hi sages- honestly and with all due respect some of you good folks have to give up being so sensitive. uncle dan always has good info especially about electrical stuff. he has saved me a lot of mistakes and $$$. not planning now to put in these led bulbs, but if a complete assembly which is engineered for the led bulbs comes out i will reconsider. leds do seem to last longer. what my uncle d said about lawsuits is correct. besides look at it this way most auto mechanics and pseudo mechanics like myself do cuss well and learned how to in the garage. so giving up our sensitivity is a tiny price to pay . to you uncle d- keep up the good work. probably going to get a kick in the head for this message but wtf( sorry in advance). paladin

Dan is the man... he knows his stuff, and has helped many, many people on this board. He is truly generous in sharing his knowledge.

That said, I probably wouldn't make him a Greeter at my church.



- Mac

"PLASMAGLOW 1157 LED ACCESSORY LIGHT BULBS, WHITE, SET OF 2 -- DOT approved; Designed to be the brighter, draw less power, and last over 100,000 hours; A high quality, direct fit light bulb set; Typically ships in 1-2 business days; With 10-year Plasmaglow limited warranty."

I have used these in my motorcycles and cars. They say DOT Approved on the packaging...? Made in some foreign land...,so they might be terrorist...or liars!

"DOT approved" is a lie. There is no such thing as "DOT approval", that's not how North American regulations work.

And even if it were, there is no possibility for "LED bulbs" to pass muster. The problem is with the concept -- not with this or that or any other specific variant, configuration, variety, or design.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

just telling you that there are products out there that say they are "DOT Approved". Not that it is true or not. They are much brighter then standard incandescent bulbs though, and vibration doesn't effect them the same.
I'm holding out for the OLED next!

No, they are not. This is an incorrect and dangerous thing to say.
Affect. And that's true of properly engineered LED devices, but not of any of these "LED bulbs".

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

then let me rephrase. IMO, The single 1157 LED bulb I have in my motorcycle taillight is more than twice as bright as (2) 1157 incandesent bulbs at 60 feet away(at night). 1978 R100S BMW. I have tested it, it is brighter, and much more visible.(glow?)

The problem is that you are relying on subjective impressions ("IMO" means "in my opinion"), and that is what makes this dangerous. The safety performance of automotive lighting devices cannot be adequately evaluated by peering at them from any angle or distance. The human visual system is a lousy judge of its own performance; it's very easy to create situations in which we really genuinely feel/think we can see much better or much worse than we actually can. That's why lighting devices are certified not based on what you or I or anyone else thinks they look like from 60 feet away (or whatever), but instead by objective tests for intensity and intensity ratio through a range of horizontal and vertical angles. "LED bulbs" spoil the (objective, actual, real) safety performance of lamps designed for use with filament bulbs -- each and every time. It is dangerous to substitute our subjective impressions, guesses, opinions, and preferences for actual facts, particularly when it involves altering the performance characteristics of equipment that must work correctly in order to do its job of quickly, accurately, and adequately conveying a clear message to those with whom you share the road. There is no room for opinions on this kind of thing, no fuzzy "agree to disagree" is possible. There is one right answer, and it is based on science and facts. Advocating the use of "LED bulbs" is irresponsible; please stop doing it.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Dan- I appreciate your opinion. I am not trying to get everyone to switch to LED's. I am just pointing out the fact that there are 1157 LED bulbs on the market that are listed as being "DOT Approved". I know (IMO) means IN MY OPINION, that's why I wrote it. I switched to LED bulbs(on my motorcycle) from a safety point of view. A few of my friends that I ride with have mentioned how much brighter my taillight is while we are riding at night and in the rain, and the fact that they can tell which bike I am out of a group at a distance.(Glow) I need to clairify one point here, I use the LED bulb on my taillight, not on my Brake light. The taillight is ON constantly and IMO performs better. The brake light needs a filament, as I have another safety feature that lets me know if the bulb is bad, and it will not function with the current LED bulbs.

Ask your friends to stand to either side of the bike and tell you if the taillight is still brighter with the LEDs than with an incandescent bulb.

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Yes, it is brighter on all sides(the glow I mentioned), but I believe that is due to the reflector configuration and not the actual bulb. I plan to install LED's on my Dart, but I am going to convert semi-truck lights for it. I will keep y'all posted.

It may sound like an unquestionably good idea to make the taillight brighter, but doing so usually spoils the intensity ratio between the tail and brake light functions, which greatly reduces the effectiveness of the brake lights. This kind of stuff really can't be guessed at or "improved" piecemeal without usually degrading the safety performance of the whole system.

If you want upgraded safety performance from the rear lamps -- and who doesn't? -- it's much better to build a setup using proper LED light assemblies such as these (the linked ones aren't picked randomly, they're specifically very good). If you can't fit those or don't like them, you could probably fit a group of these:

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

something simular to this:
http://www.digi-tails.com/

Thanks Dan! -Dan

Another variety of noncompliant "We didn't test it to DOT standards but they're real bright" unsafe lights.

_________________
一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.