LED Brake Lights

[A horse with no name]

Hi Jerry, your new updated 3rd. light with the resistor arrived. The good news is that it did cure the lights from remaining on, although very low, even when everything was shut off. Very much appreciated for your help, including the replacement of your new updated version for cars with CC. Hats off to you!

BTW, I have no issues with my stock flasher; it works the same as before installing your three LED brake lights

[spoke]

Originally Posted by A horse with no name

The good news is that it did cure the lights from remaining on, although very low, even when everything was shut off.

Can you elaborate on the lights on very low with everything shut off? Do you mean with the ignition off? This is with 2 LED brake boards and a 3rd brake light board too?

[DaveMcKenz]

Originally Posted by A horse with no name

Hi Jerry, your new updated 3rd. light with the resistor arrived. The good news is that it did cure the lights from remaining on, although very low, even when everything was shut off. Very much appreciated for your help, including the replacement of your new updated version for cars with CC. Hats off to you!

BTW, I have no issues with my stock flasher; it works the same as before installing your three LED brake lights

Solid state flasher only needed for LED turn signals. Brake lights are not related to flasher.
Dave

[spoke]

One thing about replacing turnsignal bulbs with LEDs; most likely the turnsignal flasher relay will need to be replaced with an LED-compatible unit.

LED-compatible flashers are EP26 and EP36 at your FLAPS. Also the CF13GL-02 LED Bulb Electronic Flasher at www.superbrightleds.com.

Here's some background from a few pages ago:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/854989-led-brake-lights-21.html#post8951365

[A horse with no name]

Originally Posted by spoke

Can you elaborate on the lights on very low with everything shut off? Do you mean with the ignition off? This is with 2 LED brake boards and a 3rd brake light board too?

Hi Jerry, with the new replacement installation of the 3rd light, there is no longer any problems whatsoever with the CC connected. Everything is as normal as when it had just the 1157's in it. Your 'fix' did the job; no more dim lights at any time.

Thanks!!! .

[A horse with no name]

Originally Posted by DaveMcKenz

Solid state flasher only needed for LED turn signals. Brake lights are not related to flasher.
Dave

Of course they're not...I was not quite thinking properly when posting. Thanks Dave

[DaveMcKenz]

Originally Posted by A horse with no name

Of course they're not...I was not quite thinking properly when posting. Thanks Dave

I have one of Jerry's early turn signal boards. They are fantastic. You will want one, and then you will need the solid state flasher. You were just thinking into the future.
Good luck,
Dave

[spoke]

Built the first of the production front turnsignal boards with running lights. They work well and look good. Jason, these are your LEDs.

These boards are basically the same as the V2 prototype boards with some clean ups. Also made the post hole for the securing clip 1mm larger. This allows the post on the securing clips to be much more sturdy.

[scotricker]

I installed my LED running/stop lights today on my 78 911 sc. The install was quick and easy, with well thought out pieces. thanks! It is a noticeable improvement.

[Arne2]

I also installed my brake lights tonight. A clever bit of engineering on the mounting and connection, nicely done.

Installation took very little more time than swapping to new bulbs.

The round pattern lights have almost no "dot matrix" effect when the lenses are installed. (I also installed new URO repro lenses, very transparent.)

As expected, the brake light response is instant, which is good for grabbing the attention of the drivers behind you.

Both "filaments" are significantly brighter than normal bulbs. If I had my druthers, I'd rather see a bit less brightness on the tail light, in order to have even more difference between the two functions, to make the brake lights even more obvious change from tails. But I don't think it's bad now, the brake lights are still noticeably brighter than the tails, which is not always the case with aftermarket LED lights.

[universeman]

Originally Posted by spoke

Built the first of the production front turnsignal boards with running lights. They work well and look good. Jason, these are your LEDs.

Woo hoo!

Jason

[gptom]

do you have a brake light set up for a 72 911?

[spoke]

Originally Posted by gptom

do you have a brake light set up for a 72 911?

