Steve / Hugh,
Thanks for the links...I will investigate and report on my findings at some
point after testing various LED schemes.
Just brainstorming...I might try clear brights and disperse through the
green dome, however I don't believe the dome will disperse very well
(because most clear LED's are narrow viewing angle) Another test will be to
try super bright green's (wide angle, 135 degree type) without the dome. In
this case some sort of dispersing lens may help to spread the light more
evenly. Once I get into testing other ideas may pop up but what Hugh
mentioned is correct: The original lighting scheme is deficient to put it
politely.
But, there is hope...Some of todays LED's are pretty bright with as little
as 20-50 mA. Keep in mind that incadesents are only 15% efficient. (85%
heat) LED's on the otherhand are very efficient with lifespan of 11,000
hours or more. Next time you drive up to a stop light check the light
closely. More than likely the lights have been converted to LED's as
distinguished by the small dot appearance. With most intersections having at
least 16 lights on (in Phoenix) at any given time this means a huge savings
in power and maintenance. The incandescents bulbs were 500Watt units
equaling a total of 8000Watts per intersection!! I don't know what the power
rating of the LED unit is but probably just a mere fraction. In the Phoenix
area most intersections have been converted in all three colors. Even city
buses are now using LED lights...this could go on and on but I'll stop for
now!!
Don
'74 Mallard Blue
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Hanselman" <tr6@kc4sw.com>
To: "Fader, Hugh (H.O.)" <hfader@ford.com>; "'Mark Hooper'"
<mhooper@pixelsystems.com>; "'Stephen Hanselman'" <tr6@kc4sw.com>; "Hugh
Fader" <hfader@usa.net>; "'Don Becker'" <dr.becker@cox.net>; "'Dale'"
<tpdwinch@yahoo.com>; "'jonmac'" <jonmac@ndirect.co.uk>
Cc: "'6Pack'" <6pack@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 9:15 AM
Subject: RE: Poor dash lighting
> The major benefit of the LED lamps is cooler running and longer (much,
> much longer) life. a bit of power wastage is probably not a bad thing in
> this case. Although an electronic timer based on a 555 timer IC would be
> easy to fix up
>
> I just read (yes after replying) all of the posts on this. The limiting
> resistor I talked about to used to limit the current that can flow through
> the LED. The load equalizing resistor is to provide the load needed to
> make/break the blinker unit
>
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fader, Hugh (H.O.) [mailto:hfader@ford.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 8:50 AM
> To: 'Mark Hooper'; 'Stephen Hanselman'; Hugh Fader; 'Don Becker';
> 'Dale'; 'jonmac'
> Cc: '6Pack'
> Subject: RE: Poor dash lighting
>
>
> Hi Mark. There are electronic flasher units. Check your local auto parts
> mega mart. I'm not sure if they are load sensitive or not. I'm guessing
> they
> might do what you want.
>
> The load balancers must be resistors that go across the LED. It is wasting
> energy, but it is a small amount and would be wasted with the incandescent
> lamps any way.
>
> - Hugh
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mark Hooper [mailto:mhooper@pixelsystems.com]
> > Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 11:12 AM
> > To: 'Stephen Hanselman'; Hugh Fader; 'Don Becker'; 'Dale'; 'jonmac'
> > Cc: '6Pack'
> > Subject: RE: Poor dash lighting
> >
> >
> > Doesn't anybody make a turn signal flasher replacement that
> > just has a timer
> > built in? The thermal bi-metal units will not work without the "load
> > equalizers" mentioned in the site. That seems wasteful.
> > Especially if one of
> > the major benefits of the LED bulbs is the reduced current draw.
> >
> > Mark Hooper
> > 1972 TR6
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Stephen Hanselman [mailto:tr6@kc4sw.com]
> > Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 10:40 AM
> > To: Hugh Fader; 'Don Becker'; 'Dale'; 'jonmac'
> > Cc: '6Pack'
> > Subject: RE: Poor dash lighting
> >
> >
> > Look at this website http://www.myroadster.net/led.asp they discuss
> > several LED lamps , although mostly for exterior applications.
> >
> > Chicago Miniature
> > (
> > http://www.chml.com/electric/display.cfm?type=led&style=LEDsDi
> screte&Subst
> yle=T-1_3/4White ), DialLight, and SPC all make cartridge/leaded style
> LEDs the problem will be mounting them for maximum light use. I'm
> looking at using the High-Intensity White with a modified panel bezel to
> replace the entire lamp assembly on the instruments.
>
> If you use LEDs make sure that they have a built in limiting resistor, or
> that you use an external one. Assuming 5MA per lamp at 13 volts the
> resistor should be about 2700 ohms and 1/8 watt. Other wise no limiting
> resistor means a one time use really bright lamp
>
> steve
>
> tr6@kc4sw.com
>
> [demime 0.99d.1 removed an attachment of type
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