[urq] Maintaining an old Urq

[Todd Phenneger]

Thanks for the info.
On paper I was really liking those 3x1w High power bulbs that you didn't like.  Thanks for the tip.  I'll try out the SMD 18-LED Towers as well then.  

Good Info!

--- On Mon, 6/21/10, Eric J. Fluhr <efluhr at austin.rr.com> wrote:

> From: Eric J. Fluhr <efluhr at austin.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: [urq] Maintaining an old Urq
> To: urq at audifans.com
> Date: Monday, June 21, 2010, 10:18 PM
> I've had several requests for more
> info on the LED lights.
> 
> I used these 18-LED towers for the brake light and front
> and rear blinkers:
> http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F1156-x18-T.htm
> 
> They cost $18 each and I was skeptical, but I now believe
> it was worth the 
> cost.
> I also tried the 45-LED tower, but was hard pressed to see
> a major 
> difference in brightness.
> The website claims the 45-LED bulbs produce 120 lumens vs.
> 90 lumens for the 
> 18-LED tower.
> Perhaps theye work better as the rear driving lights than
> brake lights 
> because more light goes out
> the sides, but I think I would need to follow my car to
> know for sure.  In 
> the future I would
> probably spend the extra $5 just in case they are a little
> brighter.
> 
> I have the old rear taillight cluster, so I used 1156 red
> versions of these 
> for both brake and rear driving
> lights.  I used 1156 Amber for rear blinker and 1157
> Amber for the front 
> blinker/driving light.
> 
> I also bought the LED blinker relay for European
> cars.  The problem I had is 
> that current leakage
> thru the dash light was confusing the relay and causing it
> to click crazily, 
> as well as powering the
> rear blinker LEDs in a "half-on" state when the relay was
> in the "off" 
> position during its blinking
> cycle (that is how little current the bulbs need!). 
> For now I have removed 
> the bulb in the dash and
> everything works great.  Long term I will rewire the
> dash indicator bulb 
> like the hazard, such that
> the terminal not connected to the blinker circuit is ground
> and not 12v 
> instrument cluster power.
> I am also going to use a green LED instead of a bulb.
> 
> BTW, I tried a set of the non-SMD "high-power" 4W 3-LED
> bulbs as brake 
> lights and didn't like
> the results.  The beam was too focused and not
> distinct enough for my taste. 
> These claim 140
> lumens but I really didn't like
> them.   Those bulbs look like this:
> http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F115x-x3X1W.htm
> 
> For the instrument cluster so far, I used various colors of
> this bulb:
> http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2F74-x.html
> I put the white in the high beam and red in several other
> positions (e.g. 
> brake warning).  For some
> reason the red didn't work in the hazard location; I didn't
> have time to 
> troubleshoot why.  I like
> what I have seen so far, but haven't really driven the car
> since I put them 
> in, so I cannot affirm
> them like the 1156 bulbs.
> 
> 
> Later,
> Eric 
> 
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