parker lights

[Foss]

the phillips 5w parker globes that come with it, apparently they are white-ish...

If they're anything like the Narva ones, they aren't even white-sih. I have the Narva Arctic Blue in mine, and you can't tell the difference.

[Matt.]

Just a bit of information for anyone keen to see the difference in a few of the common options available for LED parker replacements...

I have tried both of these bulbs in my parkers:

There is a bit of difference between the two. The 7 LED sytle are a slightly blue-ish white, while the 25 SMD LED style bulbs are a very clean white. Perhaps not so surprisingly, the 25 SMD style bulbs are quite a bit brighter. I've only had the bulbs in for a short time, so I can't really comment on the longevity of either bulb - but I've installed the 7 LED bulbs in my car and the 25 SMD style bulbs in a mates on the same day, so I'll let you know whose fail first!

Anyway, here are a few pictures for you to compare. My car (the lighter "reef" blue one) has the 7 LED bulbs and the other one has the 25 SMD LED bulbs. It would have been better if the photos were at night, but my mate had to be somewhere.

[tekkyy]

I bought a pair with 1 big LED and then another pair with 9 small LEDs

tested with just a 9V battery

1 big LED one is bright

but doubt its bright enough to be seen in daytime

9 small LEDs one is dim

but duno if its going to be massively brighter at 12V and ebay item said "dashboard"

[DJKOR]

I have used both types before. Despite looking the part, the large 10mm one usually wouldn't be as bright as the second one you have shown. But in this case, looks like it might be different for you.

Personally I hate the first one mainly because there are so many brighter alternatives out there. That said, they are the most durable for parker use due to the extra material to insulate the LED from heat damage. They will still eventually blow however.

[Matt.]

As a follow up to my last post... first lot of bulbs blew within a month, so I put in the second lot. Now one of them has blown too. Dodgy! I'm going to investigate this further, starting with checking the current delivered to the parker bulbs, then checking what has actually failed in the bulbs (i.e. diodes, resistor, tracks on tiny PCB). Not holding my breath on improving the longevity of these bulbs.

[tekkyy]

I have used both types before. Despite looking the part, the large 10mm one usually wouldn't be as bright as the second one you have shown. But in this case, looks like it might be different for you.

was the LEDs on your multi-LED non-SMD T10 also rectangular?

looking at buying a different kind of multi-LED non-SMD T10 which has round and conventional looking LEDs

also looking at warm white (thinking it'll be more visible than pure white in daytime

Personally I hate the first one mainly because there are so many brighter alternatives out there. That said, they are the most durable for parker use due to the extra material to insulate the LED from heat damage. They will still eventually blow however.

eventually? so how long did your single LED type last?

now I am worried, maybe I should just forget it

As a follow up to my last post... first lot of bulbs blew within a month, so I put in the second lot. Now one of them has blown too. Dodgy!

is the SMD type?

is the non-SMD kind still going strong?

[Matt.]

I am yet to find a style of LED that lasts more than a couple of months in my Aurion. That said, it seems that others are having more luck than me. The plan is to find out what it is exactly that is failing, and why it is failing, then fix this problem for good. My habit for going over the top with all things electronic is making me think about putting some sort of simple voltage buffer circuit that will isolate the parkers and allow me to properly regulate the current. LEDs shouldn't fail so quickly! I often wonder if it's worth it, but the stock bulbs just look so dodge.

[Buff Hamster]

Cheap LED die rarely because of voltage or current related problems. It's heat the kills the LED fast as most LED don't have proper cooling. If you want proper LED T10 then these are the ones to go but they are so expensive.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=180

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=179

[DJKOR]

Cheap LED die rarely because of voltage or current related problems. It's heat the kills the LED fast as most LED don't have proper cooling. If you want proper LED T10 then these are the ones to go but they are so expensive.

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=180

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=179

I can confidently make a bet that when in the Aurion, it's not purely heat that kills the LED's. I would be fairly sure that those more expensive Philips ones will die in a relatively short time as well. It's definitely supply related. If you have LED's in your door lights, pay close attention to them and you will notice them flicker.

[Buff Hamster]

Would extra grounding cables help with the flickering?

[MR PSI 213]

Hi Matt,

Any feedback on the 7 LED you installed in your mates car? I really want to do this to my ZR6 but it seems like there are so many options!

[tekkyy]

They blew within a month for him. He didn't say if he was referring to the 7 LED type or the SMD type though.

As a follow up to my last post... first lot of bulbs blew within a month

[Matt.]

Hi Matt,

Any feedback on the 7 LED you installed in your mates car? I really want to do this to my ZR6 but it seems like there are so many options!

The 7 LED ones looked really good... white with a slight blue tinge. Loved em. But, they barely lasted a month. Maybe 6 weeks. Watch this space - I WILL solve this problem in the June/July uni hols. 4 weeks off to tinker with all things electrical.

The SMD style ones did slightly better. They didn't have the nice bluish tinge like the others, but at least they made it a bit longer.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Matt.

[u54mot]

Are the reverse lights T20 (7440)?

Thanks.

[DJKOR]

Are the reverse lights T20 (7440)?

They are a T20 sized bulb with a T10 sized base... if you get what I mean.

[u54mot]

Are the reverse lights T20 (7440)?

They are a T20 sized bulb with a T10 sized base... if you get what I mean.

So a 10mm connector? (Not 20mm)

[masasaki]

Damn this looks like a real pain in the *****. Btw DKJOR that's a TRD aurion right? Supercharged?