How can I prevent my LED lights from blowing out on my car?

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  • Thread starter Thread starter darrylmcl
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the issue of LED lights blowing out in a car, exploring potential causes and solutions related to electrical setup, component quality, and circuit connections.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Darryl describes his experience with LED strip lights that worked initially but failed after a week, seeking advice on preventing future failures.
  • One participant suggests that the lifespan of LEDs is affected by heat and current, recommending the use of a current limiting resistor to potentially increase lifespan, though it may reduce brightness.
  • The same participant notes that low-quality semiconductors may have a higher failure rate, implying that the quality of the LEDs could be a factor in their early failure.
  • Darryl later clarifies that the issue was due to the car's lights being set to high beams, which had disabled the LEDs, indicating that the lights were functioning properly once the setting was corrected.
  • Another participant proposes relocating the LED connection to a different part of the circuit to ensure they operate with both high and low beam settings.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion contains multiple viewpoints regarding the causes of LED failure and potential solutions, with no consensus reached on the best approach to prevent future issues.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention factors such as heat, current, and component quality, but do not fully explore the implications of these factors or the specific electrical setup in detail.

darrylmcl
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Hi guys,

I recently purchased some LED strip lights for my car (like this - http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150374586680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT )

To my knowledge I had them hooked up correctly, they have one positive and negative sire for power. So I found out which was which for my cars lights and simply attached them to that. They are able to handle a 12V current and so I saw nothing wrong with this set up... they worked for about a week and now both (individually wired to separate lights) have blown, I have extra ones but don't want them to die out the same way so I was wondering if you guys may know of another way to set this up so that they don't simply blow out.

Thanks,
Darryl
 
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Ill try to keep the thread physics related. L.E.D. is a semiconductor by definition. Semiconductor lifespan is directly related to heat/current.

Putting a current limiting resistor in series with the lights would increase lifespan, but also diminish brightness.

I'm not sure about the quality, but low quality semiconductors have a high infant mortality rate,(many fail early).

"long service life up to 30,000 hours, made in Hong Kong" , definitely not Mil-Spec reliability, perhaps let the buyer beware?
 
Please disregard this posting... it turns out that one of my kids had placed the cars lights onto HIGHBEAMS... for whatever reason this disabled the lights, once turning them back off the lights were fine.

Sorry for the time waster here.

Darryl
 
It sounds as if you've tapped into the low-beam circuit only. Try relocating your connection upstream between the main headlight switch and the dimmer switch. That should bring your LED's on with both high and low beam selection.
 

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