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Bob Johnson · 08-15-2020, 10:29 AM

I made my own LED tail/brake lights. I used 10W Red LEDs, two for the brake light and one for the tail light. I also installed a 1W white LED for the license plate light. The standard incandescent bulbs put out 3 cp for tail light and 21 cp for brake light. Each red LED light puts out 36 cp. So that is 72 cp vs 21 cp for the brake light and 36 cp vs 3 cp for the tail light. The 1W white LED puts out 9 cp. Finally note, the 10W LEDs put out only red light unlike the incandescent bulbs which put out white light. The white light is filtered by the red lens reducing the intensity of the light.

I also put Custom LED "bulbs" in my cowl lights. I have some LED "Beads" that are rated at 3.2 volts and 1 watt. I removed the glass and filament from the burned out bulb. Since the LED is rated for 3.2 volts it requires a resistor to work with the 6 volt Model A battery. LEDs do not act linear with respect to voltage, amperage so I had to experiment to get the right resistor for this LED. It turned out the 10 ohms worked out. The 10 ohm resistor allowed the LED to draw 0.8 watts. If I had cranked it up to the full 1.0 watts it might run too hot and burn out. Below are pictures of the modified light bulb and the cowl light on. Can you tell which cowl light has the LED?

08-15-2020, 10:29 AM	#16
Bob Johnson Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: California Posts: 977	Custom LED "Bulbs" I made my own LED tail/brake lights. I used 10W Red LEDs, two for the brake light and one for the tail light. I also installed a 1W white LED for the license plate light. The standard incandescent bulbs put out 3 cp for tail light and 21 cp for brake light. Each red LED light puts out 36 cp. So that is 72 cp vs 21 cp for the brake light and 36 cp vs 3 cp for the tail light. The 1W white LED puts out 9 cp. Finally note, the 10W LEDs put out only red light unlike the incandescent bulbs which put out white light. The white light is filtered by the red lens reducing the intensity of the light. I also put Custom LED "bulbs" in my cowl lights. I have some LED "Beads" that are rated at 3.2 volts and 1 watt. I removed the glass and filament from the burned out bulb. Since the LED is rated for 3.2 volts it requires a resistor to work with the 6 volt Model A battery. LEDs do not act linear with respect to voltage, amperage so I had to experiment to get the right resistor for this LED. It turned out the 10 ohms worked out. The 10 ohm resistor allowed the LED to draw 0.8 watts. If I had cranked it up to the full 1.0 watts it might run too hot and burn out. Below are pictures of the modified light bulb and the cowl light on. Can you tell which cowl light has the LED?