Switching emergency flashers to led's

[grsthegreat]

ok, heres a question for all you LED lovers.

Id like to change my 12 volt emergency lights on my Kioti to LED's, for increased visibility during snow plowing.

I've been looking into it, and I'm totally confused.

The existing lamps are standard single filament 12 volt push and twist lamps. Do they make led replacements for these?

also, Ive heard that the 12 volt flasher units won't power the LEDs because of the lower amperages used? is this true. are there special flashers i need to use?

id also like to add a few extra to the side of the tractor, as a safety concern. right now there are NO lights on the side at all. I'm thinking about just adding one to each side and mounting a bracket on top of cab.

i cant add revolving light as i have a clearance issue in an overhead barn (have only 3" existing clearance now). I didn't want light bars with a hundred flashing lights, i want to add only 2 for safety.

anyone have any suggestions i would appreciate your assistance.

 

[tuoysRme]

Thats true, many flasher are a thermal flasher, in other words, the current draw from the bulb, causing the flasher to heat up and open in turn causing the light to turn on and off as it heat up and cools. Leds don't draw enough current, to cause the flasher to heat up and open the circuit, and turn the light off. There are ways around this adding blast resistor or change the flasher,
go on line serch automotive LED replacement bulbs. there are a number of site that can help.

Brian

 

[Ductape]

Like Brian said, you can get a specific flasher for LEDs..... I've run into it in the past when switching to LEDs. If there are two bulbs on the circuit, and you only change one to LED, many times a standard flasher will still work. There are alot of really nice LED 'strobes' out there if you want something that flashes (instead of a beacon type light). Check out places that sell lights for towing, or emergency vehicles..... such as A W Direct.

 

[PILOON]

Thats true, many flasher are a thermal flasher, in other words, the current draw from the bulb, causing the flasher to heat up and open in turn causing the light to turn on and off as it heat up and cools. Leds don't draw enough current, to cause the flasher to heat up and open the circuit, and turn the light off. There are ways around this adding blast resistor or change the flasher,
go on line serch automotive LED replacement bulbs. there are a number of site that can help.

Brian

However you can add a resistor in parallel to the LEDs to compensate.

 

[mjw357]

You can also buy electronic flashers that replace the old thermal type. They flash at the same rate no matter what type or number of lamps.

 

[VTFireftr]

As others have stated, go to NAPA and get an electronic flasher made for LED's. Should be plug and play.

As for adding LED's, go to SIRENNET.COM - Emergency Vehicle Warning Lights They have great prices and a very large selection of LED's.

I highly recommend Whelen products. They are designed and built in the USA. They have incredible customer service and an incredible reputation. I have no affiliation with them, but use them on my truck and in my car (volunteer firefighter).

You will pay more for Whelen products, but they are worth it!

Marc

 

[George2615]

You can get plug in LED lights for 1157 and other style bases but you'll need to replace the flasher with an eletronic one. Bulbs and flashers are plug and play.

 

[grsthegreat]

great..thank you guys. now i think im getting a better understanding.

i just want some brighter lights

 

[Stradbash]

You may not need to add an electronic flasher if you keep one or two of the standard filament bulbs. I did a similar thing to what you are planning on my BX. I wanted more visibility and put a light bar (under the top of the rops) that had (among other lights) two forward and two rearward facing LED clusters. The existing flasher pods had 2 standard bulbs each in them. I replaced 2 of the 4 bulbs with LED versions and tied the new LED clusters to that circuit, using the existing flasher module. It works fine! It's been a while since I did the math but I think I had a bit less current draw overall after the mods. When it is cold it might take a few seconds to start flashing, but once it does all is normal.

 

[tlbuser]

If you know the bulb number (1156, 1157, 194, etc.) this place has plug and play led's. They also have an assortment of other goodies. If you replace all of a p/u's rear lighting with them, the dash indicator may blink about twice as fast.

Super Bright LEDs ? 12 Volt LED Car Bulbs