusters, first time ive seen them.

[Locolines]

Funny I found this post today as I have spent all day making a trailer board for my bofors gun, using LED lights. I wired it all up on the work bench and used a model train controller to test it. Superb bright lights very safe....

BUT when I attached it to my 6v Jimmy... Nothing. I thought I must of wired it up backwards so reversed it .... Still nothing.

put it back on the railway controller.. Works fine.. I am baffled

[cosrec]

we build a lot of recovery vehicle bodies for ourselves and customers apart from obligatery lights clusteres they are also festooned with multiple marker and spot lights all are Led. The last time we bought conventional lamps was at least 4 years ago. We source them from a company we deal direct but who advertise on e bay from Bulgaria no problems to date with customs. Have just out of curiosity tried a 12/24 v marker light on a 12v battery that to all intents and purposes was dead and it worked. if you dont want to change the lamp assembly you can buy the Multiple head Leds built into conventional screw in and bayonet fittings. For relability alone Leds have to be the way to go Just a quick thought the guys in the motor cycle circles use 6v they got any comments

Edited July 16, 2013 by cosrec

[fesm_ndt]

Great for trailers also as you can fit 12/24v LEDs so they will run on either vehicle

[gas 44]

Funny I found this post today as I have spent all day making a trailer board for my bofors gun, using LED lights. I wired it all up on the work bench and used a model train controller to test it. Superb bright lights very safe....

BUT when I attached it to my 6v Jimmy... Nothing. I thought I must of wired it up backwards so reversed it .... Still nothing.

put it back on the railway controller.. Works fine.. I am baffled

 

Just a thought, is the socket on the GMC working ok.

[Locolines]

Yes, the sockets are fine, the 6v bulbs work, but seem too dim to be safe on the fast roads around here.

i will experiment some more, but not today as off to W&P to buy loads of spares !

[N.O.S.]

Suggestion: Read up the previous threads on here on LEDs. There is a link on one to a motorcycle LED maker (6v).

 

Some points:

 

1) have you checked the voltage on your GMC? May have enough voltage drop at the back end to be below 6v.

2) have you checked voltage on railway transformer? I thought they were 12v

3) are you using 12v LEDs? If so you'll be lucky if they do work on 6v - some will work down to say 8 volts.

4) dead battery may give enough voltage (say 9v) on very light load.

5) most single LEDs will work on something like 2v - but when assembled into units they are voltage specific within reason.

 

I spent a while playing around with some LED light clusters - do not assume they will work on 6v!

Edited July 17, 2013 by N.O.S.

[Locolines]

There's 6.1 volts at the plug so plenty of power there (!) and the train transformers are adjustable between 0 volts an 12.

i will have another play tomorrow, and if I find anything useful I will post.

[N.O.S.]

It would certainly be good to find something which works on 6v and will replace or adapt into the standard U.S. rear cluster. Trouble is there are now so many different units out there it isn't easy to get to try them all!!

[GeePig]

There's 6.1 volts at the plug so plenty of power there (!) and the train transformers are adjustable between 0 volts an 12.

i will have another play tomorrow, and if I find anything useful I will post.

 

If your standard trailer lamps are dim, then maybe while you are getting 6.1V, do you think there is a chance you might not be getting any real power - possibly due to a partly broken wire or joint?

 

trevor

[fesm_ndt]

Are they the correct way round as LED's have a positive/negative side?

 

I was really dubious about LEDs as you always see segments of them blown on trucks, cars etc. But same as everything in life, you get what you pay for. The US military is going LED and this mob supply it. My nephew has a 30"lightbar on his truck and you wont get change from $900 bucks

 

[video=youtube;wuIU-Mg0EMM]

[david1212]

Funny I found this post today as I have spent all day making a trailer board for my bofors gun, using LED lights. I wired it all up on the work bench and used a model train controller to test it. Superb bright lights very safe....

BUT when I attached it to my 6v Jimmy... Nothing. I thought I must of wired it up backwards so reversed it .... Still nothing.

put it back on the railway controller.. Works fine.. I am baffled

 

My guess is the train controller output is not pure DC but phase angle controlled rectified ac or PWM.

Hence while the average output is 6V it is actually say 12V for 10ms then off for 10ms.

The 12V is lighting the LED's while the the fact that they are actually flashing is faster than the human eye can see.