[benmctee]

I recently purchased front and rear LED lights from Offroad Overstock (those are the rear, front are of course, amber). The install looks like the Jeep on this page.

I first tested then installed the amber ones up front. They worked fine individually - the lights were constant with running lights on, and became brighter when the blinker was on. But when I soldered both lights in and got it all weather proofed, they now only blink and do not have a constant on anymore. I used Stu's blinker relay mod for my '01 Jeep, so now it blinks at the correct rate (not double as if a light were burnt out).

My second issue: yesterday I installed 1 LED on the rear after my PSC corner guards came in. The wiring for the rear was a lot more simple than the front, I simply cut the factory wiring (after the factory plug for easy removal and longer wire) and soldered in the new 3-wire LED harness. I ran the white ground wire (from LED harness) to the body with a stainless steel screw, and left the purple/black wire (from factory wiring harness) taped off for now since I don't have reverse lights yet. Now, when I first tested the turn signal, it worked, but very slowly, almost half as fast as it's supposed to. I then turned the blinker off, started the Jeep, and tried it again. This time it stayed constantly on, and has ever since. Did I burn up something? Something to do with the blinker relay mod not working? The other blinker still works fine (which is still stock), and the LED gets brighter when I press the brake while staying constantly on when the headlights are on.

If anybody has run into this problem before, or might know what is going on, please help me out.

Thanks!

p.s.: Stu said to check this page out, but they're all talking about 2 wire LED's, and I'm using three wire.

[benmctee]

Well I cleared the problem with the blinker staying on constantly. I guess with having LED's front and rear, there wasn't enough current being drawn for the blinker relay to operate properly. So I installed a resistor for each tail light (Radio Shack #271-120) by soldering one end to the ground wire and the other to the stop/turn wire, leaving the black wire (constant on) untouched. I've heard that the 20 Watt resistors can get pretty hot, so I tested it for about five minutes by just leaving the blinker and light on. It got almost too hot for touch, which worried me about melting insulation on long night drives, so I coated the outside in black RTV silicone and then wrapped it all up in thick electrical tape for extra insulation. Hopefully I won't have a flame coming out of the back of my Jeep some day

Although I still do not have the front running lights working, this leaves me satisfied to drive around now and be legal.

[Stu Olson]

Coating the resistor in RTV and then wrapping it in electrical tape will certainly help keep it warmer than it was when it was exposed to the air. Is that the results you are looking for?

I've seen melted wiring harnesses and blown fuses as a result of using power resistors for such projects. Yes, some folks use them and get by.....others are not so lucky. I personally don't think it is worth the risk/hassle.

[benmctee]

I wasn't necessarily concerned about the warmth of the resistor so much as insulating it from other components. The silicone tube said it would withstand temperatures up to 410F, so I assumed it would be the best insulation I could find. As far as overheating the resistor, there isn't much I'm concerned with breaking on that due to high heat.

That being said, would you agree, or is there some other way of providing increased resistence on the wire without generating so much heat? What do you think about a different blinker relay? I have no idea how to gauge what other kind of relay to get other than trial and error.

[benmctee]

For some reason I had a feeling you used to be in the Navy just by the way you pay attention to detail on your installs and keep things organized. I was reading through the "Optima Battery Comments" section of your site and saw that you were an ET. When talking about the silicone, I was going to compare it to lagging on steam piping. Yes, it keeps the piping warm and losses to ambient are cut way down, keeping it from condensing, but it most importantly keeps personnel from getting burned. The only difference here is that I don't know if keeping that resistor warm will hurt it....

BTW, were you a nuke ET or conventional? I'm an MM student at the NY prototype.

[Ruff88]

you can get a blinker specifically for running full led's.

http://www.stu-offroad.com/electrical/led1/led-5.htm