LED Numberplate Lights staying on

[sc00byd00byd00]

Anybody else having this issue.

I initially thought it would just be burning up the residual charge, but checking this morning, the LED lights had been on all night.

 

[simon.m]

sounds like they are shorting out mate could be the led its self or the light holder has got damp some how

 

[sc00byd00byd00]

sounds like they are shorting out mate could be the led its self or the light holder has got damp some how

They have been in a few weeks. and its funny that they are both staying on and not just one of them.

Could be the type of bulbs ??

PAIR C5W 239 272 Festoon 6 LED Number Plate Bulbs B14 on eBay (end time 07-Dec-10 17:10:10 GMT)

 

[simon.m]

maybe badly made ones mate or some thing you can pick them up in halfords i think about 10 pounds ish but they would be better made

 

[sc00byd00byd00]

Never seen LED bulbs in HALFRAUDS ???

 

[simon.m]

they do alot now days mate there are these ones but if you go to there web site and put in car LEDS there is loads

Halfords | Prism LED Festoon

 

[simon.m]

im liking these ones too ;-)

Halfords | Prism LED Puddle Lights

 

[CHRIS555]

I run the Prism Halfords jobbies too - very happy with them......

 

[MDA]

nice
but do they mess with the bulb out warnings ?

 

[simon.m]

would i be wrong in saying that the number plate lights are not covered by the lights out waring

 

[sc00byd00byd00]

Dunno mate ?

 

[quattrojames]

would i be wrong in saying that the number plate lights are not covered by the lights out waring

You would be!

 

[simon.m]

oh well would not be the first time lol

 

[quattrojames]

Or the last ....

 

[simon.m]

of course not james ;-) all though i dont have full DIS so i can be wrong lol

 

[CHRIS555]

The only issue is that my light bulb out warning dash light pops up but as soon as i turn the lights on this goes straight away with no issues what so ever

 

[Turkster]

my LED's are working just fine at the mo, touch wood!

 

[Xmay4444]

I got a number plate bulb out and i aint getting no warnings.

 

[quattrojames]

Is that standard or retrofit DIS?
I ran without my bulbs for a couple of days while I was waiting for the new bulb holder to arrive and got fed up of the warning light!

 

[Woorlord]

I got a number plate bulb out and i aint getting no warnings.

Both need to fail for DIS to register a bulb out warning - have tested this when I did the Reverse Camera mod.
FYI: License plate lights are wired in parallel so the DIS sees both bulbs as one.

 

[sc00byd00byd00]

Both need to fail for DIS to register a bulb out warning - have tested this when I did the Reverse Camera mod.
FYI: License plate lights are wired in parallel so the DIS sees both bulbs as one.

Any idea's Woodlord why my lights are staying on when ignition and lights are turned off ? Is there a current passing round this electrical wiring, all be it a very small one that is the reason the lights are staying on (but dim)

An idea the ebay seller suggested would be to get some slightly more expensive ones that have a load resistor built into them (i.e. no error ones) to only light up when they get the voltage required that would normally light up the standard filament bulbs ?

Does that sound about right ?

If so, i'm contemplating one of the following ?

ERROR FREE 3SMD CANBUS 38mm 272 LED FESTOON BULB on eBay (end time 09-Dec-10 15:44:55 GMT)

239 C5W 272 Dome 36mm LED Festoon no canbus error free on eBay (end time 22-Dec-10 09:12:50 GMT)

However, there are a few other issues with the wiring on mine that may need replacing pending expert opinion if this is contributary to the cause of the lights staying on ??

 

[Woorlord]

An LED only requires 20mA of current to illuminate at a reasonable light level so I guess if there is leakage in the driver circuit to the LED then it is possible they will illuminate very dimly if the driver circuit does not have enough proper load drain to switch off.

Putting a shunt resistor in parallel to the LED's should suck any residual current out of the driver circuit and probably make the circuit switch off properly. A simpler "test" method would be to solder some wires to a working number plate bulb and attach this to the license plate terminals (hide it around the back somewhere taped up) - this will fool the driver circuit in working properly and your LED's should go out when the lights switched off. One bulb should be sufficient. If this works OK we can then get a power resistor to take the place of the bulb for a more permanent solution.

 

[quattro tony]

Strange that one. Ive got some led lamps on mine and they work 100% fine. The only thing i can think of is i had a a3 in the past that the battery kept going flat and eventually i traced it to a faulty light switch which was somehow just putting the number plate lamps all the time engine off and running and draining the battery. I would put a multimeter between the terminals and see what voltage you are getting there and maybe swapping the bulbs back to std just to eliminate a bulb fault.

 

[Woorlord]

.......I would put a multimeter between the terminals and see what voltage you are getting there and maybe swapping the bulbs back to std just to eliminate a bulb fault.

If you measure the in-line current (DVM to Amps or mA) this will give a better indication of what the battery current drain is through the number plate lights. Voltage is not really an issue!

 

[sc00byd00byd00]

An LED only requires 20mA of current to illuminate at a reasonable light level so I guess if there is leakage in the driver circuit to the LED then it is possible they will illuminate very dimly if the driver circuit does not have enough proper load drain to switch off.

Putting a shunt resistor in parallel to the LED's should suck any residual current out of the driver circuit and probably make the circuit switch off properly. A simpler "test" method would be to solder some wires to a working number plate bulb and attach this to the license plate terminals (hide it around the back somewhere taped up) - this will fool the driver circuit in working properly and your LED's should go out when the lights switched off. One bulb should be sufficient. If this works OK we can then get a power resistor to take the place of the bulb for a more permanent solution.

Ok.... say that again in laymans terms........ I'm not very technical when it comes to stuff like this.

Not really into fiddling like that if i'm honest, prefer the plug and play improvments.

Can I not just buy a LED bulb that had all that electronic gubbins already incorporated into it ? Not really bothered if it costs more