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1157 LED Light Bulb Dissapointment

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Stinky

Stinky

Jedi Trainee
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I heard thru the grapevine that these LED 1157 bulbs are a good replacement for the old (incandesant I guess) bulbs.

The story goes that these LED bulbs burn cooler, use less electricity, don't burn out, and to top it off they are supposed to be a lot brighter than the older style bulbs. All that sounded like great news for my LBC.

So I buy some 1157 LED bulbs off Ebay. They made all the claims I had already heard about the LED bulbs, including that the LED's are twice as bright as the old 1157's.

The bulbs arrived quickly(which was nice),...I immediatley went to the Garagemahal and swapped out one of my taillight bulbs with this great new technology.

Yes, the bulb probably does burn cooler, and Yes, it will probably never burn out. However it was nowhere as bright as the old 1157 (which I had left in the other tail light for comaprison). The old bulb was easily twice as bright as the new LED bulb.

So that would explain how the LED burns cooler, and uses less electricity,....cuz it ain't putting out as much light!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif

So there you have it,....my take on the whole LED bulb fantasy.

Myth Busted /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif
 
What, myth bustered and there was no use of a dummy, ballistics gel, electricity, or firearms...naw, that can't be.

Sorry you had to be the test subject.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
LEDs unlike the regular bulb have a very directional light pattern. If you try to use these with a round lense or view them from an angle they will not appear as bright.

You are correct that they don't put out as much light but they do put out more light in a concentrated field of view. (FYI If you had enough LEDs to put out the same cadela of your regular bulb it would take much more power.)
 
Hi,

There are also Halogen replacements avialable that might work better. Many are slightly higher wattage. My only concern is heat.

Cheers!

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT17602L
 
I bought an led "third brake light" bar from NAPA, 3/4 x 10", and taped it to the top rear of my roll bar. Wired it to the battery and WHOA!, you can't miss me now! Amazing amount of light. Can't wait to do a permanent install soon.

Bill
 
Alan, The halogen bulb size is somewhat smaller than the older 1157's but they are at least twice as bright. I have checked them a couple of times after long evening drives and they are warmer than the standard bulbs, but not overly so or at least they don't seem to be too hot. The fact that they are smaller increases the clearances to anything that may be affected by the added heat.

But a word of caution. If anyone decides to use this type bulb, be very carefyul with the installation. You want to make sure you don't touch the lens during installation -pretty standard stuff - but there is another hazard.

I let one slip from my cotton gloved hands and fall in the small opening just to the inside bottom of the light well in the trunk. It took about 2 hours to fetch that puppy out from between the inner and outer panels of the rear valence. The old 1157's cannot fit through that opening.

Live and learn

Mike
 
Certainly these points are valid.
I was very concerned about was the amount of light myself. They are directional - for sure. There are also several types of 1157 - based upon if you want 19, 20, 24, or 32 LEDs in the bulb assembly. The 48 LED's seem too huge to go through the opening. I have the 32's. That series is designed to use the reflector portion of the assmbly to transmit light. For the record, they do not put out as much light as the filament version they replaced. That's the reality of using less power. But, I'm very pleased with how they perform.

They cost a pretty penny and will likely outlive the car. At that point I'll take them out move them to another vehicle...I also like the idea if the bulb ever gets loose, I won't be having a fire in the trunk. That's a lesson learned early in my driving career.

BTW...The 110v variety makes one heck of a GREAT worklight! Very directional, cool in operation - no burning your arms and hands when getting in close, does not burn out when dropped....

Jeff3113
 
For the record, I bought the 24 LED bulbs. The 32 LED bulbs were too big to fit the tail light housing without some modification. I'm sure the 32's would be brighter than the 24's,...but even so they would'nt hold a candle to the old filament 1157's (get it,...would'nt hold a candle) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
If you want bright, there's always Xenon bulbs!

I think they pull about 30 watts each.

That's some serious candles! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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