LED running lights

Oh ya,

It's LED time on the back of the TM, hahahaha I ordered the running lights from etrailer: http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Ligh...s/MCL46RB.html
and I'm trying to upgrade the tail lights with plug in LED lights. We will see if it works.

Bob

[Civil_War_Buff]

Originally Posted by retiredgoat

Oh ya,

It's LED time on the back of the TM, hahahaha I ordered the running lights from etrailer: http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Ligh...s/MCL46RB.html
and I'm trying to upgrade the tail lights with plug in LED lights. We will see if it works.

Bob

I picked these up on Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Red-MCL-31RB...item53e979c207

And I bought surface mount led tail lights from there as well.

[Civil_War_Buff]

Originally Posted by retiredgoat

Oh ya,

It's LED time on the back of the TM, hahahaha I ordered the running lights from etrailer: http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Ligh...s/MCL46RB.html
and I'm trying to upgrade the tail lights with plug in LED lights. We will see if it works.

Bob

OK Bob, your upgrade was a smarter way to go I saw the LED replacements with the plug in to the existing sockets and go as you are using. If anyone has done the the hard way (like I am), is there a trick to wiring the LED lights in? There is the wire to the old fixture which is a brown to brown wire and the LED has a red and white. Do I just attach the red to one side the white to the other? Or is there a need to do something else? Any LED experts that can answer this for me?

[Bill]

LED lights are polarity sensitive. It is safe to assume that the red wire is positive, and must be attached to the positive wire in the fixture (the wire that goes to the center contact of the bulb receptacle). By the same token, the white wire is negative, and must go to ground.

In a fixture like a taillight, the placement of the "bulb" with respect to the reflector and lens is somewhat critical, in order to form a proper beam pointing backward at the vehicle behind you. In a running light, it probably is not.

Bill

[Civil_War_Buff]

Originally Posted by Bill

LED lights are polarity sensitive. It is safe to assume that the red wire is positive, and must be attached to the positive wire in the fixture (the wire that goes to the center contact of the bulb receptacle). By the same token, the white wire is negative, and must go to ground.

In a fixture light a taillight, the placement of the "bulb" with respect to the reflector and lens is somewhat critical, in order to form a proper beam pointing backward at the vehicle behind you. In a running light, it probably is not.

Bill

Thanks Bill I agree, but the existing running light bulbs are not polarity specific (there are no center and side contacts), they have the small bent wire loops that plug into the socket. The wiring could be that I attach the red wire to both wires coming from the existing socket and ground the white, that is probably what I need to do, but what confuses me is that to do that I would just be shorting the running wire and tapping into it, but maybe that's how it works??????

For running lights the socket will have 2 wires. One is +12v the other is ground and probably goes to the metal skin on the TM. Two options use an ohm meter to check which wire is which. Other is plug into tv and connect wires one way if led doesn`t light reverse them. this way is not preferred as you risk blowing fuse in TV if wires touch. Do not connect wires together. I suggest volt ohm meter. lYou can get a good one at Sears on sale for about $10. They are very handy to have in TM tool box. For tail lights, be careful there are a lot of 12v auto bulb replacements that are ok inside, but , not DOT approved for stop/tail/signal lights.

[Civil_War_Buff]

Originally Posted by rumbleweed

For running lights the socket will have 2 wires. One is +12v the other is ground and probably goes to the metal skin on the TM. Two options use an ohm meter to check which wire is which. Other is plug into tv and connect wires one way if led doesn`t light reverse them. this way is not preferred as you risk blowing fuse in TV if wires touch. Do not connect wires together. I suggest volt ohm meter. lYou can get a good one at Sears on sale for about $10. They are very handy to have in TM tool box. For tail lights, be careful there are a lot of 12v auto bulb replacements that are ok inside, but , not DOT approved for stop/tail/signal lights.

I just went and checked and the volt meter shows 0 ohms at both wires. I may have to try the hook up light test, but I am in no position to do that right now as the TM is up on jack stands. :-(

[Bill]

Larry -

I understand. Different kind of bulb than I was assuming. You are right - the bent wire loop bulbs are not polarity-specific. However, one end of the socket brings +12VDC to the bulb. The other end of the socket goes to ground. You have to figure out which is which, and connect the red lead of the new LED to the +12VDC end of the socket. You might be able to see which socket wire is connected to ground. But if you can't tell by looking, the next best way to discover which socket wire is positive is with a test light, as you said. Plug the camper into the tow vehicle, and turn on the running lights. Pop the lens off the running light (you can leave the bulb in place), and connect one end of your test light to a known ground (frame, etc). Connect the other end of the test light to each end of the running light bulb, one at a time. The end which causes the test light to light up is the positive end.

Warning - you should do this for each running light as you install the new LED. There is no guarantee that each socket is physically wired the same as the others. In other words, if the left-hand side of the socket is positive in one fixture, there is no guarantee that the left hand side will be positive in the next fixture.

Perhaps a silly question, but why are you bothering to replace the running lights with LEDs? Lots of work, lots of expense ... The existing bulbs are plenty bright. Lower power drain doesn't mean anything, since the running lights are powered by the tow vehicle's alternator. Running lights almost never burn out, and if they do, the temporary loss of a running light isn't a big deal safety-wise. Just curious ...

Bill

Use the volt (12v DC volt range) option on multi-meter. Attach the black lead (on the meter) to a good ground (any metal attached to frame) and touch the red lead (with power to fixture) to the each of the two contacts for the bulb. The positive will have 12 volts.

Koz

[micheljames]

Originally Posted by retiredgoat

Oh ya,

It's LED time on the back of the TM, hahahaha I ordered the running lights from etrailer: http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Ligh...s/MCL46RB.html
and I'm trying to upgrade the tail lights with plug in LED lights. We will see if it works.

Bob

Have you got these lights upgraded? Share your experience