Is anyone using LED bulbs in a 6v application?

I picked up some repop Model A taillamps and stands for my 31 Willys. They for a 12v application and the Willys is still 6v. I was thinking of using a 6v led taillamp bulb, anyone try this? Recommended places to purchase from?

I like the idea as long as it does not look funky. The wiring is, as far as I know, original so I want to draw as little juice as possible.

78 year old wood + heat/spark = bad

Thanks

 

A trick myself (on a 40 Ford coupe) and maybe some of the others used to do that still ran 6 volt tail lights was to paint the inside reflector silver. Use your 6 volt tail light bulbs, and they were brighter. LED's will run hot.


HellRaiser

 

i did on my 50 ford they look great

 

Just bought an led tail light insert for my original 30 A housing at the Santa Maria WCK - big improvement!

 

And it's a 6 volt? Was there a brand name on it?

 

I think if you do some research, you will find that LEDs do not care what voltage is supplied to them.

 

An LED should never run hot if the proper voltage (not WAY too much) is powering it.
Usually the replacement type LED bulbs (many LEDs per bulb unit) are designed to divide the 12 volts across each of them to achieve the correct voltage on each individual LED (~ 1.9-3.6 volts usually). The bulbs have a couple rows of 3 or 4 LEDs in series (12v / 4 = 3 volts) bunched together. So what you could have in a 6 volt system is under powered LED bulbs that work but not as bright or don't work at all because there is not enough voltage to turn them on.

No harm in trying it, they should run much cooler than the stock 6 volt incadecent bulbs and draw less power.

Marty McFly

 

How about 6v Replacement lense with LED's installed. 100,000 hour bulbs, lifetime warranty. 12v versions require 7.7 volts minnium to operate. I've got 6 &12 volt Model A in stock!!! also available for 32-50 model Fords and many Chevy too!!!

 

Did the same thing on my 6v '40 Ford, except I used white paint--read somewhere that it reflects better than silver. I also switched to Super-Brite bulbs (14/50 cp) from Sacramento Vintage Ford. As for LED's, have heard others say they are very directional, i.e., most visible from directly behind, but not so much as you get off to the side.

 

I've got plastic lenses in my REALLY hard to find 42 Buick Roadmaster tail lights. I'll be running a 12 volt system and each tail light uses 2 bulbs. I'd like to brighten them up, but I don't want to melt the lenses. Will the higher candlepower bulbs (Sacramento Vintage Ford, Ron Francis, etc.) ruin the plastic?..

 

LED's should run really cool. Maybe you are thinking about Halogen blubs. They can run pretty hot.

 

LED's will ALWAYS have the same voltage drop accross them, they aren't a resistive load, they're a semiconductor. It's typically around 1.7V. So, 6V, 12V, whatever, you measure the voltage drop across an LED it'll always be the same (of course they are designed with certain voltage limits, but that doesn't change their voltage drop). In order to regulate current, a bias resistor must be used in series with the LED, otherwise there will be no way to limit the current to the LED which will let the genie out of the lamp. They act as though they have no resistance (almost, except for the un-changing voltage drop across them) when forward biased, if they're reverse biased the act like an open circuit. In order to regulate voltage to them, the cathode side of the LED either have to be between the two resistors of a voltage divider circuit with the anode grounded, or have several regular diodes (which have a .7V drop across them) wired in series until the voltage is where you want it (still need a resistor to control current).

 

You're right, First to go is your memory...........


HellRaiser

 

Some good news: LED's only want about .5 or so VDC to work, they are built to withstand higher voltages. You can feed your 6 vdc to your 12 vdc rated LED all day long, it either lights or not, expect it to light. 6 vdc setting on battery charger is a nice way to test.

 

I am a lot more confused about this subject than I originally thought.

I have seen LEDs that just pop in like a regular tail lamp bulb - do these have a resistor already built in? I don't want to reinvent the wheel here.

 

TYPICALLY (I say TYPICALLY) LEDs advertised as 12V LEDs usually have the resistance built into them (ie, if you go to Radio Shack and buy a 12V one, at least every one I've bought has not needed an external resistor). The last batch I bought for my car did, they were just wired directly to 12V.

If you're buying a "taillight LED bulb" it will have the resistance built in, they're built so you don't HAVE to reinvent the wheel with other components... They're designed for "automotive use", pretty much anything that wears that badge means you don't need any sort of biasing resistor.

LEDs will change brighteness dependant on voltage in. It usually isn't THAT pronounced compared to a regular light, but they do. 6V is probably enough voltage though that it'll be bright.

