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Sounds like those are your load resistors. And yes, I think you will need them and yes that it the level of heat sinking one might expect. For a US car, the heat load would be 8 watts from the running lights, 27 watts from the brake lamps, and 27 watts from the turn signals. Admittedly, the brake lamps and the turn signals are low duty cycle loads, so one could "fudge" the total amount of heat sinking required. Hard to say what the Chinese manufacturers (where I'm pretty sure these were made) thoughts were on this, but hopefully the red heat sinks will work.
Last edited by Floobydust; Jun 9, 2020 at 09:53 PM.
The manufacturer GBT in China has replied to say that the blocks that are part filled with sand are used for heat dissipation, here they are, I'm not comfortable using these, can somebody help me identify the right heat sink resistors that will hopefully solve any concerns about the lights running hot and the error Im getting please? I've sent several emails to resistor manufacturers and G Wagon tuners appealing for help.
Yes, those are indeed the load resistors. I theory, the black wire goes to the LED black wire and one each of the red wires goes to the light gray, yellow, and red wires. From a heat perspective, I would not be afraid to use them given that you seem to only need a load resistor on the running lights (light gray) circuit, however, the bare resistor connection on the "hot" side is very disconcerting and is a recipe for disaster. I would definitely not use them because of this.
On thing that I find a bit odd about your situation is that you are having problems with the running lights and not the brake lamps / turn signal lamps. There is a much higher differential between the 21 watts of those bulbs and the 3 or so watts of the LEDs so I would expect the SAM to easily detect this. In contrast, there is a smaller differential between the 1 - 2 watt running light LEDs and the 5 watt OEM incandescent bulb. Very strange and sort of points to there being an internal load resistor as well. Indeed, if the load resistance is too low, the SAM will shut off power to that bulb and treat it as a bulb out error.
But be that as it may, I would try this test. Temporarily connect the black lead on the resistor block to the black lead on one of your LED lamps. Connect one of the red wires to the light gray wire - be sure the resistor block is not contacting the truck chassis. Turn on your lights and see if the error for that lamp goes away. If it does, you will have to go about finding a substitute load resistor.
Hi sorry what do you mean "bare resistor connection on the hot side". The image is what these look like inside the box, its completely closed off for me to look at, I asked for this from the seller as I wanted to know what they were using to help with heat disputation. Sorry if you thought its an exposed surface. The light covers slide off so I will connect the black to the black and a red to the running light and see if it solves the error, if so am I ok to connect the other reds to the other brake and the turn signal?
Sorry, I thought the second picture was of the bottom on the red blocks. Now I understand what it is. Yes, try that test. If you are not having error issues with the brake / turn lamps I would not connect the other two red wires as this will just cause unnecessary heat dissipation.
Ok thanks for the help so far, now to figure out where the heck these can go, they're quite large so not sure if there's enough room in that pocket behind the lamp or not?
This is the lamps I bought but dont have the bumper kit so the fog and reverse light is not the same, the guy in the video talks about the need for a resistor but dont seem to install that heat pack
Ok thanks for the help so far, now to figure out where the heck these can go, they're quite large so not sure if there's enough room in that pocket behind the lamp or not?
If the test is successful, it should be possible to source a smaller resistor for the running light circuit so you won't have the use the large red blocks permanently.
The search has started LOL, the guy in the video says 50W 30 ohm but no clue if that's enough or way too much?
For the running lights, 30 ohms is correct, and while 50 watts will certainly work, you really only need a 10 watt resistor.
There are plenty of generic 30 ohm, 10 watt resistors available but they are not setup with insulated leads for this application. Most of the pre-configured "load equalizer" resistors for LED replacement use are in the 6 - 10 ohm range, with power ratings of 25 or 50 watts as they are designed to replace the 1156/1157 style bulbs that are typically used as brake/turn signal lamps which are 27 watts. I easily found these (
) which are 10 ohm, 25 watt. A single 10 ohm resistor will provide a 16 watt "dummy load" which may or may not be acceptable to the SAM. Two of these in series (for a total of four in your truck) would be the equivalent of 20 ohms, 50 watts which should give you a dummy load of about 8 watts which should definitely be acceptable to the SAM.
Were your original tail lights LED or incandescent? I don't know when the transition from incandescent to LED for the tail lights took place.
The W463 never got the LED tail lights. Those were introduced with the W463A for the 2019 model year (in the US). In 2015 they changed the sidemarkers and license plate lights to LED though. Any clue what size resistor one would need to eliminate errors for an older car if installing the OEM LEDs from an older car? Been trying to find this info all over and no dice.
The W463 never got the LED tail lights. Those were introduced with the W463A for the 2019 model year (in the US). In 2015 they changed the sidemarkers and license plate lights to LED though. Any clue what size resistor one would need to eliminate errors for an older car if installing the OEM LEDs from an older car? Been trying to find this info all over and no dice.
Repeating post from the other thread . . .
The original side marker bulbs are 4 watts so it should require a 40 ohm, 5 watt resistor for these. The license plate lamps are 5 watts so it should require a 30 ohm, 10 watt resistor for these. In reality, you could use the 30 ohm, 10 watt ones for all of them and the SAM won't care.
As I said in my previous post, I have not been able to find these values pre-made for this application, however, if you are handy with a soldering iron and heat shrink, you can easily find the bare resistors on the net and make your own. I converted my previous G to LED using the MB OEM parts (I just sold my extra set of the side lights) and I got the required resistors on Amazon (
What about heat disspation with 30 ohm 10 watt resistors, do I need to consider it?
The actual power dissipation is only about 5.5 watts so a 10 watt rated resistor in free air (e.g., not mounted to a heat sink) should be just fine. Just be sure that your connections are well insulated and mechanically robust so you don't get any shorts or things coming loose over time.
Any thoughts on these? they look a little more substantial (at a cost, of course). There is a 5W and 21W version so it sounds like they would work also? I don't see the ohm rating listed anywhere.
these are listed as 24V. Does that make a difference?
No. While resistors usually have a maximum working voltage rating, for most resistors, it is rarely printed on it and is orders of magnitude above automotive supply voltages. The "24V" rating is there to say that this resistor was designed to replace lights in a 24 volt electrical system (like some older and military Gs). A 30 ohm resistor on a 24V system would replace a 21 watt bulb, but it also happens to be just perfect for replacing the 4/5 watt bulbs on a 12V system.
Last edited by Floobydust; Jun 11, 2020 at 08:20 PM.
Any thoughts on these? they look a little more substantial (at a cost, of course). There is a 5W and 21W version so it sounds like they would work also? I don't see the ohm rating listed anywhere.
The 5 watt version should work perfectly for the side markers/plate lamps. Nice find! The 21 watt would be good for tail/brake/turn lamps. The 5 watt version will indeed be a 30 ohm resistor and the 21 watt version will be an 8 ohm resistor.
The 5 watt version should work perfectly for the side markers/plate lamps. Nice find! The 21 watt would be good for tail/brake/turn lamps. The 5 watt version will indeed be a 30 ohm resistor and the 21 watt version will be an 8 ohm resistor.
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