Repair Tach and LED bulb conversion

[TopCatGr58]

Quite being so "Dim-witted"!

what was the cost of the bulbs fer the speedo?

Hey Prom,

I don't have the receipt handy, but the prices are listed on their (SUPERBRIGHTLEDS) web site. The single ones for the idiot lights were a little over a Buck, but the 5 way bulbs were about $4.00 something ea! Forgot to mention how nice BOTH gauges look in the dark with that nice GREEN color!
T.C.

[prometheus578]

"How illuminating..."

Thanks for shedding some light on my question, T.C..

Forgot to mention how nice BOTH gauges look in the dark with that nice GREEN color!

Well... we didn't. Our 'not mentioning it' was intentional. No need to feed your ego when we're 'Green' with envy.

[mpcluever]

I just want to make sure. Is the 56 bulb truck light you refer to part number PT-R56 Truck Light - Red LED from subrightleds.com? If so, i see 2 different plugs for it. Did you get the straight plug or the low profile right angle one? Been thinking about going to LEDs and after your hard work I don't have to research what bulbs to get!! thanks a milion!! (any suggestions on blinker bulbs and flasher?)

[TopCatGr58]

Not so Clueless!

Hey there MPCluever,

I have a confession to make. The 56 LED lights I got several years ago were from a NOW DEFUNCT WEB SITE, LEDSRUS.com, and so the body was a little different than what SuperBright offers! The previous ones had the wires already connected to the circuit board! IF you've looked at the tech tip in the MODS section, you can see where I cut out the back of the light case to fit OVER the bulb sockets! I'm not completely sure how the SB's are, but would believe they are close in design. You may have to resolder the wires to the circuit board, or just splice into the wires they provide going to the plug in the back of the bulb case, once you find what you have to remove from the back of the case to allow it to fit over the bulb sockets!?

As for the other bulbs for the turn signals, I was on a budget, and so I got the Clearance Marker style, and then cut them all up to fit inside the bulb housing, and had to rig up wires to the socket. IF I was doing this again, I would probably get the separate socket and LED board, so all I would need to do is hot glue the loose board into the bulb housing, once I simply plugged in the bulb base into the bulb socket!
The right angle bulbs are slick, but much more expensive!

SB LED's provide an electronic flasher! I got a standard electronic/mechanical combo flasher made by Trident from local auto store!

Yes, the PTR56 is the right bulb set:



Turn signals, using the M4 Series Clearance Marker lights!
M4-A13 Marker - 13 Amber LED **Get it WITHOUT Flange!
Truck Clearance/Marker Light with 13 Super AMBER LEDs $6.79


OR...

1156-A30-RA
AlGaInP/Amber $15.99 ea...but plug and play!


OR...

1156-PCB-Axx Amber LED Lamp
12VDC 1156 Base with 1 1/2 inch square circuit board
With 24 or 36 Super Amber LEDs **Has 1156 socket base, and loose LED board!
$7.49


They sell an electronic flasher $12.95
Suggest the 2 pin style

T.C.

[mpcluever]

You amaze me. To go to such lengths to get information for someone else is just unbelievable. I'm pretty new to the site, but your input has helped SOOO much. Thanks so much!!

[mpcluever]

so if i want to convert the 1156 sockets to 1157 dual, should i get the 3 pin flasher instead of 2?

[Bill C.]

Re: LED bulbs & Seals for Gauges!

I'm a new poster and I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm VERY interested in this application. Also, I'm interested in the EPDM gauge seals. I found this because another lister recently posted a link to an XS650 e-mail list.

1st question: Do the wedge base LED's in the instruments plug right iinto existing sockets or do I need to put new sockets on? Does the same hold true for the license plate lamps?

2nd question: I looked at my local Lowe's, but couldn't find the EPDM weatherseal shown. Any ideas on where else to try? The weatherseal I DID see at Lowe's didn't seem to be the same stuff.

Thanks for any help you can provide a smaller XS rider!

Bill C.

Originally posted by TopCatGr58
Hey there folks,

I wanted to post a followup to my repair of my tach! With all of this talk about LEDs, I decided to get some to replace the small bulbs in my gauge, the main illumination, the neutral, highbeam, fuel, as well as the license plate lights. Each one draws 4.5 watts, there are a total of 4 main bulbs in the gauge housings, and 2 in the license plate light....for models with one! That's 27 watts, 2.25amps, every little bit helps!