Sorry if I confused you, I was really just talking theory to straighten out a couple things I saw, and wasn't trying to say you needed to do something exotic.

 

go to this forum

http://forums.linear1.org/

read a bit, lots of info there

later jim

 

wrong... sort of... i hooked up a led driving light to the wrong 'hot feed' on a 3 wheeler i had... first and last time i ever seen led's start smoking and one by one they fried out.. killed 6 of the 12 in about 4 seconds!!

and led's dont run hot... except in my case lol

 

Keep in mind that you will need a different setup if you have a positive ground system; the diodes won't pass any current (or light up) if they are polarized in reverse.

 

I suppose I should have qualified my statement a little better, yes LEDs like anything else do have an operating range, but my point was that the bulbs in question should work for his application, even if its sold as a "12v" bulb.

 

I'm using 6Volt LEDs in my '49 Chevy. Go to https://www.superbrightleds.com

 

I have just converted the tail lights on the Willys and I used LEDS made by www.jamstrait.com - so we know they are Willys compatible. They have Hyperbrite 1157 replacements. They also have radial bulbs with a circle of LEDs around the crown of the bulb which can be seen from the side. The best selection is available from their distributor www.accessorysourcedirect.com

I used the red hyperbrites and painted the tail lamp cups white - took me a while to figure out why people were dancing behind the Willys - man it's a one man travelling disco now! Great product and they also have load equalizers, which are like a small ceramic type ballast resistor. Simply put one each side bridging between the positive wire and the ground wire and you do not have to change your flasher to a no load type. They work just fine out of the box.

 

Mixing some glass beads in with the paint will also help.

 

The package says 'United Pacific', engineered in the USA, made in Taiwan. Mac's has them on their web site listings. 6 volt, + ground ~ $35 with the license plate light. This is not a mere bulb replacement; it also includes the lens. They plug into the original sockets.

 

I have a 48 buick running 6v. does the bulb look brighter and no problems?

 

its a very simple calculation,anybody that knows basic electronics can do it and draw you out a quick schematic of the parts you'll need.or you could change the configuration of the leds,they run very low voltages,but new circut boards can be made at home easily if you really want it right.I can hook you up with some sites if thats the route you want to go but I'll have to find them just pm me its ez

 

I was just playing around with some of my tail lites,went to radio shack bought the resistors 3.00 I have 16 leds per tail lite they work on 3.5 v pretty much standerd voltage all you gotta do is replace 4 resistors with ones at half the resistance so mine were 7.2k ohms i'll need some 3.1k ohms they only had 3.3 but thats well within tolerance.I'll need to know how many lites and the colors on the resistors a pic will help(of top & bottom )I'll figure out the values of the resistors and get back to you,but I'd suggest going to radio shack and check out the leds you'll be amazed ay the variety,they also come in many intencities,it was very interesting.All young kids are into cars especialy customs they bent over backwards explaining things to me and bringing the math back,hard to believe how much I forgot,but it was fun and they were great ,I'm sure the radio shack near you is the same way ,great bunch a kids.I learned something today ........Thanks

 

I'm getting a headache from this post. Haha.

Ok, from what I'm seeing, while you can buy just a replacement bulb, they only come in red or amber. Since I'm planning on putting these in a housing with a colored lens, that really isn't necessary, and I'm screwed when it come to the licence plate lamp.

Now, it's been mentioned here that I can buy a 'lens replacement' which will just plug in and replace my whole internal lamp assembly. This will undoubtedly work, but it's also more than I was looking to spend.

I'm sure that I could sit down and bench build something. I've done it before, but it would probably take me 6 months to research, start, and finish it.

All this leads me back to an awful question, can I just throw 6v bulbs in a 12 application? I don't see why not. I'm pretty sure they're single filament, so I would need a 6v equivalent of a 1156, right? I'm also guessing that this is not something I'm going to source at autozone, huh? Do they even make such a thing, or am I stuck buying $50 worth of LED kits?

 

Looks like 1154 or 1129?

 

Radio shack also has 6v bulbs and sockets made for universial applications for that plate and leds come in all kinds of colors,like blue ,yellow ,even multi colors and high intencity,all work on 3.5v so two high intencity leds connected in series will work for the plate,just bring the tail lite unit with you and they'll show you what you need.The kids are brite ,no need to replace leds just resistors ,.99 for a package of four,my lights have four in each,so for well under ten bucks your there plus the kids will bend over backwards tring to help when they find out about your car,you'll see.