Trouble with LED Fog Lamps

[vt_maverick]

Thanks Grif, that makes a lot of sense. I didn't have the lamps on when I turned the key, so I don't think it's a surge due to that. I'm going to do my due diligence this morning and stop by Advance/Auto Zone to have them check the alternator just to make sure it's not going bad. And your thoughts on the 12V source test are what I thought too; if the bulb is already damaged, what's that going to prove?

A bit of good news (for now): when I got up this morning I pulled both bulbs, and for S&G's reversed the terminals in each lamp. It didn't do anything for the flashing LED, but for the dim LED (driver's side) it immediately returned to full illumination. I say "for now" because it was also at full illumination two nights ago when I first installed it in the reverse position.

I agree with you that no matter what an equalizer sounds like a good idea, although I'm not a fan of splicing wires to do it. I think that I'm going to write another email casting serious doubt over their excuses, then suggest that if they'll send me a replacement bulb, I'll buy one of their equalizers and pay for shipping. I figure that puts them out what, maybe $5 at most? Seems to make good business sense to me.

Has anyone had success in getting them to replace burned out bulbs at all? Just wondering what kind of push back I can expect.

[tom4bren]

Ash,

If you have a Scan Guage, set it to display the voltage. I believe that the Scan Guage will react quicker to voltage changes than any cheapo multimeter that you would use. The only issue with that though is that you won't be able to read the voltage changes during engine start. You said that you didn't turn the lights on until the VX was already running anyway.

It sounds to me as if the lights are a poor design. They should have be manufactured with pull down resistors already included.

Vehicle power is notoriously 'dirty'. Even with the voltage regulator. 24V Vehicle Power Conditioners (VPC) are common on modern military vehicles due to the amount of electronics they now run. I don't think that there are commercial 12V VPCs available though.

You can do that test that they mentioned without removing the lights from the vehicle. Just disconnect the power lead and connect it to a wire directly from the battery.

Another note: since LEDs do react much quicker to voltage changes than incandecent bulbs, it's a good idea to always solder all of the connections rather than just pigtailing & taping them.