L.E.D. Bulbs

Chev4Ever · July 19, 2001

Hey everyone,

I had a question about my L.E.D. bulbs.. I installed them and now the flasher flashes very quickly!

At first i though i boched the install so i pulled them out and put them back in and tried it again but its odd because my 4-ways are fine but my signals flash about 3 or 4 to 1..

Now i really like the look of the quick flashers.. but will the current relay be able to keep up? Or should i replace it with a stronger one???

Thanks..

Steve

racer · July 19, 2001

the relay you have now should be able to keep up

FULLSIZEChevydotcom · July 19, 2001

You will not be able to change how quick the LEDs flash unless you change the relay. Unless you don't mind the quick flashing then I wouldn't mess w/ it. The truck was not designed for LEDs and therefore , neither was the relay that came with it.

Chev4Ever · July 19, 2001

Hey,

One more question..

Could you tell me why the L.E.D. bulbs make my signals flash quickly..

Also why arent my 4-ways affected?? I thought they would be the same since its one bulb..

Its odd that putting bulbs in the tails would change the front and back signals but not the 4-ways...

Thanks

Steve

Zane · July 19, 2001

Quote: from Chev4Ever on 9:29 am on July 19, 2001

Could you tell me why the L.E.D. bulbs make my signals flash quickly..

Also why arent my 4-ways affected?? I thought they would be the same since its one bulb..

Its odd that putting bulbs in the tails would change the front and back signals but not the 4-ways...

I have some considerable experiance with LEDS.

I'm guessing that the LED is NOT desiged right to work with your truck. It either has a lower voltage or current "profile" than a stock bulb. The relay is set to work with a stock bulb. I'm guessing the people who built it, didn't design it to "look" like a regular buld to the relay.

The reason it looks a little more normal on the 4 way is that instead of using one "wrong" bulb, you using 2 "right" and 2 "wrong"(wrong is used just for an example, not saying they are really wrong). Therefore the 2 front bulbs offset the rear bulbs a bit, making the flashing look closer to normal.

Chev4Ever · July 19, 2001

So is it safe for me to keep them in or should i just replace them witht the factory bulbs??? I really dont need any problems with it so if there is a chance of damaging anything then they will be pulled

Thanks for the advice guys!!!!!

Steve

nightmarechevy · April 4, 2003

I have the same problem. I replaced the brake and turn signal bulbs with LEDs and my left blinker blinks faster now. The only odd thing is my right one blinks normally. I am trying to find out why so I can get it to blink faster as well. If anyone knows how I might be able to do this please email me at [email protected]. Thanks

chevyman992002 · April 4, 2003

I think your lights flash faster because the LED bulbs draw alot less current than the regular incandescent bulbs. Just replace your flasher with a heavy duty unit, and they should blink normal again.

cowboy02 · April 7, 2003

We used to have this problem when we hooked up the trailer wires to our Old 1 ton truck. We replaced it with a heavy duty bulb flahser from Checker and walla problem whent away. That was a 88 truck still works today.........

Just my .02 but LED's draw less current so putting a stonger flasher in "Might" cause them to slow down. However because they draw less current the relay can switch faster as there is no load across the relay. Keep in mind 1 of the fringe benefits of going to LED's is they turn on faster then a filament bulb, they maybe are blinking at the same rate as the filament bulbs were except they turn on quicker and you see them flash faster......

Weird but it "Might" be the case you are seeing