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DIY: Headlight LED's and blackout

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Old 01-15-2011, 04:08 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Old 01-23-2011, 01:39 PM   #2 (permalink)
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As the OP stated in his disclaimer, it doesn't hurt to use more resistors. I believe the rule of thumb is one resistor per LED. He's got 3 LEDs to one resistor in this setup and over time I believe that can cause issues. I only mention this because I own his car and I have these exact lights in them and currently I have 3 of the LEDs flickering. I'm fairly sure its the resistor, but can't be 100% yet.

I have been planning to trade these lights out for a stock set since day one, but I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.
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Old 01-25-2011, 09:40 AM   #3 (permalink)
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Originally Posted by NISMOFO View Post
As the OP stated in his disclaimer, it doesn't hurt to use more resistors. I believe the rule of thumb is one resistor per LED. He's got 3 LEDs to one resistor in this setup and over time I believe that can cause issues. I only mention this because I own his car and I have these exact lights in them and currently I have 3 of the LEDs flickering. I'm fairly sure its the resistor, but can't be 100% yet.

I have been planning to trade these lights out for a stock set since day one, but I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.
Actually, if you go to any LED resistor calculator site, they all have wiring schematics for multiple LED's per resistor, with 3 LED's per resistor being common. My uncle is an electrical engineer that works with LED's on a daily basis, and he is the one that supplied me with the wiring schematic, which I verified to be correct on a couple different resistor calculator sites.

I think the issue with flickering is due to a loose connection somewhere in that string of 3, probably a post that broke off of an LED or resistor that is still held in place by the heat-shrink tubing allowing it to have a bad connection.
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Old 01-25-2011, 05:24 PM   #4 (permalink)
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Actually, if you go to any LED resistor calculator site, they all have wiring schematics for multiple LED's per resistor, with 3 LED's per resistor being common. My uncle is an electrical engineer that works with LED's on a daily basis, and he is the one that supplied me with the wiring schematic, which I verified to be correct on a couple different resistor calculator sites.

I think the issue with flickering is due to a loose connection somewhere in that string of 3, probably a post that broke off of an LED or resistor that is still held in place by the heat-shrink tubing allowing it to have a bad connection.
I think you're 100% right. I now stand corrected. I don't think there is anything wrong with the way these were wired. I think I just hit a few too many bumps in the road...
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Old 01-25-2011, 09:59 AM   #5 (permalink)
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I have been planning to trade these lights out for a stock set since day one, but I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.
Not a bad idea. Are you planning on keeping the aftermarket ones and going a new route with them, or are you going to sell them? Regardless, picking up stock lights is a good idea, especially if you plan on selling the car at some point down the road.
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Old 01-25-2011, 04:23 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Not a bad idea. Are you planning on keeping the aftermarket ones and going a new route with them, or are you going to sell them? Regardless, picking up stock lights is a good idea, especially if you plan on selling the car at some point down the road.
I had a potential trade for stock (even swap) fall through with another forum member. I'm still semi-interested in trading for stock....but after seeing a stock pair, the chrome is extremely overwhelming to look at. So I don't know for sure what my plan is.
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