Nice find! I didn't find any reference to that during my search. Would be great for the front and rear turns combined with resistors for the brake lights.
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Plug and play LED lights solution! No hyperflash and no brake lamp error!
- Thread starter white98sh
- Start date
Nice find! I didn't find any reference to that during my search. Would be great for the front and rear turns combined with resistors for the brake lights.
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Wait, why do you need resistors for the brake lights when you switch them to LEDs?
[MENTION=31260]Jinks[/MENTION], I've used these flasher units on my Exige. For some stupid reason... well, the reason is British Engineering... when Lotus switched from incandescent lights to LED lights in 2006, they never changed out the flasher relay. So a lot of owners eventually dealt with hyperblinking, I have no idea why it didn't present fast blinking immediately. I'm no electrical guy. But after replacing my relay with one made for LEDs, it's all good. Seems like this Diode Dynamics unit should do the same thing.
I, for one, actually like the brake and turn signals to be incandescent lights. Same goes for all the dash lights, the clock, etc. They have this warm, analogue, soft-on soft-off feeling. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic when I drive it. Kinda like listening to vinyl versus CDs.
[MENTION=31260]Jinks[/MENTION], I've used these flasher units on my Exige. For some stupid reason... well, the reason is British Engineering... when Lotus switched from incandescent lights to LED lights in 2006, they never changed out the flasher relay. So a lot of owners eventually dealt with hyperblinking, I have no idea why it didn't present fast blinking immediately. I'm no electrical guy. But after replacing my relay with one made for LEDs, it's all good. Seems like this Diode Dynamics unit should do the same thing.
I, for one, actually like the brake and turn signals to be incandescent lights. Same goes for all the dash lights, the clock, etc. They have this warm, analogue, soft-on soft-off feeling. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic when I drive it. Kinda like listening to vinyl versus CDs.
For the brake lights, resistors will prevent the indicator on the dash from coming on. So will a small jumper in the trunk. It is not clear that the resistor method will still report a broken LED. And it gives up the efficiency benefit of LEDs, as does adding resistors to the turn signals when changing a single resistor in the flasher module also eliminates hyper flash. Adding those resistors seems counterproductive to me.
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Ah, I see. Didn't know that. Thank you for the education!
For anyone who sees this in the future, just modify the flasher relay by removing the hyperflash transistor. Even if you don't know how to solder, it's still super easy as you can just cut the leads with some tiny scissors or rock it back and forth until the leads snap. The same goes for the rear brake light indicators, all you have to do to bypass it is to depin the wire from the sensor and tie the indicator wire to ground, no cutting/splicing required. Load resistors are a less-than-ideal solution since all they do is generate heat, and in the event of a defective or damaged part, possibly fire. While the risk is extremely slim, a fire in the back of a $50,000+ exotic car isn't something I want to bet on.
Flasher relay modification, the half circle in the lower right corner of the board is where the hyperflash transistor was originally.
Brake light indicator bypass. Just depin the sensor side of the harness and tape it off to the side and short the other side to ground.
Both of these processes are reversible if you desolder the transistor instead of cutting or breaking it.
Also, to give credit where it is due, WB9RKN originally posted about the flasher modification here, and mcrider posted about disabling the brake lamp indicator here.
Also, those LED compatible flasher relays linked earlier will NOT fit in our cars, or at least they don't in my 1994. The flasher has 6 pins and as far as I know, is only used in the NSX and a few other 90's Hondas, I searched around and wasn't able to find an LED compatible one.
Flasher relay modification, the half circle in the lower right corner of the board is where the hyperflash transistor was originally.
Brake light indicator bypass. Just depin the sensor side of the harness and tape it off to the side and short the other side to ground.
Both of these processes are reversible if you desolder the transistor instead of cutting or breaking it.
Also, to give credit where it is due, WB9RKN originally posted about the flasher modification here, and mcrider posted about disabling the brake lamp indicator here.
Also, those LED compatible flasher relays linked earlier will NOT fit in our cars, or at least they don't in my 1994. The flasher has 6 pins and as far as I know, is only used in the NSX and a few other 90's Hondas, I searched around and wasn't able to find an LED compatible one.
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I think the information/discussion here is good so no reason to delete.
