Evening All, First job on my new to me, 749s, was to do the number plate light reposition mod, locating it in the junction box under the tail light. Quite simple to do, but I ended up having to use a slightly longer festoon bulb.(44mm instead of 37mm) Now, I noticed tonight, that when I was checking it still worked after a wee run, it was pretty hot. The clear plastic window was very warm to touch. I never checked how hot the standard unit got. Should I be worried that it could melt something, and fry the electrics? Cheers Dave
cant say that i have ever noticed , but if no one comes across with the definitive answere tonite then i can check my one for you tomo
Thanks, that would help. I have just googled LED festoon bulbs, and there is a 44mm one out there, which may help. Cheers Dave
Good point, I didn't check! The old one was 5w, so will pull the new one out later and have a look. Thanks Dave
LEDs are never the same wattage if wattage is a measure of electrical consumption. They are much brighter for less electricity if yo see what I mean. I have them in my car number plate lights and they do not produce any heat at all.
As Bob says, it will cure the problem. LED bulbs are much more efficient at turning energy into light. Filament bulbs turn much of the electricity into heat, so consume more power for a given light output and get very hot as well, especially in a confined space. While you're at it, order a bright white 501 LED for your parking light bulb in your screen. This will turn it into a bright LED running light for extra road presence. I also have an LED board insert in my rear light for stop and tail, great value at just over 20 squids
had mine on this morn for @ 15 mins ( in shed ) and it did not heat up....... ( bloody tail light bulb blown again :cry: )
The standard light is known as an incandescent bulb. 9 watts of power consumption (electricity) probably uses about half of one watt to make light and 8.5 watts to make heat, very inefficient. An LED bulb will use most of the power consumption to make light, a much whiter light than the incandescent bulb, but small LEDs hardly make any heat at all. Because there is no filament in an LED they do not blow and stop working due to vibration.
Well, looks like I put too high a wattage in, which explains the heat (I was too focused on finding a 44mm bulb!). 68p down the drain I'll just order up an LED one on eBay. Thanks for your help chaps! Cheers Dave
You don't happen to have a link for the LED bulb there seem to be so many on ebay not sure which one would fit! Thanks.
If I were you then I would go for a COB LED like this one 1X White 44MM 1 COB 12 Chips Festoon Dome Map LED Light Car Bulb Heat Sink I352 | eBay COBs are more efficient and last longer than other types. I have dozens of LEDs around from different projects but will only fit COBs these days.
Thanks Bob T, Ordered one of those up, thanks for the link. I am presuming that one is from China, as it is a 3/4 week delivery, so have ordered a standard "3 cell" one up from a UK supplier which should get here tomorrow. (It was double the price,mind) This gives me the option of seeing which one fits best. Thanks for the tip Dave
I bought one of each from BOBT's link and this one ERROR FREE CANBUS 3 SMD LED 44mm C5W XENON WHITE NUMBER PLATE LIGHT FESTOON BULB | eBay
Yes it will be from China, as will the one from the UK supplier. Some of the Chinkies pretend to be a UK supplier and some some position stuff in the UK, but it all comes from the same place. The 3 cell as you call it will be 3 smd (probably 5050 LEDs) as opposed to the newer generation COBs. If you are interested in LEDs then have a look at a blog post that I did a while ago when COBs were quite new at LED update, COB LED – Ducati ST
That is just a 3 chip SMD. The word Xenon is misleading as there is no Xenon gas involved and they are using it to say very white light. Avoid canbus ones unless you have a bike with canbus as the Chinkies take shortcuts with stuff and will fit a resistor into the bulb to make the system draw the full power when the LED is on. The resistor will then shed the extra power as heat, defeating the object of fitting an LED in the first place. These things are so cheap that it worth ordering 2 just in case your mate wants one. There are also some great LED rear light bulbs on ebay that give the brake and rear light in one LED, these are good for bikes that blow bulbs as they are not affected by vibration.
Would you have a link for the 501 LED @oldrider ? There are soooooooooooooooo many different LED available I'm not sure what one it is.
I think it came from the auto bulbs website but these things change so fast it's very likely the exact same one is no longer available. I think I just went for the brightest, whitest one that didn't have a warning about it getting hot in use as I didn't want to melt the plastic housing
Like a complete baffoon @Old rider i ordered the push in type led bulbs rather than the correct bayonet type we need for our bikes. All was not lost though as the fitted the number plate bulbs on my Toyota so in they went. Unfortunately they only lasted about a month before they started to flicker so if I'm honest with you I've scrapped the idea. There are so many to choose from and most are as cheap as chips anyway. What type have you got and how long have you had them in ?
