Anyone used LEDs for flasher repeaters in tach?

[spuggy]

So, having been favorably impressed with brighter/more even illumination from modern LEDs used to replace BA7s in this thread The Ultimate LED Ba7s bulbs for Gauges ala ETarga (pic & vid), I'm on a mission to eradicate most of the incandescent bulbs from the cabin - both to reduce heat/current, and because they're brighter/more intense colors. Not to mention, they should last forever.

I am going to leave the generator warning lamp for now (because it needs to pass current both ways to work correctly, and LED's don't do that), but the others are fair game/mostly done (festoon courtesy lights also need to pass current both ways - but I have an idea for that).

I've got a handful of appropriately-colored LEDs to replace the all-glass 2721 bulbs - e.g. oil pressure/fuel/brake warning, fan/heater controls, etc. Think they were 10 for a buck fifty... LOL.

One issue I've encountered is that the LEDs - actually, just one side - for the flasher/indicator repeaters in the tach behave oddly. The right side flashes with the hazard switch, and also flashes on the "off" part of the cycle for the left indicator circuit.

When the bulbs are put back, everything behaves as expected; I did replace the indicator stalk a few years ago - but I'm fairly sure the connectors went back as they came off (because I swapped one connector at a time from the original to the replacement ).

So, before I invest a bunch of hours in Porsche Yoga with my head under the dash/feet in the headliner or poring over the current diagrams/checking connections - has anyone tried using LEDs and had them "Just Work"?

I think I may just have one wire misconnected somewhere, but it'd be nice to have it confirmed that it works for others, rather than some aspect of the original design

[MTemp]

Yes, I installed the LED's from ETarga in my tacho for the indicators and they worked. Because they're polarised you might have to swap the wires over. Try that and see if it works. They really are briliant in both senses of the word.

Mick

[Howard M]

Yes! I replaced my OEM tach with a VDO memory tach years ago, which required remote mounting of my high beam and blinker indicators. I used Radio Shack 12v LEDs and have had no issues, except, as you noted, I can see the "other" blinker indicator briefly and dimly flash when either blinker is activated. I have never considered it a problem.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Howard M

Yes! I replaced my OEM tach with a VDO memory tach years ago, which required remote mounting of my high beam and blinker indicators. I used Radio Shack 12v LEDs and have had no issues, except, as you noted, I can see the "other" blinker indicator briefly and dimly flash when either blinker is activated. I have never considered it a problem.

Thanks Howard!

I think I have something else going on - I could live with "briefly and dimly" - but the indicator for the left side has a flash during the off cycle for the right side that's almost as bright/long as the one for the left, so it's kind of confusing.

Does the repeater for either side illuminate when you use the hazard switch?

[78SCRSMAN]

Originally Posted by spuggy

I am going to leave the generator warning lamp for now (because it needs to pass current both ways to work correctly, and LED's don't do that), but the others are fair game/mostly done (festoon courtesy lights also need to pass current both ways - but I have an idea for that).

***I've replaced all of mine with LED's but am not to the point of installing a Battery in my car to verify operation. The charge light you say needs to pass current both ways to work makes sense... I hadn't thought of that but can you explain why the courtesy lights need to and what's your idea to fix the problem???

I've got a handful of appropriately-colored LEDs to replace the all-glass 2721 bulbs - e.g. oil pressure/fuel/brake warning, fan/heater controls, etc. Think they were 10 for a buck fifty... LOL.

***I just used warm white bulbs here as all of the indicators have colored lenses.

One issue I've encountered is that the LEDs - actually, just one side - for the flasher/indicator repeaters in the tach behave oddly. The right side flashes with the hazard switch, and also flashes on the "off" part of the cycle for the left indicator circuit.

***I ran across a thread awhile back that I think addresses this issue. The relay gets replaced with an electronic type (for use with LED turn signal bulbs) then the ground on the back of the tach is piggy backed to the indicator bulbs... problem is I don't know if he was using LEDs for the indicator lamps so now I'm really stumped. I'm wondering if a resistor placed between the two would correct this???

I probably haven't help a damn bit so I'll be watching this thread for a solution.

Derek

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by 78SCRSMAN

The charge light you say needs to pass current both ways to work makes sense... I hadn't thought of that but can you explain why the courtesy lights need to and what's your idea to fix the problem???

My bad, - I *thought* that the courtesy lights had 3 positions; off, switched (by the door) and constantly on. But I don't ever use them; they've been switched off since I replaced the door switch on the driver's side 4 years ago.

And I just checked with the original (10W! ten freakin' watts! Ow! That sucker gets hot!) bulb and it behaves the same way as the LED; switched by the door when the switch is in the center position.

Nothing to do there

Originally Posted by 78SCRSMAN

***I just used warm white bulbs here as all of the indicators have colored lenses.

That'll work too.

The filter being in the same range of the spectrum as the light from the LED will allow more light to pass through; which may be helpful for lamps that appear too dark - e.g. - the main beam indicator, for example, seems to darken with age. Certainly, my main beam indicator (which has a blue LED in it) was never so bright.

One anomaly - I could have sworn that the green "lights" indicator would go out on main beam before, or at least go so dim I didn't notice it. With LEDs, both the green and main beam indicator are lit full bright, I guess there's enough current flowing it just stays lit. That's not a problem (for me), I just mention it.

Matching the colors to the filter certainly makes them very bright and vibrant... Which I really like for some things (fuel, oil warning lamps) - but LEDs are way too bright for some things (I left out the "FAN" label on the top left of the heater controls altogether, for example - it lit up so bright as to be distracting ).

If they're too bright at night, using white LEDs may work to subdue some of the colored ones - but when using bulbs in the flasher repeaters, they were sometimes kind of hard to see in bright sunlight, soooo....

Originally Posted by 78SCRSMAN

***I ran across a thread awhile back that I think addresses this issue. The relay gets replaced with an electronic type (for use with LED turn signal bulbs) then the ground on the back of the tach is piggy backed to the indicator bulbs... problem is I don't know if he was using LEDs for the indicator lamps so now I'm really stumped. I'm wondering if a resistor placed between the two would correct this???

That's actually a different issue, I think - when you replace the indicator bulbs in the front/rear lights with LEDs, the thermal-based flasher units need a certain load (current draw from the bulbs) to operate; without it, they'll either hyper-flash (flash really quickly, like you have a blown bulb) or not flash at all. The electronic flasher units work around that WITHOUT you needing to put load resistors across the indicator bulbs (so they draw the same current as the filaments you replaced - thus negating one of the advantages of LEDs).

Certainly with regular bulbs in the indicators themselves and LED repeaters in the tach, they flash at the expected speed.

See, what I get is a flash on the right repeater when the EMF collapses on the left circuit, that's about as long/bright as the flash on the left repeater. Which seems odd.

And a flash of the right repeater on the "off" cycle of the hazard switch (e.g. when the hazard switch isn't lit and the indicators themselves are).

If the other (left) side repeater behaved the same, I could believe it was "normal" - but I'm really suspicious, because it doesn't...

[JohnJL]

Yes, I've had them "just work."
I have "superbright" and normal LEDs in series (necessary for the superbright voltage requirements) on the oil pressure low switch, brake fluid low switch and fuel pressure low switch. In addition, I have 5 red and 5 green LEDs that light up successively as I apply brakes or throttle.

I also have a pair of yellow and a pair of red LEDs hooked up through a pair of variable POTS so I can set the rev limiter warning and WARNING! lights up and adjust according to the motor and other considerations.