I have salvaged from a Renault Megane rear spoiler stop light, the LED circuit board. Having taken off the damaged red light cover, I am left with a strip circuit board that holds 12 LED's, approximate output 40 watts (I think...). I want to use this to replace the pathetic 5 watt bulb that currently ressides in the R80RT. Asside from the challenges of making this device fit in the confined space allowed, what else do I need to take into account? An in-line fuse (5 watts to start off with?) anything else? All help appreciated... -- O 1 Black, shortly to undergo extensive surgery. 1 Red, undergoing lightweight surgery. ----- 1 Blue, for Power-Ranger baiting. | o | Numbers ... | o | Stuff ... | ooo | Life ... -----
You should be able to just plug it straight in. The wattage rating of the LEDs is most like a 'rating' of the brightness of the lamp. Now then, apart from that, you will be making your bike somewhat illegal. The side light has to be 5w legally, but the brake light has to be 21w [1], which is what you should be replacing.
Owen brought next idea : I've never looked at the LED lighting systems as used on vehicles, so if anyone knows better please feel free to correct me... I don't think it will be 40w, as that is rather a lot in LED terms. I think 40w would also breach the construction and use regulations or their modern equivalent. I would also be a little wary of damaging the brake light switches with such a large load. Fuses are not rated in watts, they are rated in amps. Your system should already be adequately fused, so just connect it in addition to your existing brake light or replace your existing brake light with the LED's. I think you will find the LED's will consume much less than your conventional lamps for the same light output. FYI 40watts would be 40w / 12v = approx 3.5amps (did you mean amps?) If you lack a suitable meter a rough easy way to check the consumption of the LED's, would be to try them in series with various wattages of conventional bulbs. If the LED's light up, but not the bulb, the bulb is a much higher wattage than the lamp. If the bulb lights up, but not the LED's then the LED's draw more. You will probably need to watch that the polarity is correct for the LED's..... I suspect they might not have any built in reverse polarity protection.
I don't remember posting at the top, and apologise for doing so. I didn't think that the message had even been posted as my poxy news service supplier is really giving me shit. Changed news servers now, and seems much better.
I intend using the LED's to replace the front side-light... I think the brightness might be 49 watts equivilent... Yes, I meant amps... I didn't even think about using my multi-meter... doh! I'll have a little play around tomorrow... Thankyou to all who posted... -- O 1 Black, shortly to undergo extensive surgery. 1 Red, undergoing lightweight surgery. ----- 1 Blue, for Power-Ranger baiting. | o | Numbers ... | o | Stuff ... | ooo | Life ... -----
