6 volt LEDs

[mot1982]

My truck is still 6 volt, and I want to keep it that way.. but you know the Lights are really DIM, the brake lights are of concern.. i have had people actually flag me down and complain out how dim they are.. (has most other drivers today are used to modern Bright brake lights in their face) I added some additional vintage lights along the back bumper to try to help this.. so i now have 6 dim brake lights along the back.. LOL

I just ordered some 6 volt LED replacement bulbs, i ordered one with white leds and one with red LEDs.. i am going to expirement with these to see if they are brighter and which color works best.. then possibly replace all 6 volt bulbs with them if they work well..

anyone else done this? did it work?

 

[vwnate1]

Dim 6 Volt Lights

If they're dim it's most likely because the sockets and various connectors are dirty or corroded .

First things first : remove the taillamps from the truck and de rust them 100% then spray paint the insides of the housings with gloss white paint , then tape well & re paint the outsides gloss black again and re assemble , they'll be brighter than you'll believe .

yes , the LED 1154 bulbs are very bright *BUT* most of them (it depends on the Mfr.) are poorly focused and only light up a super bright pinpoint in the middle of the lens ~

I'm currently using thes in my old 6 volt Honda Tiddler Motocycle , the lens is very bright indeed .

You should also replace the brushes in your generator and clean the commutator bars too , this will get the voltage up to 6.8 ~ 7 VDC off idle where it belongs .

Most of the time , one or more of the dashboard , taillight or parking light bulbs are 12 volt and this will cause the rest of the lights in the whole rig to be dim .

Never , EVER trust anyone else to install the correct bulbs ! .

If you can find a place that converts the old regulator to electrical , DO IT ! I had the regulator on my old 1950's 12 volt British car converted to electronic and it was the best $150 I everspent on any vehicle , EVER .

Bright lights always , LOUD horns, on and on.....

I hesitate to mention this but I always take apart the light switches and hand polish the contacts , same with the voltage regulator but it's easy to ruin the regulator .

ALL connectors must be clean and shiny , then well greased before re - assembling .

The ground pth from taillight to battery is too long so adding a ground strap from the taillight bolt directly to the frame usually helps a lot too .

 

[mot1982]

disappointed

recieved the 6 volt LEDs today, I am disapointed..
I ordered two so I could test them out before replacing all..
one white, one red, to see what worked better.
with shiping it was about $15 each so not cheep.

the white one did not function at all is defective.

the red one seems to be actually the same brightness maybe even a little less bright than the standard 6 volt bulb..

The LED bulbs look good they have 32 leds total..
anyway the experiment failed.. LOL

I will try replacing generator brushes as Nate suggested.

 

[vwnate1]

LED Lamps

That's interesting as most all LED's , even the really crappy ones , are all super bright if intensely focused so you get a really brilliant pin point of light .....

I know that many different brands are available and only a very few are any good .

Id'a thunk that 32 LED's would be very bright indeed .