LED replacements for Festoon bulbs

[JFENG]

Last week Koopman and I spent too much time BS-ing each other with my trunk open, and it ran down my barely marginal battery. I got a new group24 Exide battery at Lowe’s for $105 (36mo warranty, but it’s not white).

And I replaced all my festoon bulbs with LED’s, which are noticeably brighter and use 1/5th of the power/heat.

One of the easiest and cheapest ($11 for 6 on Amazon) upgrades on an E9. And I have one left over for the tool box.

Makes even the most ham fisted of us feel
like a mechanic.

VehiCode Low Voltage 12V 6418 6411 6461 C5W 3710 3423 3425 LED Light Bulb (Warm White) - 36-37mm Festoon 12-SMD 3014 Chipset for Car Interior Map Dome Trunk Courtesy License Plate Light (6 Pack)

 

[Drew Gregg]

John--What are festoon lights? I tried LED 1156 type lamps in my turn signals and they wouldn't blink. The LED 1157 lamps in the brake lights work , but they are not a lot brighter than regular lamps. Perhaps you are talking about the interior lights?---Drew

 

[Stevehose]

Festoon are the glove box, overhead, trunk, and hood lights

 

[jmackro]

I tried LED 1156 type lamps in my turn signals and they wouldn't blink.

Well no, they wouldn't. Old-school, mechanical flashers need a threshold current draw before they will cycle. LED bulbs draw too little current to trigger those flashers, so to get them to work as turn signal bulbs you either need to replace the mechanical flasher with an electronic one or put a resistor in parallel with the LED bulbs. Suppliers such as Superbrightleds.com sell both e-flashers and resistors. https://www.superbrightleds.com/cat...R5wBQf-mw0H100hy9Z5BqYRUag-ef4ZhoC7DMQAvD_BwE

The LED 1157 lamps in the brake lights work , but they are not a lot brighter than regular lamps.

LED bulbs come in a variety of brightness and color spectrum, so the ones you installed may not necessarily be brighter than the incandescents they replaced. Even if they are equally bright, LED brake lights get more attention because they come on instantly, while incandescent bulbs take a few milliseconds to warm up. Sort of like the difference between a flashbulb going off and a candle getting lit.

 

[JFENG]

The festoon bulbs I bought emit light to one side (the smd’s are only on one side of the pcb). I believe these produce more light where you want it. When it comes to a tail light, I think light pattern and reflector design have to be looked at together. This might be why some LED bulbs don’t seem any brighter. LED’s do emit more lumens per watt, and thus have the potential to be brighter.

 

[HB Chris]

I put these in my e12 for tail and brake lights and in the e9 and NK. They make a huge difference!

Amazon.com: iBrightstar Newest 9-30V Extremely Bright 1156 1141 1003 BA15S LED Bulbs Replacement for Rv Tail Brake Lights, Brilliant Red : Automotive

Buy iBrightstar Newest 9-30V Extremely Bright 1156 1141 1003 BA15S LED Bulbs Replacement for Rv Tail Brake Lights, Brilliant Red: Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[rsporsche]

i know they are brighter, and in locations that don't use a reflector, they make sense. i am really curious what bulbs work good for tail / brake lights ... since in the e9 they use a reflector to spread light. i am also curious on the brake / tail if you are using red bulbs vs. white bulbs

 

[bavbob]

Drew, it is no wonder you and I both did not know what festoon lights are: Per Webster's Dictionary

The verb "festoon," which first appeared in the late 1700s, comes from the noun "festoon," which appeared over 100 years earlier. "Festoon" traces back (by way of French and Italian) to Latin festa, the plural of festum, meaning "festival." "Festa" is also an ancestor of the English noun "feast."

So John can have his anniversary dinner with his trunk open and bypass the candlelight.

 

[HB Chris]

i know they are brighter, and in locations that don't use a reflector, they make sense. i am really curious what bulbs work good for tail / brake lights ... since in the e9 they use a reflector to spread light. i am also curious on the brake / tail if you are using red bulbs vs. white bulbs

Scott, I used the brilliant red bulbs that I shared from Amazon. Very happy with the brightness in all three cars.

 

[rsporsche]

thanks Chris, i missed the link, its says 'robot check' ... so based on your post i realized that was a link.

 

[JFENG]

I put these in my e12 for tail and brake lights and in the e9 and NK. They make a huge difference!

Chris:
Please let me confirm what to order from RobotCheck

1156 Brilliant Red for stop bulbs (2)
1157 amber Yellow for rear turn bulbs (2)
? Front turn signals (amber yellow not avail in 1157 style

John

 

[HB Chris]

Don’t know why it says robot check, lol. I ordered red for stop and tail lights. Don’t order turn bulbs unless you go to the electronic flasher. I was I was most concerned about tail lights at night and stop lights always.

 

[JFENG]

I put these in my e12 for tail and brake lights and in the e9 and NK. They make a huge difference!

Amazon.com: iBrightstar Newest 9-30V Extremely Bright 1156 1141 1003 BA15S LED Bulbs Replacement for Rv Tail Brake Lights, Brilliant Red : Automotive

Buy iBrightstar Newest 9-30V Extremely Bright 1156 1141 1003 BA15S LED Bulbs Replacement for Rv Tail Brake Lights, Brilliant Red: Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Chris
I bought the bulbs via that link and tested them last night. I put the LED in the driver side.

Disappointing - LED was much dimmer. Chris you dope!

Then I remembered the exhaust tip is below the driver side light, and undoubtedly that lens is spited up in the inside and the reflectors are dirtier and more corroded.

I pulled the pass side light and sure enough the reflector was bright and shiny in comparison. I moved the LED to the PASSENGER side and put the pass incandescent bulb into the DRIVER side.

Ah... cleaning the lenses and shining the reflectors will likely make a bigger difference than the LEDs

 

[JFENG]

(Delete duplicate post)

 

[HB Chris]

Always pays the scrub the lenses and polish the reflectors with bronze wool (online from Home Depot), I won’t let steel wool anywhere near my cars.

 

[Stevehose]

The Honda Stanley bulbs are the brightest I've found for the brake lights, more so than my LED's

 

[Luis A.]

The Honda Stanley bulbs are the brightest I've found for the brake lights, more so than my LED's

I also got the LED bulbs mentioned above and found the Stanley bulbs I already have in place to be far brighter...

 

[JFENG]

These are bulbs you buy from the Honda dealer, and they are incandescent yet brighter at 21watts than other incandescent bulbs?

 

[m5bb]

The Honda Stanley bulbs are the brightest I've found for the brake lights, more so than my LED's

Please explain? I have good old stock bulbs in my rebuild. Good quality with SS bases. Not so big on LED's .... yet.

 

[rsporsche]

Gary, ii believe its a different socket. this is what @Mo Brighta does. i can bring one of my taillight bulb holders over and we can test it. we went to dual brake light / running light bulbs on mine so it should be really bright.