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| Durango_Boy | Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
 
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I have my side markers, which are dual intensity 1157 style bulbs, wired in direct parallel to the front signal bulbs, which are also dual intensity 1157 bulbs. When I test them on the bench, both sets of lights work. However, in the car, the markers do not light on the side when the front low intensity lights. Both sides mimic each other and it's quite confusing.
I began testing the wires and bulbs and sockets. I found that if I introduced voltage into the high intensity side that voltage bled over into the low side, but not the other way around. My first thought was the old plug I used that matched the stock harness. However, I tested it down to the bulb itself and found that when the high side got voltage the low side saw the same voltage, seemingly leaked from inside the bulb. I guess I want to know if that is common for all 1157 style bulbs. Is voltage supposed to leak over? I thought they were supposed to be separate. Is this a symptom of how a dual intensity LED is supposed to work? I don't have an incandescent bulb handy to test so I don't know if those leak over as well. Once I get that squared away I can get back into why they work when tested on the bench and why they won't work in the car. The side lights do hit high intensity with the signals but not the low intensity of the parking light circuit. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/13 14:55
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| Raphiki | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Hi Matt,
When the bulbs are at low intensity do all the LED's light or only some to them? |
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Posted on: 2009/4/13 18:06
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
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Quote:
I wired the low intensity side of the markers in parallel with the low intensity sides of the front and rear signals, yet NONE of the side markers light in low intensity even though the fronts do. I can bench test them all day long but when they are on the car they do not light. I think it's because voltage feeds back through the bulbs and in the car that keeps the lows from lighting, and on the bench it doesn't matter. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/13 18:35
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| 400hp427vette | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Senior Guru
 
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test the voltage at the bulb source when you are in low intensity. It could be there is not enough draw with in the low intensity setting.
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 0:24
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
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I unplugged and checked the source plug in both functions and had almost 13V for both parking lights and signals. Voltage was great. I ran alternate grounds too and re-tested. I found something new that I created a thread about that I had a previous owner who ran a dedicated brake light wire...which it seems there isn't one of from the stock harness. I'm thinking this is a source of some problems as well, but it won't solve the reason why there is voltage bleed between the high and low intensity of the LEDs. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 0:30
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| 400hp427vette | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Senior Guru
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I don't know anything about the voltage bleed. What I was trying to express before is some lamps have a min wattage draw and if other lamps are drawing more in a parallel run the electricity may pass right by the lower drawing lamps because the energy draw is greater at another source. Can you temp it out in a series circuit? This would confirm what I am trying to explain.
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 1:45
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Oh I see what you mean. I can sure try that. The odd part is when I test just the one bulb. I put 12V to the low side of the bulb and the high side tests at 0. If I put voltage to the high side, I get between 8V and 10V on the low side...which should have nothing and that means voltage is bleeding from the high side to the low side internally in the LED bulb. I found and tested an incandescent bulb and no such bleed exists. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 2:40
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| 400hp427vette | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Senior Guru
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Hmm that bleeding is weird. Could it have something to do with the lamp in the way it seats in the socket? Just a thought
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 3:00
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
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I tested it out of the socket, on the bench, using the the raw bulb, a bench test car battery, and my trusty tester. I used an old bulb as a constant and several different 1157 LED bulbs. All the LEDs bled from high to low but not the other way around. No wiring, just raw test terminals on contacts. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/14 9:55
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| Matatk | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Can you put some type of in-line resistor to control the bleeding from going to the other lights?
Matthew |
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Posted on: 2009/4/15 11:40
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_________________
2002 EBM convertible, Magnusson supercharger, cam, headers, etc. 1989 Corvette...RIP |
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
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Eventually i might have to do that. A one way 'gate' of sorts that will keep power going in but not out. The problem is that the hazards use the lights differently and I have to make sure it won't cause issues. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/15 22:02
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| Raphiki | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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That's what I was trying to get at. I was wondering how the bulbs changed brightness. Are all the LED's lighted at high intensity and only some at low intensity. If so that may the reason for the bleed back since the LED's don't have different filaments to light.
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Posted on: 2009/4/16 1:11
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| dstaley | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Do you suppose the voltage is carrying over from one circuit to the other through the harness rather than through the bulb?
If you can, try disconnecting the front clip harness at the firewall and try your tests again. I'll bet you find the interconnection between bright and dim circuits are somewhere inside the "cab". |
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Posted on: 2009/4/19 2:42
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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I know for sure it's the bulbs, I tested them bare without a socket, with my test wires touching the bulb can and contacts directly. I actually first tried the harnesses first, then finally testing the bulbs all by themselves. |
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Posted on: 2009/4/19 2:58
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| dstaley | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Can you check the bulb- with it out of the car, what do you get when you measure the resistance between each of the three bulb contacts (without the harness connected to the bulb)?
Are there any schematics available online? |
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Posted on: 2009/5/7 3:11
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Elite Guru
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I haven't checked the resistance per bulb yet, but that's something I was planning. I know some of the LEDs are bleeding voltage from the high side to the low side, and I may install some one-way resistors to keep the power from bleeding backward which may be causing some problems. |
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Posted on: 2009/5/7 22:10
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| dstaley | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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What's a one-way resistor? Do you mean a diode?
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Posted on: 2009/5/8 1:51
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| Durango_Boy | Re: Tracking Down Marker Problems. | ||
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Yeah, sorry, wasn't thinking clearly. |
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Posted on: 2009/5/9 0:08
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