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Old 11th May 2018, 15:32   #1
Wilts75
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Default LED bulbs

I thought I would be a smartie pants and replace interior bulbs with LED ones, that went OK but as I had two LED festoon bulbs left over I replaced the number plate bulbs. The computer soon told me that I was not that smart and showed bulb failure. I presume resistance of wired festoon gave resistance but the LEDs don't have that...any way round that? I put one back to old bulb and fault disappeared but now have lopsided lighting of number plate...Ho Hum.
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Old 11th May 2018, 16:31   #2
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Never been keen on LED's for number plates, they produce 2 white 'fans' of light rather than a softer overall illumination.
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Old 11th May 2018, 16:48   #3
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You need canbus friendly bulbs for the numberplates
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Old 11th May 2018, 17:28   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by suzublu View Post
You need canbus friendly bulbs for the numberplates
Or a suitable resistor wired in series across the LED. One working original festoon lamp, is enough to satisfy the can-bus that your number plate is lit.

You would need to experiment to find a resistor value, which satisfies the can-bus. I would suggest a 100Ohm resistor might work, but try it. If 1,000 Ohms works, even better.
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Old 11th May 2018, 18:15   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryM1BYT View Post
Or a suitable resistor wired in series across the LED.

Eh . . .?
There's also the subtle balance between the resistance and the wattage to ponder. The CAN-bus friendly type are hassle-free. On the other hand, the LEDs I tried weren't CAN-bus and were fine - until they fell apart.


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Old 11th May 2018, 19:14   #6
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Even the canbus friendly versions only seem to last 6 to 9 months before they start to fail .......
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Old 13th May 2018, 11:38   #7
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Thanks, I will maybe give these a try or just live with what I have.

Cheers

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Old 13th May 2018, 16:01   #8
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Even the canbus friendly versions only seem to last 6 to 9 months before they start to fail .......
It is certainly not the fault of the LED technology, I have replaced lots of lights in the house with LED two years ago now. They are in use much longer than they would be in a car - yet not a single failure. The few LED's I have fitted in the car, have also similarly been 100%. Likewise those I fitted in the caravan.
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Old 13th May 2018, 19:44   #9
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I stupidly installed LED headlights a couple of months back, great for being able to see where I was going, useless for my cars computer

I bought two different brands of canbus friendly resistors but both of them would show the alert after about 5 minutes once they got warm.

I ended up selling it all and putting decent bulbs in instead, was more hassle than it was worth.
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Old 13th May 2018, 19:47   #10
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I've had led main beams for years, been fine
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