door lights acting funny..staying on...
door lights acting funny..staying on...
so long story short,.. picked up some new led bulbs to replace the ones on the doors, they work great,..but when the doors are shut both bulbs remain on yet at about 1/10 the light output compared to an open door,... when 1 led is in one door and a OEM is on the other they work normally,.. im stumped and its dark out.. but guessing something to do with an open/closed circuit such as when you have a burnt out blinker bulb and it blinks fast.. any help/ideas?
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,329
From: South Jersey
I recently put LED in the front doors of my I30 and they go off completely when the doors are shut. Not sure why yours continue to glow. Maybe it has something to do with the LED? Mine have small resistors in the bulbs. Do yours?
thanks guys i knew someone knew more about LED's then i do,.. and im not sure if thereis a resistor in them...but... so are the bulbs basically garbage? due to the fact that they are going to always slightly stay on and drain the battery?,.. will these exact bulbs do this on all locations?
right.. so i have 2 diff kinds,..one was this...http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=
and one was this..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=
..yet,.. i tried both with the same results,.. got frustrated,.. so i tried to stick them in my license plate lights.. and they work great there,.. so can someone point me in the direction of what leds i can get for the doors to avoid this problem... or a solution to the problem
again im not sure if its the bulbs.. they work fine in any other socket just not the doors,.. and when one is paired with an OEM bulb(left and right doors) they operate normally...
HELP
and one was this..
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=
..yet,.. i tried both with the same results,.. got frustrated,.. so i tried to stick them in my license plate lights.. and they work great there,.. so can someone point me in the direction of what leds i can get for the doors to avoid this problem... or a solution to the problem
again im not sure if its the bulbs.. they work fine in any other socket just not the doors,.. and when one is paired with an OEM bulb(left and right doors) they operate normally...
HELP
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 443
From: GA
umm
umm, when i get home from school, i will look at the little packages that mine came in and i will let you know what kind they are...
when i bought mine, i got a pair of blue and a pair of white...i wanted to see what would look better...i liked the white in the doors, and i put the blue ones in the reverse lights...
but i didnt get mine online, if you've got an advnaced auto parts or autozone, pepboys, or something of that nature...just go there...they're cheap..
when i bought mine, i got a pair of blue and a pair of white...i wanted to see what would look better...i liked the white in the doors, and i put the blue ones in the reverse lights...
but i didnt get mine online, if you've got an advnaced auto parts or autozone, pepboys, or something of that nature...just go there...they're cheap..
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,329
From: South Jersey
Check this thread. I listed where I got my bulbs from:
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ht-bulb-s.html
http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ht-bulb-s.html
okay.. so why does this only happen in the doors? and not the trunk/headlight spots where i have them as well..... do i need bulbs with diodes or diodes? lol excuse my ignorance..i do appreciate the help though..
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 497
From: Colorado Springs
I recently put an LED in my dome light and it does the same thing. It's so dim I can't see it in the day, only at night. Even then, it's SOOO dim it doesn't bother me at all. I'm not concerned in the least about the battery being drained either, as LED's use hardly draw anything when they are lit all the way, much less at 1/10th power.
Supporting Maxima.org Member
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 109
I haven't tried LEDs in the interior lights so I have not seen this myself. But I can guess what is going on. The interior lights are not controlled direcly by the pin switches in the door frames, but rather they are switched on and off by the SECU (smart entrance control unit). That uses semiconductor switches, probably transistors, instead of relays, and it is possible for this kind of device to leak a small amount of current. It might be especially temperature-sensitive - again I don't know for sure, but if the residual glow is brighter in hot weather than in cold, that would right in line with the theory here.
When regular incandescent bulbs are installed, the small amount of leakage is not enough to make the filament glow visibly. It is probably getting slightly warm, but you would not ordinarily perceive this. However, unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs glow in direct proportion to the amount of current through them, so even with very low current they would glow slightly. (What you perceive as "1/10 the brightness" is probably more like 1/1000 or less, so the amount of current is very small. Our perception of brightness is logarithmic, so what seems to be 1/2 the brightness is actually about 1/10 the power.)
