Hey all, I've got a little bit of a burning out epidemic with my clear corner LED bulbs.

Bought them from RX8STRAKES.COM, along with the footwell kit..

The front clear corners seem to burn out after just a couple weeks, and I've lost the passenger side footwell LED too. Is there anything I can do to increase the longevity of these bulbs? Resistors? Better ground wire?

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give me..

 

No answer bump?

 

I've had similar issues with LEDs. I started using LED Protectors from Autolumination (http://autolumination.com/equalizers.htm) and haven't had a bulb burn out since. All it is is a 1 watt 100 ohm resistor. When I started using more powerful LEDs I had to make my own because it wouldn't light up all the LEDs. I ended up using a 1 watt 10 ohm resistor (can be found at Radio Shack) and have had the same result: LEDs at full brightness and no burn outs.

Check out the LEDs I'm using:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-exterior-appearance-body-kits-27/new-leds-wow-bright-158590/

 

Think that's because we're running 12V LEDs at 14V+?

 

Maybe. I think V-LEDs are rated 10-14.5 or something, but I was still getting burn outs. Spikes in voltage maybe. Adding a resistor did the trick for me though.

 

Hm, so I'd need to splice which wire for the corners? Seems like a massive PITA :O

 

Yeah, you have to cut one of the wires going to the corner light. The corners are kind of easy actually because you can disonnect the bulb socket and its small harness from the main wiring harness right on the inside of the wheel well. So you can do the work at your work table or whatever, and if you ever want to go back to stock you can replace that small harness easily.

The parking lights are another story. They are not on a separate harness, so you have to cut into the main wiring harness. And it's super hard to get in there and do the work, as anyone whose changed the parking light bulbs can tell you.

If you want LEDs, and you don't want to worry about whether they are going to burn out or not, then it's totally worth the PITA IMHO, so do it ASAP.

 

My only issue is with my skills in wiring.

I wanted to get red LEDs for the parking lights and 6000k as bright as possible for the fogs(close to stock HIDs), but if they're going to burn out, then I can wait until the hood and bumper are off to wire some resistors in there..

Thanks for the link!