Yes. I have been told that the same brake light enclosure was in use from '69 to '89.

[spoke]

Originally Posted by Arne2

If I had my druthers, I'd rather see a bit less brightness on the tail light, in order to have even more difference between the two functions, to make the brake lights even more obvious change from tails.

You can reduce the taillight intensity by removing a resistor on the board. Resistors R2, R3, and R4 set the current for taillights. If you have a solder iron or better, 2 irons, simply remove one of the resistors to drop the taillight current by 33%. Remove 2 resistors and reduce the taillight current by 66%.

You'll most likely need 2 solder irons to remove the resistors. One may do it if you can span the tip over both sides of the resistor at once.

[livetopedal]

My LEDs are installed and look great.. huge improvement in brightness. This is an excellent piece of craftsmanship that installs in minutes. My only hitch was reversed wires connected to the third light (which Jerry helped me diagnose).
I live close enough to Jerry that I was able to meet him and pick up the lights in person. Great guy!
Thanks again Jerry! I plan to return soon for more LEDs.

[chadloose]

Fair price, quick shipping and a solid product. Looks great and an easy install. I like the look of the square LED arrangement, the light disperses nicely behind the factory lens fluting.

Thank you!

[Arne2]

Originally Posted by spoke

You can reduce the taillight intensity by removing a resistor on the board. Resistors R2, R3, and R4 set the current for taillights. If you have a solder iron or better, 2 irons, simply remove one of the resistors to drop the taillight current by 33%. Remove 2 resistors and reduce the taillight current by 66%.

You'll most likely need 2 solder irons to remove the resistors. One may do it if you can span the tip over both sides of the resistor at once.

OK, I can do this. Is there any preference as to which resistor I remove? Any of them look straight forward, given the pair of irons (which I do happen to have 2 pencil irons).

[Arne2]

After reviewing your post, and thinking about how it must work, I decided that any of the 3 should be ok to remove. So I went with R3 because it was off by itself and easier to get the soldering irons on. Worked like a champ. The tail lights are still a bit brighter than the old incandescent bulbs, but there is more difference in brightness between tail and brake than before. I am totally happy with this change, but I'll keep the resistors just in case. Now back to replacing the tail light seals, a dirty job.

Before


After

[famoroso]

Greetings all,

On Saturday evening, my son (he's the photog) and I did a photo shoot. Unfortunately, a couple of the photos are out of focus, but the series should give you a feel for relative outputs against my garage door (about 25 feet from the rear of the car). The camera was set at just about my eye level when seated in the vehicle.

The order is explained in the picture titles. Choose slideshow for the best representation of the progression...

1) all incandescent / OE bulbs.
2) All Philips LED bulbs (replete with CC current bleed through the CHMSL).
3) Spoke LED tail / brake lamps.





The photos are hi-res and available here:
https://amoroso.smugmug.com/1988-Porsche-911-M491-M470-Poi/32-Carrera-LED-tail-lamp/i-5Hxs4t4

Some lo-res shots from my phone:





I also shot video of the rear turn signals. The first one is OE incandescents. The second video is Philips LED (hyper-flashing).






Today, I tested five different brake lamp configurations for Cruise Control functionality. The subject vehicle is a 1988 Carrera. Following are the results of my tests:

1) All OE incandescent stop / tail lamps: CC operational.

2) Philips LED CHMSL + Philips LED stop / tail lamps: CC non-operational.

3) Spoke singe resistor CHMSL + Philips LED stop / tail lamps: CC non-operational.

4) Spoke double resistor CHMSL + incandescent stop / tail lamps: CC operational.

5) Spoke double resistor CHMSL + Philips LED stop / tail lamps: CC non-operational.

6) Spoke double resistor CHMSL + Spoke double resistor stop / tail lamps: CC non-operational.

[Tremelune]

Excellent comparison. Were the photos all taken at the same F-stop and shutter speed?

Does anyone know why cruise control is wired into the taillights?? That seems really weird to me.