I have superbrightleds and 100 ohms 10W resistors.
It worked for 2 weeks.
Now I have one side is flickering rapidly...

Anybody with a setup lasting several months?

 

so are the resistors the ones from the original setup poster?

 

I keep sounding like a broken record...I HAVE A SETUP! It's been lasting for a good 3 or 4 months...I lost count. GO TO superbrightleds.com, festoon base bulbs, and note the following:

3910-x6 LED Festoon bulb - 39x10mm 12 VDC Festoon Base Bulb
RL-2525 Marker Lamp Load Resistor - Connect one across each LED marker light to resolve bulb-out warning indicator problems.

The RL-2525 unit is what makes the difference. You can't just hook up a resistor from radioshack...it has to be THIS. I have attached photos of the items from the website. I don't want to hear anyone else wondering if this setup works, because I have been having it in my car for so long that I don't even think about it anymore. So BUY THE RL-2525 "TRUE" load resistors. You'll thank me later...hehe.

The only thing about RL-2525 is that it gets HOT, so mount it somewhere it won't MELT anything. Other than that, buy 2 x RL-2525 and 2 x 36mm festoon bulbs, install, and enjoy! The guys there are really nice. They pointed in the right direction, and I am thoroughly happy with their CS and HIGH QUALITY products. Funny thing is, they're in Florissant, MO, right outside of STL, MO. That's right down the road from me (~2 hours, give or take).

 

Fine fine, you win. I'll order the setup when I install my euro trunk lid.

 

ghaffer, where did you mount your resistor? Also, which size bulb did you use? you said "39x10mm 12 VDC Festoon Base Bulb" and then you said "2 x 36mm." I know either will work, but I want the EXACT ones that you have. Also, could you post a picture of your license plate light with the ground under it? I want to see the reflection that it makes on the ground, some people have a line of light right under the rear bumper from the light bulb which actually looks cool :p

 

I will get the pictures of the LEDs, since I bought two pairs, and I will show you the mounting points tomorrow, when I have light. I'll get you some pictures of the night shot later tonight.

I took that night shot about two weeks after I got the lights. That puts it around the end of September...it's February now...you do the math

 

Thanks, looking forward to the pictures

 

I cant find the product RL-2525 on superbrightleds.com.. how much are they anyway? Can i use RL-2525 resistor on my LED parking light? I dont want to see the "LAMP DETECTIVE" on my screen already..

 

Thanks Ghaff! the pictures look great, i'm going to get to it

 

Here's the RL-2525 link. They're $3.95 apiece:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b....30456&next=50

scroll down just a little bit...and yes, you can use the RL-2525 to alleviate any "Lamp Defective" errors. Just be sure to order one for each LED.

 

Thanks buddy.. btw are those RL-2525 do anything hurt to the LED parking light?

 

Nothing that I know of...my festoons are fine, so I'd imagine that your LED parking lights would also be fine. I recall reading about someone on the W209 forums and that they also used load resistors to alleviate the problem. Just remember to mount the load resistor somewhere so that it won't melt any plastic, because it gets hot as hell! At least hot enough to where you can't hold it after it's been on.

 

Hi all I have led on my lincense already but always had that led issue until a week ago i ordered the resistors from superbrightled.com..

Just wanted to let you huys know that I needed one for each led. I have a 97 e320.

The light on the left is the 6 led festoon bulb And the right is the white 9 led from another website. Tell me which side you guys like better? I like the whiter side

 

i like the one on the right

 

I have LEDs for the side markers and the h6ws what type of resistors would work? What is the ohms and watts resistors I would use for the side markers and h6w lights?
The h6w is somehow tie in with the high light in the headlight. So It must use a higher wattage?

 

Well just checked the led resistors and they were HOTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Is it safe for something to be that hot? I zip tied it to a part in the trunk that only has metal but I still don't feel safe leaving that on there. I'm planning on removing them unless someone has an idea?? I bought the bulbs and resistors from superbrightleds.com

 

Yes, that's how they work...I used that industrial strength 3M DS tape to have them stick on the inside of the trunk, where there aren't any wires or plastic to touch it. This is the only way that you will have LEDs that will never go out. Trust me on that.

 

Care to explain the schematic of this resistor and why it is better?
Correct me if I am wrong, isn't the purpose of "resistor" is to fool the system thinking it is consuming 5W of power?

