6V LED taillights?

[=PlyPals=]

Anyone knows if they are available?

On ePay you find them... only for 12V.

I know there is a company that sells LED "bulbs" for 6V...

But when mailed, I never receive an answer... Is it because I live in Belgium? Who knows...

Anyhow, I want to "upgrade" my taillights (and brakelight) for better visability during darker days.

[greg g]

Use the search feature, there have been several threads discussing 6V led and where folks got them.

There are several other steps you can take before replacing bulbs with led's.

Make sure you lamp fixtures are well grounded, and that the lamp to bayonet connection is clean and correctly aligned.

Make sure your body is well grounded to the frame or engine

Make sure your primary battery cables are the correct size for 6V, 1 gauge or larger

Make sure your battery cable connections are clean and tight

Paint the area inside the light fixtures a light color if you have a dark colored car

As far as lighting is concerned watts are watts regardless of voltage, so a similarly rated 6V bulb should put out the same light as a 12V bulb assuming that the resistance in the system (wires in good shape, connections clean and tight, and good grounds).

6v systems are sensitive to resistance and dependant of current flow from the power source to the appliance, then to ground. Anything that increases resistance will dim the bulb.

If you assure your system is in good condition and you are still not satisfied withthe light output, then maybe an upgrade is necessary. By the way if your bulbs have been in the car for a long time part of the problem may just be dust on the bulb and on the lens, and if your bulbs are old, they do get dimmer as the element deposits tungstun on the inside of the bulb glass, so new 6v bulbs may address your concern.

Edited July 18, 2012 by greg g

[Dennis_MN]

I bought my 6v led bulbs from

www.superbrightleds.com

I ordered them with the 1157 base, but my application is for trailer lights that hook up to my truck so I didn't need to concern myself with the flasher.

They mention that if you are using a red lens to get their red led, use the white for the front. Also, LEDs don't put enough load on the flasher to flash, so you may need to order a led flasher unit.

Dennis

[MoparAl-]

How weird, ive just ordered two Led bulbs on Ebay Uk then i read this post, i will let you know how they turn out, Al

[greg g]

Also LED's are polarity sensitive. The majority of them like negative groud so when you order specify.

Here is another source. He specailizes in Studebaker stuff but they are 6V pos ground.

http://www.highspeedmotors.com/

[=PlyPals=]

First of all, thank you for the replies!

@ Greg G: I changed a year or 2 ago the lights with new bulbs... difference was noticable, but it was still very dim... I'm quite sure my original electrical system works fine and is grounded decent.

That is why I'm thinking to switch over to LED's...

Nonetheless, highspeedmotors was indeed the shop I contacted without receiving answers... too bad, because I found out it was the only supplier for 6V positive ground LED's...

@ Dennis_MN: I looked at the link you've sended, but they don't specify if it is positive or negative ground...

@ MoparAl: please let me know indeed... (they were 6V positive ground??) UK is closer to Belgium as the US

Cheers 'n greets

[MoparAl-]

UPDATE: them bulbs i ordered were neg earth BUT have found acompany in UK selling Bi 6v Led bulbs, not cheap but what is here anymore !

http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.com

[Labrauer]

Highspeed motors.com has them in negitive ground or positive ground. Six volt or 12 volts.

[Don Coatney]

This is what Norm's Coupe had to say about this.

Not to take away anything from the P15 LED lights. After all' date=' if you need new bezels, it is a deal. However, if you're just after LED stop and tail lights you can save a bundle making your own. Don't know what Technostalgia is charging just for the inner workings but when I look at the picture I only see about $5 or $10 worth of parts there. Circuit boards, LED bulbs and resistors are dirt cheap at any electronics parts store. My son made the light below to fit my backup lights to work as extra stop and turn signals. As you can see, there are a lot more LED bulbs in it, plus the resistors. So.........if you wanted the light to also serve as a tail light you would only need to simply hook up half the LED's to the tail light circuit and the other half to come on in conjunction with the tail lights for turn and stop signals. No, you won't have the rapid fire. However, if you have an electric stop light switch from Watson's you can just lightly tap the brake pedal quickly 3 times before applying the full brake. To get a gasket you can make your own out of a piece of scrap inner tube or any other piece of rubber.

Another nice thing about making your own is. You can make them as large or small as you want, or in any shape or form you want that will fit your car.

With the stop lights on, can you see any difference between the stock light bulbs and the LED lights. I don't. The three original stop lights are just regular bulbs, not LED's. The only LED's are the converted backup lights.

Just a for what it's worth post here. By the way, those lights are running off 6 volt positive ground too.[/quote']

LED Bright lights.........about $30 for package of 100 bulbs (you can buy individual bulbs also).

Resistors 470 ohms.....about 4 to 5 cents each. One resistor required for each bulb.

1 Blank circuit board approximately 1 sq foot...........about $8.00 or less depending on where purchased and type.

Time to make. My son claims he did both my lights in about 30 minutes.

On my first outing after installing the Watson electric brake switch and the extra stop lights' date=' I had a large dump truck sitting on my tail at about 40 or 45 MPH. I gently tapped the brake pedal a couple of times (without actually slowing down) and he immediately backed off my tail. That was on a bright sunny day heading west so the sun was also shinning on the back of the car. When it comes to getting peoples attention, I really think an electric switch is all thats needed. The old pressure brake switches do not activate fast enough, like the electric switches do.

I will agree, adding a third brake light if you don't have one is a very good idea. People are looking for those today because all the new cars have them. My brother in law got one out of a junk car for use on his 38 Ford Coupe. Just changed the bulb to a 6 volt bulb, made a bracket and installed it on the package shelf. Works very good.[/quote']

[Don Coatney]

Here is a link to the entire thread.

http://www430.pair.com/p15d24/mopar_forum/showthread.php?t=8798&highlight=taillight