When you have a mix of LEDs and incandescent on the same circuit, the incandescent bulbs pull the voltage below the conduction threshold of the LEDs. Therefore the LEDs won't glow, and the incandescent filaments don't get enough current for a visible glow. Nonetheless if you put a sensitive ammeter in series with one of the incandescent bulbs, you could probably measure a few microamps. This amount of current won't run down your battery; the self-discharge rate of the battery is many times greater.
You won't see this effect in the taillights or side markers because those are controlled by mechanical switches or relays, so that when the lights are off the current is truly zero.
When regular incandescent bulbs are installed, the small amount of leakage is not enough to make the filament glow visibly. It is probably getting slightly warm, but you would not ordinarily perceive this. However, unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs glow in direct proportion to the amount of current through them, so even with very low current they would glow slightly. (What you perceive as "1/10 the brightness" is probably more like 1/1000 or less, so the amount of current is very small. Our perception of brightness is logarithmic, so what seems to be 1/2 the brightness is actually about 1/10 the power.)
When you have a mix of LEDs and incandescent on the same circuit, the incandescent bulbs pull the voltage below the conduction threshold of the LEDs. Therefore the LEDs won't glow, and the incandescent filaments don't get enough current for a visible glow. Nonetheless if you put a sensitive ammeter in series with one of the incandescent bulbs, you could probably measure a few microamps. This amount of current won't run down your battery; the self-discharge rate of the battery is many times greater.
You won't see this effect in the taillights or side markers because those are controlled by mechanical switches or relays, so that when the lights are off the current is truly zero.
Last edited by imjd; Nov 22, 2008 at 05:46 PM.
I haven't tried LEDs in the interior lights so I have not seen this myself. But I can guess what is going on. The interior lights are not controlled direcly by the pin switches in the door frames, but rather they are switched on and off by the SECU (smart entrance control unit). That uses semiconductor switches, probably transistors, instead of relays, and it is possible for this kind of device to leak a small amount of current. It might be especially temperature-sensitive - again I don't know for sure, but if the residual glow is brighter in hot weather than in cold, that would right in line with the theory here.
When regular incandescent bulbs are installed, the small amount of leakage is not enough to make the filament glow visibly. It is probably getting slightly warm, but you would not ordinarily perceive this. However, unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs glow in direct proportion to the amount of current through them, so even with very low current they would glow slightly. (What you perceive as "1/10 the brightness" is probably more like 1/1000 or less, so the amount of current is very small. Our perception of brightness is logarithmic, so what seems to be 1/2 the brightness is actually about 1/10 the power.)
When you have a mix of LEDs and incandescent on the same circuit, the incandescent bulbs pull the voltage below the conduction threshold of the LEDs. Therefore the LEDs won't glow, and the incandescent filaments don't get enough current for a visible glow. Nonetheless if you put a sensitive ammeter in series with one of the incandescent bulbs, you could probably measure a few microamps. This amount of current won't run down your battery; the self-discharge rate of the battery is many times greater.
You won't see this effect in the taillights or side markers because those are controlled by mechanical switches or relays, so that when the lights are off the current is truly zero.
When regular incandescent bulbs are installed, the small amount of leakage is not enough to make the filament glow visibly. It is probably getting slightly warm, but you would not ordinarily perceive this. However, unlike incandescent bulbs, LEDs glow in direct proportion to the amount of current through them, so even with very low current they would glow slightly. (What you perceive as "1/10 the brightness" is probably more like 1/1000 or less, so the amount of current is very small. Our perception of brightness is logarithmic, so what seems to be 1/2 the brightness is actually about 1/10 the power.)
When you have a mix of LEDs and incandescent on the same circuit, the incandescent bulbs pull the voltage below the conduction threshold of the LEDs. Therefore the LEDs won't glow, and the incandescent filaments don't get enough current for a visible glow. Nonetheless if you put a sensitive ammeter in series with one of the incandescent bulbs, you could probably measure a few microamps. This amount of current won't run down your battery; the self-discharge rate of the battery is many times greater.
You won't see this effect in the taillights or side markers because those are controlled by mechanical switches or relays, so that when the lights are off the current is truly zero.
Thanks man
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