DaleB
Well Known Member
I was perusing some LEDs on our favorite online auction site, and found that there are a plethora of automotive type LED replacement lamps available -- cheap. Dirt cheap, in fact. And to make it more interesting, they're available in several colors including red and green.
I decided to risk the princely sum of $5 -- including shipping from the Far East -- on a pair of 1156 replacements, one red and one green, each with 18 good sized SMD LEDs. These are the 5mm square LEDs with three emitters each. I figure if they don't work out, I'm only out five bucks.
They arrived this afternoon, and tonight I jumpered them across the motorcycle's battery to see how bright they are. The red one was plenty bright, no problem with that. The green was sear-your-retinas BRIGHT. Ridiculously bright.
I'll have to do some testing with a light meter to see just HOW bright they are, but I will say they will light up the garage pretty well. They've got LEDs facing all directions, so no problem with a highly directional pattern.
The real fun will be when the white one I ordered shows up. 120 white LEDs! I want to see if it will do as a strobe. Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. But for another $5, how could I not try it? Worst case I can make a darn nice emergency light for the house or something.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I decided to risk the princely sum of $5 -- including shipping from the Far East -- on a pair of 1156 replacements, one red and one green, each with 18 good sized SMD LEDs. These are the 5mm square LEDs with three emitters each. I figure if they don't work out, I'm only out five bucks.
They arrived this afternoon, and tonight I jumpered them across the motorcycle's battery to see how bright they are. The red one was plenty bright, no problem with that. The green was sear-your-retinas BRIGHT. Ridiculously bright.
I'll have to do some testing with a light meter to see just HOW bright they are, but I will say they will light up the garage pretty well. They've got LEDs facing all directions, so no problem with a highly directional pattern.
The real fun will be when the white one I ordered shows up. 120 white LEDs! I want to see if it will do as a strobe. Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. But for another $5, how could I not try it? Worst case I can make a darn nice emergency light for the house or something.
![2013-03-01_22-09-09_912-150x150.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.botkin.org%2FRV-build%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F03%2F2013-03-01_22-09-09_912-150x150.jpg&hash=4f9bc6c9072ec13fc19f0ae73175b8c3)
![2013-03-01_22-10-28_653-150x150.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.botkin.org%2FRV-build%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F03%2F2013-03-01_22-10-28_653-150x150.jpg&hash=b0c8d9174e5567b5a2faf7ea4e1acbc8)
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