LED break light 1157 bulbs

[Tonyvdb]

I picked up a couple LED 1157 bulbes for the break lights but they only light up the running light so when I apply the break they do not get brighter. Is that also because of the low current draw?

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

I'm not sure which 1157 you got and don't want to make assumptions so just a question first.
There are MANY styles of led bulbs and two things to keep in mind:
1st - match the color of the bulbs to the color of the lenses. White leds will wash out the color of a lens and appear simply as a white light. Use red leds for brake lights and you're sure to get illumination in red color so you remain legal.
2nd - think about the application.....leds shine direct light so a bulb the has leds facing in only one direction will NOT properly illuminate a light bucket if the bulb leds aren't pointed in the direction you want the bulb to show. See the images below, both are 1157 leds but the first one won't be as effective in our Voyager XII's as the second one would be due to the multi-directional leds.



Hope this helps some!

[chevyman1]

Also you want to use SMD LED'S with at least 800 lumens.
any less then that and they won't show up in the daytime very well

The links below is what I put in mine and they work great.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJE ... UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJD ... UTF8&psc=1

[Tonyvdb]

Thanks for your replies guys, I purchased these one here:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00EZGZ ... UTF8&psc=1

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

Gosh, I'm at a loss. The link for the strobe/flash brake bulbs you bought look good but nowhere does it indicate the total lumens so I'm not sure if its that or not!

FYI -- SMD simply means that the diodes are "Surface Mount Diodes" ( no wire leads passing thru a circuit board, but flush mounted instead).

[chevyman1]

The SMD's are not as bulky as the other type and they seem to be brighter

[Tonyvdb]

I took one of them out and just let it hang there while my daughter pulled the break leaver and they did not get any brighter or flash as they should. I guess the $ I payed was too little I wil look at something more expensive.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

It may not necessarily have to cost you more, just look around and ask the seller a few questions if the data/info isn't readily available in the ad. Stinks when good money is spent on something bad! Is there any warranty or money back from the seller?
Amazon is usually real good with that, try them and see if you can get a refund.

[SgtSlag]

Did you try pulling the bulbs, rotating them 90-180 degrees, and re-inserting them? They have two contacts on the bottom, and sometimes they get inserted out of alignment, such that one contact is left floating, never making a connection, so you only get one light functioning (a standard 1157 has two filaments; in the described situation, one filament never connects to any current, so it never lights up). Easy to try, only will cost you a few minute's worth of effort. Cheers!

[Tonyvdb]

Unfortunately the 1157 bulbs have two offset pins so they can only be inserted the one way. I could try filing them down so that I can place it in differently.

[Mr Jensee]

Plus the fact that they are diodes which mean that they pass electricity only in one direction. Put them in backwards and they don't light.

[Tonyvdb]

Ok, so this is what I have figured out so far, I've tried two different LED 1157 bulbes and it seems that the two positive 12v lines are reversed on the Voyager. Makes no difference for an incandescent bulb as it simply lights the other filament anyhow but with an LED bulb this does not function right meaning the "park circuit" is lighting what is the break light setting on the LED bulb.
Has anybody also seen this?

[Mr Jensee]

This could have occurred on the assembly lines back when the bike was built. As you said, the incandescent bulbs don't care which direction the voltage flows. However they did not have LEDs back then for lighting so it was not critical to the install. You will probably have to swap the wiring around on those plugs for the new lights to work.

[chevyman1]

The 2 wires that go to the pins are both 12+ so it doesn't matter if they are switched the bulb should still light on each pin.
I had a similar problem with the front running/turn signal lights, the turn signals would work fine but the running lights would not light with the LED bulbs in.
I unplugged the socket from the harness applied 12 to both + wires and the bulbs worked fine plugged into the harness they would not work.
Had 12 volts at the harness everything was right but the bulbs would not work, tried another set of bulbs same thing.
Now the mystery I tried the bulbs last spring again and they worked fine.
The only thing I did was over the winter I swapped out the CB with a new one that I got.
So I don't know if the old CB was doing something to keep the LED's from working or moving the wires fixed it.
From what I understand there is some kind of circuitry in the bulbs that may be interfered with.
After saying all that you probably don't know anymore then you did before