If ceramic coating of RS resistor dissapte heat better w/out generate high temperature on the its surface, wouldn't it be a better choice?

p.s. sorry that I no longer have W210. But before I sold it, my set up has been running w/o problem for 5 months.

 

Alright, I really like this mod.
However, using the first resistors and LED's from US Home, I had three bulb failures before I said fawk it and switched back to regular bulbs. In that application, i hooked the resistor from terminal to terminal and did not receive the lamp failure message.

Fast forward to about three weeks ago and I received the new resistors and LEd's from superbright. I wired one resistor between the two power leads, using the inline splicers supplied with the resistors. However, now I get the lamp failure message and the resistors are not heating up as Ghaffar describes - so I thinks me has it wired wrong?

Do I disregard the inline splice and jump the resistor from side to side on the terminals?

Or did I read this wrong and need a total of one resistor for each wire, for a total of 4 resistors to do this mod?

Anyone, anyone....?

 

So I checked out my festoons yesterday, and low and behold, it started blinking...heh. Interesting, no 'Lamp Defective' message. Nothing can last forever. Luckily, I bought two pairs of festoons, so I am good for another 7 or 8 months.

 

I'm embarresed as I type this, but when I went to start this project, I see there looks like 3 screw holes to get to the bar where the lenses are for the license plate lights.

On my car, the outside screw holes contain.....screws...but the biddle one looks like a rivit and can't be removed!!!

Is there another way to get to the lights?

 

Damn I flew some stupid questions for my first 15 posts
If anyone else comes accross this, remove the trunk liner. That is the answer.

I also put in 100 Ohm 10 Watt @ 5% resistors from Fry's...works great.

 

So did anyone figure out a configuration that works with the LED's from SuperBrightleds.com?

 

30 Ohm, 10 Watt resistor for this application. Here's how:

Here's the theoretical Resistance value and Resistor Wattage:

This is based on a 5Watt 12volt factory bulb. (feel free to double check that this is in fact the factory bulb specs)
The LED 3910 White Bulb specs are taken from here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/specs/festoon.htm

Formulas found here in the formula wheel:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-ohm.htm

P = Power (or Wattage) in Watts
I = Current in Amps
V = Voltage in Volts
R = Resistance in Ohms

Iled (LED Current draw @ 12V) = 19 mA = 0.019 Amps
so from Ohm's Law: V = IR
Rled (Led's Resistance) = 12V/0.019A = 631.579 Ohms

Use power formula for calculating factory Bulb resistance (which is the resistance we are trying to achieve by combining LED and resistor):

R = V^2/P
Rbulb = 12V^2/5W = 144/5 = 28.8 Ohms

So we need to make our electrical system feel 28.8 Ohms of resistance (Rbulb) at that bulb socket.

We will use the formula for resistors in parallel to figure this out:

General formula:
1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + ....

Our application
1/Rbulb = 1/Rled + 1/R
where R is the value of the resistor we will need to achieve Rbulb. So...

1/28.8 = 1/631.579 + 1/R

1/28.8 = (R+631.579)/(631.579R)

631.579R = 28.8R + 18189.47

602.779R = 18189.47

R = 30.176 Ohms (30 ohm would probably work fine)

Now for our Resistor Power Rating in Watts: (back to the formula wheel)

P = V^2/R V = 12V and R = 30 Ohms

P = 144/30 = 4.8 Watts + Cushion = 10 Watts

So for one light bulb we will need a 30 ohm resistor with atleast 5 watts of power rating.

I would cushion the resistor and go to a 10 Watt resistor so it doesn't get hot.
A 10 Watt resistor does not mean it will use more power it will only be able to handle better and safer without much strain. The reason is the power formula above: if voltage and resistance are constant then power usage is the same. In other words 12 volts can only push 5 watts of power over a 30 ohm resistance and since our resistance is 30 Ohms regardless of wattage rating, we will get the same power (which is a function of current) from both resistors.

This formula can be applied to any LED conversion as long as you know the LED's current draw and the original Light bulb's wattage.

Please feel free to double check my work and let me know if I am mistaking anywhere.
I hope this helps.

Edit:
After looking at the site the resistor they offer is 25 Ohm and 25 Watts. If this gets hot then this is the minimum power rating we should go with.

 

Im going to get the LEDs for the license plate, but what festoons should i get for the city lights from superbrightleds to replace the H6W city lights?? and should i get the same resistors for the city lights as the license plate LEDs??