These bulbs are from Superbright LEDS. The ones for the neutral, highbeam, and fuel light are single wide viewing angle models. The ones for the main illumination bulbs in the gauges as well as the license plate are 5 leds in one, positioned in a radial pattern to better shine to the side, along with 1 on the end! MY gauge lights are GREEN, but they make this same bulb pattern in white which are what I used in the license plate reflector. The combination of the angled bulbs, and the reflector housing caused plenty of light to be shined onto the plate!

The main bulbs sockets are a little smaller than the bulb, but will go into the gauge socket with a modest amount of tilting!

The 5LED bulbs are Non-polarity, can be positioned any way and will lite, the smaller single bulbs ARE Polarized, just jumped a 12V source to them to determine which pole was positive, you can tell which pole in the sockets by the colored wires!

These others were taken with the room lights on, and you can see how bright they look!

This last one may also be of interest to Webbcraft, the tail light has the large 56bulb LED Truck Array in it, what's interesting is that the clear inner reflector has a dual circular pattern that makes it look like it has 2 bulbs in it, but the rest of the tail light section is fairly well lit as well!

[tommystinson]

TC, my hat is off to you, sir. Very impressive indeed. I'm reminded of an article I read about "the Skunkworks" when they were disassembing a MiG they bagged in the 80's. All the brilliant young engineers were making fun of the vacuum tubes, steel frame, Flintstone's-era technology, etc. Then the boss points out a few things:
1) When the nukes hit they'll still be flying. EMP would have made our fighters into lead balloons.
2) That steel framed antique everyone is making fun of handles as good or better as the best titanium/composite/magnesium bird we've got.
Necessity is the mother of invention, it is said. Well Mom, the beer is on me (if you can handle the cold up here)!

[81xsproject]

That is cool TC. I hadn't read this thread for a while and what do you know I too am replacing every light I can think of with LED's. Purely coinsidence, I too chose the green 5LEDG bulbs to back light my gauges. Some were a REALLY tight fit to get through the holes. I also used the 5's for my license light. Other than the head light, I am all LED now. Tonight I go out to check out the gauges

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Bill C.,

Did you see the first page of this thread?? It shows the wedge type bulbs, they just plug into the existing sockets. BUT, you have to get the polarity correct on some of them, they are polarity sensitive. I meant to post an update to the FUEL indicator LED, due to the very low power running thru that circuit , it was essentially ON all the time, so I'll have to convert back to the standard bulb for it! !! But all the others are pretty much plug and play. As Jessie said, the 5 ways in the gauge cluster were tight, but a little twisting/tilting and they will go in!

Your LOWES should have it, but it might be in a different section than where you're looking?? They had it in both black and white colors/shades. I found it in the section near the building supplies, and other extraneous things, like boat/trailer parts and such!?!? Otherwise, you might try Home Depot, even a local hardware store or so?
T.C.

[Bill C.]

TC,

Yes, I saw the first page. Being unfamiliar with the XS11's vs. XS650, I wasn't sure the instrument housing, and sockets would be the same. I'm a novice shade-tree/garage mechanic trying to get a bike back up and running.

I absolutely love the thought of replacing these and not having to worry about them. All I really need is the gauge backlights and the license plate lights. I don't have a fuel light, so that shouldn't be a concern. However, I don't know if it would be worth it for you, but SuperbrightLEDS I believe offers a module to overcome the low power draw.

As soon as I get the chance, I'm going to check several other locales for the weatherstripping.

Thanks for the great tips and the follow-up response!

Bill C.

[81xsproject]

Hey TC, did you do your fuel light? For some reason mine is stuck on now... Haven't had a chance to investigate it yet, just curious.

[81xsproject]

TC? TC?

[tommystinson]

Regarding the LED replacement "bulbs": All LED's have inherent polarity, anode/cathode or positive/negative, etc. The bayonet base on the 1156/1157 types prevent polarity reversal, so there is no possibility of a reverse installation. I'm making some assumptions with the following: The fuel level sending unit probably isn't a switch, it's likely a variable resistor of some sort. In an open circuit, measured at the lamp socket, you would see full system voltage with a meter, regardless of fuel level. An old school mechanic might call it "phantom" voltage. The lamp requires more current than the sending unit resistor allows to pass, so no light. However the LED uses very little current, so the sending unit appears to be allowing enough current to light it, regardless of fuel level. A resistor wired in series with the LED should work, unless I am mistaken. (Geezer, Randy?) I would put a potentiometer in series and increase the resistance until the LED fails to light, then make sure it lights at low level and finally measure the resistance needed and buy a resistor of the measured value. If I'm talking out my A** here, Jim Beam is my excuse!

[81xsproject]

I was kind of wondering the same thing, if it was not just an on off swith.