IML: LED Lamp Units

["Eric" <gearhead@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Christopher,
Thanks for the reply. I'll assume for the moment that you've replaced the 
front turn signal, tail, backup, and license plate bulbs with LED units? 
I've seen LED units w/a grouping of aprox 10 LEDs in use in a friend's 
taillight but they were deemed too dim. They were an inexpensive off the 
shelf item. Can you refer the brand and/or specs of the units you have in 
your '62? I picture them being pretty effective in a '62 tail lamp cone. Are 
there LED units that allow for a seperation of LEDs so that one lamp can act 
like a dual filament bulb for the brake lighting, or do the LEDs simply 
increase in light output? The instant on and off of LEDs has a safety 
quotient in alerting the already awestruck tailgater that the massive 
gunsight tail lamped vehicle ahead of them has just dropped anchor.
Thanks, again.

Eric
Portland, Oregon

**********************************************
Subject: RE: IML: Headlights
From: "Christopher Middlebrook" <delamothe@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri,  1 Oct 2004 08:54:36 -0400 (EDT)
Reply-To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eric
You bring up many excellent points, and I agree with you about the perils of 
increasing the load on our cars from these new lamps.  Especially in the 
case of the generator driven Imperials.
But if it must be done, then a relay is definitely the way to do it 
properly.  There are some very good solid state relays out there that can do 
the job without having to deal with contacts that require cleaning or 
replacing over time.

If anything, the ideal situation is to decrease the current load on the 
charging system for better performance and stability.

(fuel economy too - an alternator at full field will require from 10 to 40 
HP from the motor to turn it depending on its rated output)

This is why I have changed the bulbs on my 62 from incandescent to LED 
based. Aside from having a shorter time constant when turning on 
(Incandescent lamps require a period in time where the filament has to get 
hot enough to glow - LED's light up instantly giving the drivers behind you 
as much as a half second more to react.) LED's reduce the current demand on 
a charging system by 30%.




-----------------  http://www.imperialclub.com  -----------------
This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please 
reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be 
shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the
Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm