Technical Evo 2010 - Type of LED's

[Mozes]

hey everyone.
ive searched the forums and found a few topics regarding LED's in my Evo, but none of them gave me a complete answer.

i want to change all the bulbs in the car to LED's.

i purchased on ebay a few bulbs, they are t10 w5w, and installed them in the running lights (the lights that turn on when u turn the light switch once).

after installing one of them, the error in the dash does NOT light up.
after installing the second one, the error in the dash lights up.

the bulbs i baught are error free canbus, and i thought that should make sure i dont get that error.
these are the ones i baught - http://www.ebay.com/itm/360558221675?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

only now, i understand there a few types of w5w bulbs, and i think i need t20 w5w for the running lights?

in short, what im asking here, is if someone could make some order on this issue for me.

which bulbs do i need to order for every part in the car?
running lights, DRL's, front turn signals, side turn signals, rear turn signals, back light, brake lights, etc.

how can i make sure that the LED's i order wont light up that error light in the dash? its driving me crazy!

thanks for all your help.

Mozes

 

[Mkala]

Hello,

You did not found anything so precise.. because it is difficult.

Fiat cars have a monitoring of current drawn by all external bulbs - except main and dipped beams.

The big difference beetween LEDs and standard bulbs is.. the current consumption ! No chance, a LED, even working, will normally not draw enough current and the warning light will trigger.

What are canbus error free LEDs ? Basically, LEDs with additional resistance to eat more current.. and avoid warning light. It can work... or not.

To be sure, we have to know the thresholds of minimum current needed for each bulb, but it can be different for each car. And I don't know them.

Finally, LEDs are the future, it is evident. But now, they are not bright enough to replace main beam. Retro-fit is not as good as an headlight designed with LEDs, in some angles LEDs can be too bright and barrely not visible at other angles.

The first good place to start can be DRL and front little w5w (don't remember the name of these lights). Other are less interessting, no ? Or what is you goal ?

 

[Mozes]

first of all, thank you for a detailed reply!

the main goal, eventually, is to replace all the "little" bulbs to LEDs.
i dont intend to replace the main beam/high beam bulbs.

parking lights, DRLs, brake lights...etc.

error free canbus LEDs, are suppose to be LEDs with a built-in resistor, that like u said, is suppose to "fix" the current consumption.
that is what i was told, i dont know too much about electricity, but it sounds right and reasonable.

for the first step, i wanted to replace just the parking lights and the DRLs.
from reading the car's manual, i saw that both are w5w, but when i took them apart, i saw that the parking lights and DRLs are of different size. they are both w5w according to the book, but the DRLs look like they were inflated. same shape as the parking lights, just about twice the size.

thats it. those are the bulbs i want to replace for now, after i figure this out and i will have LEDs in those locations without getting that error light in the dash, i will continue to other bulbs.

thats why i asked, which bulbs should i get? i saw new terms i didnt know before such as t10/t20, 5050 smd/7440 smd, and i understand that this could be my problem.
that is what i need help with.

thank you very much.

 

[Mkala]

You welcome

Yes, as you can see I'm quite interested by electronics and LEDs.

Ok perfect for main/high beam, because now we don't have the power with retrofit LED. H4 output is about 1000 lumen, with LED it mean about 15W : hard to cool inside an headlight in any situation...

For DRL, Fiat manual is wrong on early versions, bulb is a W21W: 21 watt.
It can be done with a 5watt LED I think. But should take care to take quality one, with not too high kelvin temperature: if you take 6500°k and you have standard H4 bulb next to, it will not be so good aesthetically... (but its my opinion). Standard halogen is about ~3000-3500 °k

w5w are not a problem to remplace in term of power, 1-2w LED would be fine. Take care to angle of light, a bulb radiate 360° and a LED is for this too directive, bulb with multiple LED in different positions should be good.

5050 and 7440 are only LED package/case. It don't mean anything in term of light quality/output, it is just the technical case size. But all sellers use this...
The interesting thing with these SMD package is the light angle is wide, generally 120-150°.

The best to search LED is to buy if possible from best suppliers of LED chips : Philips/Lumiled, Nichia, Cree, Samsung for exemple. But on ebay it is hard

For dash warning light about broken bulb, you probably have to add resistors to simulate quite the load of a normal bulb, this is the only way I know to avoid this.
But I don't know all, and the best would be to test the minimal load on a car, or in my dreams inspect the Body Computer (I think he does the current measurement).

Keep us informed with what you find

 

[Mozes]

For DRL, Fiat manual is wrong on early versions, bulb is a W21W: 21 watt.

r u sure about this?

the DRL bulbs look way bigger. can u point me on eBay to a LED that would fit my DRLs?

the regular w21w t20 LEDs i saw on ebay look very small and it looks like they wont fit in the lamp socket.

what about the side lights? r they w21w as well?

 

[Mkala]

Quite I can look at mines to be 100% sure.

But w21w is only the power, the socket should be ba15s (twist and lock socket).
Don't know T20 socket..

You right, DRL bulb are bigger than 5w small bulbs.

21w is the power of reverse light for exemple, and brakes light (side, not center one)

 

[Mkala]

Re,

Checked my bulbs, you was right : for DRL they are T20.
Exactly what you say : "inflated w5w"

And I made a second mistake : reverse is 16W. All become complicated nowadays

 

[Mozes]

thanks for checking!

right now im searching for LED DRL Bulbs that would be error free. on the DRL you cant connect a resistor because there no wire. the bulb simply locks into place by rotating it.

got any solution for this?

i'd prefer the DRL would be LED because in order to get a regular bulb to turn from yellow to white, the manufacturer increases the temperature of the lamp thus decreasing the bulb's life span. so i prefer it would be LED.

got any ideas?

 

[Mkala]

You welcome

Never removed a bulb in front of my car. Can you make pics to see hot it works ?

Not a little bit of wire too crimp a load on to ? Because you dont have the choice, perhaps a bulb can simulate needed load, but if not you have to add additionnal load.

This can be a solution ? :
http://www.ebay.ch/itm/Anti-Flicker-Warning-Error-Canceller-Load-Resistors-LED-Decoder-12V-8W-7440-T20-/400453522954?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d3ce3d60a

But not sure if sufficient, 8w plus a bulb of 4w make 12w, versus 21 of original.

 

[Mozes]

that wont work.

ill take pictures tomorrow and upload it here so u can see what im talking about.

just a small update, regarding the running lights, installed a resistor between the LED and the LED socket, works like a charm! LEDs are working perfectly and theres no error in my dash!