A Guide to Installing LED Turn Signals

Light Emitting Diodes or LED turn signals are increasingly being used in cars and motorcycles. These lights have longer useful life than filament lamps, are very resistant to vibrations and can be housed in slimmer packages as compared to the assemblies used for standard bulb lights. Once power is applied to LED, it gives a full intensity light that is 0.2 seconds faster than light bulbs. This allows drivers who are following your vehicle to react to your turn signals more quickly. Also, because of the longer service life of LED, there will be less down time for the vehicle.

Choosing the Appropriate LED Light

If you are going to use LED turn signals for your car, make sure that you will be using a color that is the same as the lens. If you have a red lens on your car, for example, it will filter out all light colors except red. If white colored LED is used on a red lens, it will filter out most of the light that is emitted by the LED light.

Using LED for Turn Signal Flashers

Turn signal lights are usually made to quickly flash on and off to catch attention. The process is made possible by flasher units for incandescent bulbs. However, these will not work well with LED lights because of the lower voltage that the LED takes. Hence, if you are going to use LED turn signals, you should also replace your old flasher unit with electronic flasher that can be availed from most LED suppliers. Alternatively, you can imitate the voltage that is drawn by an incandescent light with the use of a load resistor.

LED to Light Bulb Matching

To make your LED turn signals effective, get the type and model of the incandescent bulb you are currently using and cross reference it to a suitable LED light to have a good replacement. You should also get LED sockets and adapter kits as LED lights are made with a regular bayonet and dual contact base.

Although you may find LED lights to be not as bright as your present incandescent lights, bear in mind that LEDs are in solid state, which makes them longer lasting and stronger. There are a lot of different colors to choose from and it can be flashed on and off much faster than ordinary light bulbs.

Determining LED Light Color

LED lights for car turn signals come in a wide variety of color and brightness and your choice would depend on the application that you have in mind. If you want more style on your turn signals, you can choose the Technicolor and flashy LED turn signals. But if you are installing LED turn signals to enhance the brightness and visibility of your signals when you make a turn, the less colorful LED lights would be best.