Indicator stem bulb brightness

[Mr Spigot]

Following on from my fun fitting a new indicator stem bulb (viewtopic.php?p=689492#p689492) I found that LED bulbs are not all equal. I had read elsewhere in this forum that coloured LEDs give a much brighter appearance, notably on rear lights. I purchased a replacement green LED 'lilliput' bulb from Classic Car LEDs who I can highly recommend - www.classiccarleds.co.uk. Their Green Indicator Stalk LED Bulb 280 LLB280 is just as fiddly to fit as any other, but once I got it making the correct contact and working, it was significantly brighter than the previous LED bulb I had tried. At just over £1 each, they are a cheap upgrade and useful to ensure you can see if your indicators are working, especially in bright sunlight where traditional bulbs can be almost invisible.
I tried to post short video clips of each bulb, but the form does not like it!

[geoberni]

Hi
You can't post video to the Forum, what I've done in the past is upload to Youtube and then post the link here.

You're right about LEDs, their visible light is not the same as an incandescent lamp, and the Classic Car LED website has a very simple page to explain why. https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/blogs/ ... red-lenses
The basic 'Rule of Thumb' is to match the LED colour to any coloured lens that is over it.

[oliver90owner]

Incandescent bulbs emit a wide range of frequencies/wavelengths from the filament - white light; LEDs emit a very narrow range of frequencies - hence the different colour LEDs on the market (think here, perhaps, of LEDs that are invisible to the human eye but are extremely useful for security systems).

If one has a coloured protective cover over a bulb or LED, it will filter out some of the light frequencies - maybe some that you really need to be transmitted. Alternatively, the power of the LEDs may well be different, hence a difference in light output - they all require a current limiting resistor during operation (12V, directly across these diode junctions in the forward direction would immediately fry the device). Then there may be different efficiencies, dependent on the doping elements used in the diode. Any, or all, of these factors might be the cause of your observed difference.

[svenedin]

If concerned about knowing whether the indicators have self-cancelled and might be left on there is another way to alert the driver. I can no longer hear the relay ticking on the bulkhead so I have put another relay under the dashboard on the drivers side. I left the original relay on the bulkhead for original appearance but took new wires back through the bulkhead. One would have to inspect closely to realise the bulkhead relay is no longer being used. If using LED indicator bulbs an LED compatible relay can be fitted that makes the tick tock noise.

A brighter tell-tale bulb is all very well for daytime use but can be rather distracting at night. We used to call it the "glowing orb" at night and the whole cabin would flash an eery green!

Stephen

[oliver90owner]

A brighter tell-tale bulb is all very well for daytime use but can be rather distracting at night. We used to call it the "glowing orb" at night and the whole cabin would flash an eery green!


Isn’t it just lucky that there is no ‘after-glow’ with LEDs.

[King Kenny]

When I started driving back in the mid 70s I fitted a 'Buzzicator' and I had an audible warning when the indicators were werking. I suspect a simple buzzer would be a good substitute these days.

[svenedin]

A brighter tell-tale bulb is all very well for daytime use but can be rather distracting at night. We used to call it the "glowing orb" at night and the whole cabin would flash an eery green!


Isn’t it just lucky that there is no ‘after-glow’ with LEDs.

It's about the brightness not any after-glow. Only really an issue on dark country roads when having the cabin flashing green is not ideal.