Air Marshall Eldritch

I put on Polarg Hyper whites a few months ago. I did not need to shave off the contact. They fit in perfectly as is.

On the other hand, they are still much yellower than in the pictures in this thread.

Whitey

cuz these are all LEDs

Huachipato

With all that is being written here, nobody has posted what the normal resistance is of the OEM bulb and what the impedance is of the LED light. My thoughts are that the Impedance of the LED light is HIGHER than the resistance of the OEM bulb. In which case, a resistor would need to be installed in parrallel to the LED bulb to create the same resistance of the OEM bulb. If you do it right, there is no reason the bulb should turn off.

Here's a little free tip from an Electronics major. The diode will drop the same voltage regardless of the resistance. That is the main reason the resistance is there to begin with (to drop the "other voltage" on it). The issue ends up being how much current is flowing through it (the second purpose of the resistor). The all inclusive bulb should not be concern to burn out - as the company has it designed to light up with the proper current at the assumed 14V that cars can produce when running.

I still recommend measuring the amperage of the LED bulbs with voltage applied. It is the best way to properly measure the impedance of an unknown Diode (the "D" in LED).

dan_cobb

Review the principles of OHM's Law here for resistors in SERIES:
http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutor...ro.series.html

Review the principles of Ohm's Law here for resistors IN PARALLEL:
http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutor....parallel.html

I would need to make a complex circuit combining both series the resistor that is inside the base) and parallel resistors (outside the base) between +12VDC and ground in order to make the warning lamp go out.

Bottom line is this; Without first knowing three things:
1- The maximum safe voltage for the LED
2- The value for the current internal resistor
3- The trigger point for the warning circuit (voltage, current draw, or resistance, etc.)

It is impossible to add ANY resistance to the circuit without jeopardizing the life of the LED.
+++

OldNate

My aren't yellow :$

Huachipato

1- Non issue - the bulb is designed to go into a car, and regardless of how you put the resistors = you are not going to exceed the source voltage.

As for 2 & 3 - if you can figure out how much the current needs to be and how much it is - it is not rocket science to figure out if the resistance needs to be increased (series) or reduced (parrallel) and by how much. The problem would be that if you put it in series - then the current (not the voltage) going through the LED will be reduced - which will in turn reduce the brightness of the LED. Hell - I think I might need to purchase the blasted bulb just to measure the crap out of it for you all.

JKA

This is getting too complicated for my simple mind.

Huachipato

Guys - It is not that hard to understand - really it is not. The part that you guys are missing is that you are dealing with a Diode (LED). A diode does NOT behave like a resistor - so you have to measure it a little differently.

FWIW - I ordered a couple of LED bulbs. I do have a stock bulb that I will play with and this will give us the measurements we are aiming for.

LEDs typically are low current devices - so the solution will most likely be to put a resistor in parrallel. Once I get the LEDs, I will be able to calculate and prove the resistance and wattage needed for the resistor.

Whitey

Well, I didn't and I have had mine in for over 8 months with regular night driving as well as the turn signals........... Believe what you want, just trying to help with REAL experience and not taking a guess at what the textbooks say - probably shorting the circuit in the process.... Anyway, good luck with your calculations and complex circuits Dan..

sbarsap

Where did you buy the Polarg's from? Are they HW6?

JKA

Nate's are Polarg, not LED.

Air Marshall Eldritch

I got mine here:

http://www.2kracing.com/index.php/cPath/27

But now that I look again, they appear to be 8W. I don't know if that makes any difference, but I've had no issues or electrical warnings from the car. Been in there around 6 months now.

michakaveli

Anyone try the yellow or amber LED's from http://www.42draftdesigns.com site?

I like the look of the old 300D's with the yellow fog lamp... I always wanted to do this on my E300 with the yellow. I currently do have the amber LED and have been too lazy to install the appropriate resister to balance the load though.

blueC230K

I bought 2 sets of these superwhite city lights when I was in Hong Kong over Xmas. I was going to use it but I have just upgraded to Zam's HID solution I realized that now the city lights use 194 bulbs. So, no use for me...

I bought it HK$250=US$ 32.05 a pair. I will send those US$30 shipped (within U.S.) PM me. The bulb says OSRAM on it and it looks like it's made in Japan.

Air Marshall Eldritch

Hang on to one of those sets for me. I'll try them out if you don't mind holding onto it for a bit.

MB>BMW

im pmed u about the lights....

Huachipato

I got the bulbs in today. Got them measured too.

I used a car Battery charger as the 12V sorce, and used a Digital Multimeter to record the measurements stated below.

The stock bulb has a current draw of 0.23 Amps. The LED light has a draw of 0.023 Amps. Essentially - what is happening is that the LED is not pulling near enough current draw to trick the car into thinking there is a bulb there.

Assuming that the car is looking for a current draw of at least 0.23 Amps, the the solution to correct the problem is as follows.

Solution works out like this. We need to produce 0.2A of current to match the stock bulb. 12/0.2= 60 Ohm resistor needed. 12*0.2=2.4 Watts. Solution is a 60 Ohm, and at the least 2.5 Watt resistor in Parrallel with the light bulb. I'd recommend a higher wattage resistor if you plan on doing this, it will ensure that the resistor doesn't short out.

JKA

Huachipato, how about a "how-to" for those of us who took electrical circuits more than 20 years ago?

Huachipato

I just tested the bulbs, I haven't really worked on trying to get the bulbs installed in the car. I'm kind of wondering how the light casing comes apart and where you can put a resistor in there to trick the warning lamps.

Somthing else that I was thinking of, if you put the resistor there, and the bulb does burn out, you will not received a warning on the dash. Essentially, the resistor is replacing the bulb, and the LED is there just for show (literally). On the other hand, assuming the LED is built well for this task, it should last for the life of the car.

illest

got any pics of the car with the amber leds. i was thinking of doing the same thing.

gujupimpster89@

well im interested in depo headlights now, and i've searched the forums and so i need to buy depo headlights, then what do i need, HID bulbs?

i found these, are they good? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/96-99...79325318QQrdZ1

or these? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/96-99...ayphotohosting

where have u guys got urs from?

Bossman123

If you go with the Polargs m-26 8w blue bulbs from 2k racing, make sure and get the narrow tube bulbs, (if they make them) not the round ones. I bought the round ones and they won't fit thru the opening in the socket.

Air Marshall Eldritch

I still want to know if someone can sum up the Polarg lights in non-techie fashion. As I mentioned, my Polargs from 2k racing are still yellowish. Short of LED, is there another option?

Bossman123

how did you fit the Polargs thru the socket?

did you get these?
http://www.2kracing.com/product_info...oducts_id/2784

Air Marshall Eldritch

That's exactly what I got. They popped right in the sockets. At first, I thought they were a bit tight, but rotating the bulb meant a perfect fit.