Im getting the van geared up for freedom camping. I purchased 3 LED globes to replace the existing 12v globes that are in the interior & exterior 240/12v light fittings. The old globes work fine, they are just power thirsty. When I installed the LEDs I have nothing, the new LEDs were purchased to fit the exisiting globe holders ( double contacts & pins). Can somebody tell me why I have no lights???
Wayne, Led's are polarity sensitive whereas incandesant's are not. See if You can turn the bulb 180 in the baton holder, if You cant change the wiring around.
Explorer Mike is right - LED bulbs are polarised. Fortunately, most have a blocker so that they do not fry when put in the wrong way around.
You mention that they are double contact pins - I would think that LED bulbs for that use would only require one pin and be earthed through the baton holder case. Are you sure you have not bought combined tail/brake lights? In that case the small pins sticking out at the bottom of the bulb base would be offset and while it should ensure that the bulbs are put in the right way round a lot of cars manage to get it wrong - as evident by cars with one bright tail light and a dull brake light. Could you advise the bulb type?
But it is strange that none of the three bulbs work - generally you would get at least one out of three put in the right way around.
As you say you have double contact pins these would most likly be BA15D's. Some of the older vans used a stop/tail globe to achieve a bright & brighter using a 2 position switch.
The LED's are wired to use the two contacts on the bottom 1 for Positive and the other for negitive. However if your van uses the old stop & tail light globe the bayonete fitting will use the metal outer case as negitive and the 2 pins as positive. one for the tail (bright) the other for stop (brighter). It's rare but I've come across it a few times now. If this is the case you'll need to rewire the the fitting to use the LED's you have.
If the LED's you've got are the ones with the led's running around the bulb then you might be disappointed with the light output. In these types of light fittings I would recommend a LED Panel with a minimum of 24 5050 Type LED's and a BA15D adapter but with the adapter modified to save rewiring the fitting. Another way would be to use a BA15D to G4 adapter (again modified to suit your connection) with a super bright G4 LED disc.
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Steve, Di & Ziggy We named our Motorhome "Roadworx" because on the road works "On The Road Again" Ford Transit with 302 Windsor V8 conversion, C4 Auto, 9 Inch Ford Diff All Lighting L.E.D., 260 Amp/h AGM, 530 Watt Solar + Kipor Backup Gen.
Explorer Mike is right - LED bulbs are polarised. Fortunately, most have a blocker so that they do not fry when put in the wrong way around.
You mention that they are double contact pins - I would think that LED bulbs for that use would only require one pin and be earthed through the baton holder case. Are you sure you have not bought combined tail/brake lights? In that case the small pins sticking out at the bottom of the bulb base would be offset and while it should ensure that the bulbs are put in the right way round a lot of cars manage to get it wrong - as evident by cars with one bright tail light and a dull brake light. Could you advise the bulb type?
But it is strange that none of the three bulbs work - generally you would get at least one out of three put in the right way around.
Murray
The "blocker" is the LED itself. Light Emitting Diode A diode won't conduct in reverse polarity till you reach the reverse breakdown voltage of the diode.
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They look like brake/tail lights to me - note that the pin on the old bulb is lower than the one in the center making them offset. However, that said I can only see one filament in the glass.
Have you tried putting the bulbs in the wrong way around? Turn the power on and simply push them into the base one way, if no joy the turn them 180-degrees and try again.
If the lights work with the polarising pins out of whack then all you have to do is change the wires over so that the pins lock the bulb base down correctly.
Murray
-- Edited by Long Weekend on Wednesday 19th of August 2015 12:40:11 PM
While the glass bulb has only one filament and would be used as an indicator light or a separate brake light inserted into a plastic socket on a car, could the LED bulbs be combined brake and tail lights?
If that was the case then each contact would be positive and the bulb bottom would have to be earthed through the base. That way would give the two stage lights via a switch as suggested by MADABOUTLED.
Of course, single filament bulbs would not work if both socket terminals were positive.
You might consider sacrificing the glass bulb and jury rigging short wires from the prongs. Insert the base into the socket and touch the two wires to the two contacts. If no go then reverse the wires. If still no 'glow' then try running an earth wire from the outside shroud of the socket to the outside of the bulb base then touching a wire in turn to the bottom contact.
Murray
-- Edited by Long Weekend on Wednesday 19th of August 2015 05:57:59 PM
@ Jafan, The LED Gloges you have look like the old 1210 type. For use as interior lights they aren't very bright, light output would be less than the old globes. Get hold of a multimeter, switch the light on and test the pins inside the socket and the outer casing to see which is positive & negitive and if you have in fact got power. You can't realy trouble shoot without knowing how its wired, the multimeter will tell you in seconds.
@ Aussie Paul, the globe holder will be spring loaded so will adjust to different levels, also you can see that the pins have crushed the solder over time, so it should still contact the LED base OK.
@ Murray, if the holder is wired for two positions as I suggested then it's easier to rewire the socket.
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Steve, Di & Ziggy We named our Motorhome "Roadworx" because on the road works "On The Road Again" Ford Transit with 302 Windsor V8 conversion, C4 Auto, 9 Inch Ford Diff All Lighting L.E.D., 260 Amp/h AGM, 530 Watt Solar + Kipor Backup Gen.
