Know of a LED compatable replacement flasher/relay for 2006 Sonata?

[Douglas G. Cummins]

Actually it's inconceivable that this could ever be done. The
filaments used in the signal bulbs are helical coils which emit into a
volume (not surface emitters) and this does matter in the optical
design. You can't just replace them with a round cylinder of
semiconductor material and get the same results So instead you would
need to find a way to coil the semiconductor material and then somehow
imitate the varying temperature of the inside and outside of the coil,
and the change in output from the center to the ends of the coil to get
the same output distribution. Not gonna happen.

The reason I hedged my statement is that it is conceivable that an LED
based substitute for the coil may be created. For instance, a
fiberoptic light pipe to a cylindrical lens the dimensions of the
filament (more than likely placing the LED source outside the lamp
making it really a light pipe bulb replacement). Theoretically possible
but just not practicable nor really justifiable at this point in time.
I don't see it happening though.

 

[Paul Hovnanian P.E.]

[snip]

If someone came up with an aftermarket tail light assembly that used LED's -
for example the aftermarket LED trailer light assemblies that are used for
boat trailers are DOT approved - I'm sure it would work well. The problem
with retrofits is that LEDs don't have the same pattern of light as the
original lamps. Consequently, the light output of the assembly has to be
wrong because the light source is not where it is designed to be. An 1157
makes unidirectional light. It radiates 407 lumens in all directions from an
area of approximately .1 inch x .25 inches. I know of no LED that does that.

I've seen aftermarket taillight assemblies* that use LEDs. Installing
them involves replacing the entire taillight assembly, not just sticking
in an LED assembly in the existing lamp socket.

* I don't know if they are approved units, but they appear to be
configured similarly to LED-based taillights provided on other models as
original equipment.

 

[Kiran Otter]

Holy cow. I never thought my question would spark such a discussion!

Here's the LED bulbs I bought: http://tinyurl.com/nzxrn

I want to note, nowhere do they mention this bulb as being DOT approved
or not, or for off-road/show use only. I think that's a big mistake on
their part.

Initially I meant them for the turn signals on my motorcycle. But it was
immediately obvious they did not function as well as the incandescent
1073 bulbs, so I decided to try them in the rear turn signals of my 2006
Sonata.

With one LED installed on one side, and the stock incandescent in the
other.. I ran the hazard flasher and stood behind the car to compare
them. I then moved the car into the street and walked a ways away.. I'd
say 3 city blocks, though there's no 'blocks' here. I found the LED to
be much more 'obvious', and didn't have that lazy attack/decay that the
incandescnet has. The LED was also a brighter color of amber. Do they
work as well in snow, fog, rain, direct sunlight? I didn't go that far to
test. I put the old bulb back in, and started researching the flasher,
which led to my original post.

And I'm all about safety, I ride a motorcycle. What everyone's said
about the DOT specs and safety is completely right. It wasn't my
intention to defeat the safety of the rear turn signals. I only bought
these things and now had no use for them, and given my little test, they
looked reasonably acceptable in my Sonata.

And not to be funny, but the bit about the flasher being responsible for
alerting you to a burned out bulb; I do a walk-around on my vehicles
routinely. I have a 2001 Sante Fe and the side marker lights chronically
burn out, yet nothing brings that to my attention. And I drive a lot for
work, and see cars with one, two or all brake lights out, or cars with
those stupid clear aftermarket light housings that look like someone is
shining a flashlight through them from the trunk when they step on the
brakes. Not long ago, Florida stopped inspecting vehicles, which I think
was a terrible idea. But anyway, my point is.. if you're going to meddle
with the safety aspect of something on a vehicle, you have to be
responsible for it, and if the flasher no longer warns of a bulb being
out, I'd see it when I do my walk-around. (I picked that habit up from
flying.)

Anyway, thanks for all the information. It's better to be safe than
sorry.

Kiran

 

[Co1024]

Something to be acutely aware of when replacing standard lamps with LEDs is
that if someone hits you - even a rear end collision - it will likely be
chargeable against you if the person points out that your rear lights
weren't working correctly, and it gets looked into. Every LED replacement
lamp I have looked at says "for off road use only". There's a good reason
for this, and it's because the reflector assembly is designed for the light
pattern emitted by the specified lamp. The brake, etc. lamps on vehicles
that come from the factory with LEDs are designed for DOT specified
photometry using LEDs. Nowhere on that page that you provided did it say
that the LED replacement lamps were DOT approved. Also, changing the flasher
from the factory one that is indicating a failed lamp because of the lack of
load is a bad idea, as you will be eliminating another safety function that
is supposed to warn you that something is wrong with your turn signals.

You dont feel the bigger problem with using an electronic relay versus bimetal that is load dependent to be the problem? If a bulb does out on bimetal the rate of flashing will change alerting one the the failure. Most LED lights emit in a wide enough angle that the reflector is not an issue.