Hot Hot courtsey lights

[polara10x500]

Ok guys, Almost a year ago I found these LEDs and I bought 3 because I knew I had two in the back seat that were the same, the one in the front lower dash in the middle was easy to get to so I replaced it. This is a 69 Polara by the way, these #90 bulbs have got to be the hottest bulbs in this car's whole interior, I think. The lower dash bulb before I replaced you could not put your hand on it after 30 sects it was that hot. Now I know that normally the door is only open for a short time, or you cut courtesy's on temporally looking for something or for someone to find something but GD those bulbs heat up. I can't believe my light lenses in these 3 locations look as good as thay do after all these years. These LEDs are exact replicas in shape size bayonet base and glass globe as #90 incandescent. I'm sure a lot of you all know about these already but I have to say the heat reduction and amperage draw numbers do not lie. Yes, I love original, but I like upgrades too. And this has got to be a positive.

 

[bnz84]

What is interesting about these is that most if not all the 12v leds say that they are dimmable, which usually is not the case. The dash #194 bulbs are this way too. mmmm

 

[CBODY67]

I do not know how many of those 2dr rear seat courtesy light lenses I've seen, over the years, which exhibited "hot spots" in their center areas near the bulb. Well before, even, LED displays on electronic hand-held calculators even existed.

ALL light bulbs build heat as it's that "heat" which results in the light emissions from the bulb's filament(s) Even LEDs. Look on the backside of an LED headlight bulb and you'll see a little cooling fan back there! As the smaller bulbs do not usually have them.

NOW that you've gotten many LED-advocates'/users' attention, get an IR heat gun and check the temperature in the bulb socket. I found a YouTube video of some #3157 bulb tests a year or so ago. With the normal #3157 bulb lit up, the socket's temperature was just over 300 degrees F. Which tended to explain the large number of GM pickups with the rh drl not working. When that bulb was removed, the socket was usually darkened from the heat. Which also tended to explain why most GM/Delco replacement bulb sockets (for tail lights and such) usually came with a tan "grease" in them when new, which obviously was also used as a heat sink to get the heat away from the socket for best longevity.

Additionally, the "load adapters" for LED signal llights also get that hot, too, so care must be made to not attach them to easily-flammable mounting points.

Just because LEDs are more energy efficient does not mean that automotive application LEDs do not get hot. But, apparently, they do not get any hotter than normal incandescent bulbs do in these applications.

Just some observations,
CBODY67

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

Agreed - I replaced some with LEDs a few years ago...

 

[fury fan]

What is interesting about these is that most if not all the 12v leds say that they are dimmable, which usually is not the case. The dash #194 bulbs are this way too. mmmm

Likely most of them are dimmable if a PWM dimmer is used.
Some can be dimmed a little by reducing voltage (via a rheostat) but then they turn off when they hit their lower threshold for input voltage.

These are PWM, the tan box-type has been around for some years, the touch-type are newer technology.

As for building heat:
I don't think the LEDs themselves are making the heat, or not much of it anyway. It is the electronics driving the LEDs that are putting off most of that heat. And as LEDs get brighter, they require more current, which is the reason many higher-output LEDS have heatsinks built into them.

Over 10 years ago, before all the old-school bulbs were readily available in LED, I hacked some LED stringlights into the floodlight illumination on this car. They will dim a bit via the rheostat but really need a PWM. With all the new LEDs out there, I might convert it back to using #194-type bulbs. I bought some of the bottom bulbs recently for some Autometer gages, (they provide sideways light to go around the gage mechanisms) and the green is not very strong vs the stringlights. Although it's all kinda silly as I cannot remember the last time I drove this car at night!

 

[polara10x500]

The sockets for the backseat courtesy's have the little finger clips around the socket and it pushes into a metal box shaped shroud? blinder? Not sure what to call it, but its part of the light lens and seems fairly robust compared to other fixtures in the car and didn't seem to get as hot as the one in the front lower dash. Anyway, very interesting how these cars were built back then, the hardest part was getting the two screws under the armrest back in correctly which mine were not! The back screws on both sides were there but not attached, guess they gave up. Almost gave up myself when I knocked loose the screw clip and it fell to the bottom under and behind the lift cylinder! Long screwdriver and a piece of double-sided tape and I was back in business. Clip was bent so it would not stay in place, another unusual piece of engineering here also. Whew, all back together correctly and I'm happy with the results. My FSM was not much help, or I just missed it somehow in the book. Another little detail done, on to the next, seatbacks and hinge covers. Thanks to all for input on this thread I always learn something.

 

[Gerald Morris]

One should check the power rating on even LEDs. If they still draw current, are rated for higher power, then higher heat will result. I have cool running LEDs in all the interior stuff in my ride, but run some higher Zoot!* sorts for the sidemarkers, as I like plenty light from those and the turn signals.

Hmm, I might even risk a little more heat from my discourtesy lights. Let's see how some higher luminescence models work....

* Zoot! is one of those Ultra Secret Scientific units I learned in uWave Spectroscopy over several summers. Like the finer measurements based on differing colors of pubic hairs and such, I can't tell the Un-Initiated more w/o then having to kill them....