LED failure detection would be rather involved to implement as a retrofit just due to the way they fail. It could be done, but it would not be simple, elegant, or cheap without modifying the car's electronics.
I sometimes forget that this forum is a lot friendlier than most other car forums, so I apologize for being a bit rude, and I'll edit my previous post.
LED failure detection would be rather involved to implement as a retrofit just due to the way they fail. It could be done, but it would not be simple, elegant, or cheap without modifying the car's electronics.
I sometimes forget that this forum is a lot friendlier than most other car forums, so I apologize for being a bit rude, and I'll edit my previous post.
What is the issue with changing the shunt resistor in the flasher module? That is just as easy as removing a transistor in the same module and preserves failure detection for the turn signals.
That would work if an LED failed to an open circuit like an incandescent bulb, but LEDs rarely fail in this manner. Under normal conditions an LEDs light output will begin to diminish as it nears the end of its useful life, and this happens with negligible change in current draw. Since the detection circuit relies on reduced current draw to detect failures, this wouldn't work. Another common failure is driving them with too high a voltage, and in this case they burn up and turn into a closed circuit, which would cause a short and possibly burn up the flasher relay or blow a fuse. This failure is also not detected by a relay modified with new shunt resistors, since again, that relies on decreased current draw.
Great thread. Where is the flasher relay located?
edit: lower dash by drivers side kick plate.
edit: lower dash by drivers side kick plate.
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just got these and it worked like a charm for my rear turn signals.. have 2 extra if anyone wants . Didnt realize they came in a pair.
what year is your car? i have a 95 and reading some previous posts in this thread, looks like some years (94 up?) might not work or something. the video showing the LED vs stock comparison is impressive. i love how it still looks oem but a bit more modernized at the same time. my biggest concern about using LED bulbs instead of a full conversion with new circuit boards was the LED bulb just being a small bright dot in the middle of each reflector "box". the video makes it look like the light is still able to spread out and fill up the entire reflector box for each bulb.
I used these bulbs, they look great in the housings in my 1994, no issues with light output pattern and a good deal brighter than incandescent bulbs.
194: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...d-tower-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/206/922/
1156: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...lb-27-smd-led-tower-ba15s-retrofit/2622/5695/
1157: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...n-27-smd-led-tower-bay15d-retrofit/2625/5698/
194: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...d-tower-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/206/922/
1156: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...lb-27-smd-led-tower-ba15s-retrofit/2622/5695/
1157: https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...n-27-smd-led-tower-bay15d-retrofit/2625/5698/
cool thanks for confirming that it looks good!
thanks for the direct links! so i'm guessing you opted for the mod to remove the hyperflash transistor instead of getting a load resistor harness? and just to make sure i understand (i suck at electronics lol), the module that has the "t1" transistor is found in lower left side of the driver's foot area?
Yes I just removed the transistor.
That is correct, the flasher relay is kind of a pain to remove though since you can't see how it mounts. There is a vertical bracket with a tab pointing towards the passenger side that the top of the relay has a slot for, so the best way to get it off IMO is to stick a flat blade screwdriver between the relay and the bracket as close to the tab as you can and twist. The relay pops off straight towards the passenger side of the car.
ahhh ok. thanks for the heads up!
So I did exactly what you did but the same resistor kit Plug and Play and bought 1156 bulbs LED red, I plug in the halogen bulb it works with the harness but the blinker LED bulb does not work. What's the issue here?
If the halogen bulb works and the LED bulb does not, you probably have a bad LED bulb.
Bumping this thread to ask a relevant question. Who makes truly high quality LED bulb replacements? The ones from Superbrightleds keep going out on me :frown:
I'd like to know as well
Bumping this thread for exterior and interior lights. Can you all recommend some individual bulbs?
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Really? I've had SuperBrightLeds bulbs in various cars for years and not a single one has ever given me trouble. A couple friends have ordered from there too over the past few years with no issues. Which bulbs did you buy? Here's my order from 2016 for the NSX. (some of the quantities were wrong)
This is everything but the interior lights. For the 5 interior lights (2 overhead, 2 courtesy lights in the doors, one in the trunk) I use these https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ed-bulb-4-smd-led-festoon-30mm-car/2107/4844/ I've used those exact bulbs in several cars over the past 4 years or so with no issues so far.
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