Repair Tach and LED bulb conversion

[skids]

I'm thinking all of the specials have an on/off switch for the fuel sending unit and the standards have the variable resistor, thats for sure. That is a good comment about fantom voltage or current because LED's don't take much to operate or mess them up. I tries doing running lights in the rear with the turn signals (1157 LED) and if the brakes were applied it would screw the led's up. I never could get that sorted out. They do work fine with just the turn signals.

Originally posted by 81xsproject
I was kind of wondering the same thing, if it was not just an on off swith.

[tommystinson]

On my special the fuel light will vary from dim to full brightness, so I'm assuming a simple variable resistor. Who knows if my sending unit is original, though!

[John]

The sending unit for a Special is just a resistor, that heats up when the fuel level drops and uncovers the resistor, triggering the light. Keep it covered, and it stays cool, and the light stays off. It is not a float type like the Standard.

[doogiebars]

My old speedo

Great idea. I have a new original speedo addon made in the 80's that turns your speedos into a 160mph unit
A cd label and paint shop pro sounds like a great idea.

I realized real quick that the 80 mph speedo can come in real handy. Once in a while (ya know) I get the ol' girl runnin. At 100+ I adjusted my flapping mirrors and saw those darn flashing lights behind me. That old speedo turned into plausible deniability. They wanted me to admit to going 85 over the limit but NOPE. lol

[TopCatGr58]

A bit bummed!

Hey Folks,

I'm resurrecting this thread for a product report, not so much for the REPAIR portion, but for the LED bulb conversion I posted afterwards! As you can see from the date, I installed the almost complete LED conversion in 2006. I did my topend job when I brought my bike back to life in ~2001, and since then I've put on a little over 16K miles. At an average of 50 miles per hour, that equals less than 300 hours running time, and that's from 2001. So...from 2006 it's probably half that!

I noticed that my neutral light had gone out this last year! I checked the wire at the switch on the engine, and it was still intact, hadn't frayed or shorted to ground....which should actually have caused it to light all the time! Then today at my vehicle safety inspection I was informed that my license plate light was out...or at least one of the 2!

I first took apart the license plate housing, and sure enough, one of the 5 sided LEDS was not working, and a couple of the sides/leds of the other 5 sided LED bulb was also not working, so it was burning out as well!

The license plate light housing is rubber sealed, so it theorhetically can buid up HEAT inside of it as the lights are running, but it was designed for hotter incandescent light bulbs, and these are/were essentially NO heat LEDS, and it's not near the engine! LEDs are supposed to last thousands if not 10's of thousands of hours. SO...then WHY did these BURN out in less than approximately 150 hours of use? There's NO filament in them to shake/break either!? I replaced them with a pair of Indescent bulbs.

So...I took apart my tach from it's housing so I could access the bulb sockets, pulled the neutral light bulb...checked it with my ohmeter, both directions Megohms of resistance=dead diode! Put a regular incandescent bulb in it and it lit right up! Since I didn't have any extra LED bulbs, I just left the NEW incandescent bulb in it, and put it all back together! The tach housing is also sealed as are the bulb sockets with rubber, so not much ventillation...but the neutral light isn't on very long, and it's also not near the engine so not sure what caused it to burn out prematurely either!?

I haven't seen Jesse/81xsproject post lately...he stated that he was also doing the total LED conversion, so would like to hear from him if he's had any of his LED bulbs BURN OUT!?

BTW, I just thought that possibly my new AUTO Alt might have given too much of a voltage boost, but checking the specs of the LEDs, they are rated for up to 14.5 volts! So...I'm still wondering what has caused them to BURN OUT so fast!

I'll be writing to Superbrightleds.com and inquiring about this since these bulbs are AUTOMOTIVE specifically designed!!

T.C.

[crazy steve]

Could be several things here.... First, remember that most 'raw' LEDs only use about 2-4 volts, so there can be different methods of wiring them. If it's a single LED, it will have a voltage-dropping resistor in series with it and that may be what's gone bad. If it's multiple LEDs, they may be wired in series and if only one LED quits they all stop working (you could also have a resistor with this method too).

To be honest, I've never been particularly impressed with LEDs retrofitted in place of 'standard' lamps for just these reasons; I've seen more failures compared to standard lamps. This is IMO a case of the hype overrunning the actuality. If installed in a circuit designed for LEDs with a proper regulated voltage supply they do well....

[bikerphil]

TC, I think back in '06, LED technology wasn't that good yet. Today's units I would expect to last a bit longer.

[TopCatGr58]

Well, Steve,

Due to the inherent weakness of the charging system of our bikes, the LED's do provide a decent savings of the electrical load. And this helps allow for spare power to run other desired electrical devices, ie. GPS, Stereo, Aux Driving Lights, etc., without necessarily taxing the charging system to it's limits!

I am fortunate that I no longer have to worry about the electrical load I put on my system since I have the Mini Automotive Race Alt providing essentially all of the power I would need, up to 40-50 amps, so I could run all Standard Incandescent lights again if I wanted to. I'll monitor my lights and see if I start having additional bulb failures, but aside from the tail/brake lights which are very large arrays, and the turn signals, I'll probably just replace the other instrument/gauge lights with regular bulbs as they burn out.

Hey Phil, yea, you're probably right in that in '06 LED production for this purpose was in it's relative infancy. Since I posted this update, I went to the Superbrightleds web site and wrote them inquiring about the "premature" failure of these bulbs. THEN after I submitted it, I found and read their INFO on their warranty policy and such! They warranty their bulbs for only 2 years....3 if they are TRUCK type lights. They also state that they are AUTOMOTIVE bulbs, and that if they are used in applications other than designed for (automotive) that they would not honor their warranty!? I don't know if they will consider use in/on a motorcycle as much different than an automobile? I'll report back here when/IF I receive a reply.

So...I would still recommend the use of LEDs for most of the lights on our bikes to help folks reduce the load on their charging system.

T.C.

[crazy steve]

Due to the inherent weakness of the charging system of our bikes, the LED's do provide a decent savings of the electrical load. And this helps allow for spare power to run other desired electrical devices, ie. GPS, Stereo, Aux Driving Lights, etc., without necessarily taxing the charging system to it's limits!

If that's the intent, then LEDs are your only choice. But as to their reliability, I personally think the jury is still out, at least with the aftermarket units. I know that since these first started appearing on trucks/buses, I've watched and rarely see one that doesn't have at least one bad LED. My '96 T-bird had LEDs in part of the taillight assembly and it was rare to see one that didn't have at least a few out.

I'll be curious to see how my new Mustang does, as it has all-LED lights except for the HID headlights and dome lights... Ford must love 'em, 'cause they're everywhere....

[cajun31]

a source

found this as a source for the stuff TC used.... http://www.amazon.com/M-D-Building-P.../dp/B000I1QHA8