The resistor is rated to dissipate up 50 Watts while the original bulb will draw 21 Watts.

The resistor used here is to increase the load current on the circuit to simulate the current draw of a regular bulb since each LED draw very little current (0.020 Amp each) And not knowing the exact connection scheme used in those 24 LED Light bulbs, I can only speculate that they must be using a mix of circuit (Series-Parallel) in 4 strings of 6 LED which would results in a 0.080Amp draw (1.104 Watts) or at worse 6 Strings of 3 LEDS (.020 par string) = 0.120 Amp draw (1.656 Watts)

The major advantages to LED is that they will outlast any filament type bulb.

A little Electricity 101 is in order here;

Everything is based on Ohm's Law

So lets see, the stock bulb is 21 Watts @ 13.8 Volts

The current is 21 Watts divided by 13.8 Volts = 1.52 Amps

The Hot resistance value can be extrapolated from the above by taking the voltage, 13.8 Volts and divided by the current, 1.5217291 Amps to be precise which gives us 9.07 Ohms, or basically 9.0 Ohms.

By my earlier calculation with a 6 Ohms resistor with 13.8 Volts resulted in a current draw of 2.3 Amps and a power dissipation of 31.74 Watts in heat or roughly 50% more then the stock bulb.

The best resistor value according to the Stock bulb information above would be 9 Ohms (9.1 Ohms is a standard Value) with at least a 40 Watts rating.

Best regards

frenchnew

 

So, what did you end up doing.

I got my 15LEDs and resistors, but my car is still not back in one piece the way I want it, so I will put the LEDs when I will finalize all the other projects hopefully next week.
In the meantime, wanted to check back with you on your final set-up.

Regards, Mark.

 

I finally received my LEDs, but I think it's pointless to install them... I'd rather find some PIAAs but 7443, but I guess they don't make them? Maybe the Silverstars? Has anyone tried the Silverstars on our car??

 

why do you think it is pointless?

 

Well, everybody's telling me that the LEDs aren't bright at all. I've already experienced bad bulbs with the ones I bought off eBay. At this point, I'd rather just find some bulbs that are bright and easy to install.

 

I guess, I will take my chances and install mine since I already bought them anyway. I will either be happy or prove everyone else right

 

Before you do the whole resistor thing, I would try them without the resistors just to see the brightness. BTW: which ones did you get? I bought mine at Velocity LEDs. Once you try them out, please let me know how bright they are, I'm really curious. You can safely try them without resistors, they'll just flash super fast.

 

That is where I got mine. Did you get the 15 or 24?

 

Mark,
My current set up is with the 24LED jobs. Been that way for about four months and working fine. I would stay with the 15LED ones. They don't have the yellow band and look better (IMHO). I will probably swap mine out when I get the car back. I had a little run in with a 90lb Pit Bull going 70MPH. I must say that the car did much better than the dog. My front bumper shattered and the intake was crushed. Not as bad as it looks.



KBOM

 

i have mine blink a mile a minute cuz its annoying lol

 

WOW! Sorry to see your car like that.

What I would like is for them to illuminate hyper white (kind of like xenon) when on, but blink yellow. Is it possible? Or is it always yellow when on with the 15 LED. How is the 24 LED?

 

mark,

Did you try out your LEDs to see how bright they are?

 

No, I am waiting when I will be putting my bumper back on it which should be this weekend or beginning of next. It is a long story, but the car has been apart of about a month.

 

OK, well, I received mine yesterday, so I guess I'll pop in one side to see how bright it is and compare with the other side which has the crappy bulbs I bought off eBay. Too bad PIAA doesn't make 7443s, that would be perfect judging by the pictures someone posted earlier in the thread.

 

PIAA does make 7443's but not LED. I bought Hyper White for $15. They come in blue color bulb but the color is white when you turn it on. For my experience, they don't look so bright, but I can't really judge it because I don't have 7443's from different brand to compare. I took out the amber part when I cleared and blacked my headlights and it's possible to cause the front turn a bit dimmer?

 

I just finished the install on mine. I love it. Looks good. It may not be as bright as stock bulbs, but I think it is bright enough not to get in trouble.

I took some pics of the resonator position.

Actually, they are pretty bright when only the blinker is on. With the light on, the blinker is not as bright, but you can still see it fine.

Catch ya later as I am going to put my car back into one piece after a month. While I am in the working mode, I will also replace my clear bra with the newest 3M Scotchgard HIGH PERFORMANCE film.

Mark.

 

He was referring to the PIAA Mirror Orange bulbs.

 

Bout damn time! Where's the pictures? Like I said, it may not be as bright as stock.....but good enough to get the job done. Put that thing together and let it be seen.

KBOM

 

Yeah I'd love to see pictures too.

Does anyone have a REAL GOOD solution for this? One that doesn't require resistors? One that has non-amber bulbs that turn amber when on but are bright?

 

If you don't mind losing the clearance lights, you can always use the 7440 PIAA Mirror Orange bulbs. I know people that installed 7440 instead of 7443, because they rather have the light only on when it's blinking as opposed to them being used as parking lights as well.

 

Oh I definitely don't need parking lights... The sidemarkers light up on the car which is good enough for me. Maybe I'll do that. Anyone have a good source for them?

 

Actually, he is referring to the Hyper White. I have the same ones too. I like them when they are lit, but do not like the blue when they are not. It kind off looks distracting (too busy).

 

I just got mine at a local autoparts store (Baxter's Auto Parts). They didn't have them in stock in the store, but they did at their warehouse. If you have them order it in the morning, they can have it by the afternoon. At least they did with me.

I don't know if it's just the dealer here, but the local Toyota dealership runs a speed-shop, that carries the full line of PIAA bulbs as well.

 

I know. It is about time.

I will do it over the weekend. I have a big project going on for one of the dealers, so I had to put my car back together and now I am swamped for few day. (it is past midnight and I just got back home and leaving at 6:00 a.m. - no complaining though). And also, it is hard to capture anything/ the real difference with a still pic.

Anyways, have a great night,

Mark.

 

I have a REAL GOOD solution. It requires resistors though. Put the LEDs in and enjoy. They are bright enough and they look awasome.

 

hehehe. I'll definitely try them on for brightness this weekend. Then I'll make my decision.

 

Ok, sorry for slacking.

I put in the 9 LED bulbs with resonators after clearing the lights.

Here are the pictures:

The resonators are screwed in with self-tapping screws. Here is the position of the resonators:




Project completed. The lights are on:


The blinker is on with lights off:


Let me know what you think,
Mark

 

Hard to tell the brightness... they definitely aren't as bright as the stock bulbs with the stock orange filter... ARGH And on my lights, brightness is a bit more important cuz I've blacked out all the chrome pieces in there.

BTW: Those are resistors. Not resonators... just for future reference.

I didn't get a chance to put my LEDs in this weekend. SO busy. I'll try them soon though.

 

I don't know what I was thinking. I guess just tired from the weekend work.

 

Mark, it looks like you and I had the same idea. I took it a step further and ordered the LED's in orange. I have had these installed for about a week now and I really like it. The light illumination looks identical to yours. It has a stronger view from the front, but a more subtle cleaner look from the side. Resistors also installed.

Blinker ON


Blinker OFF


LED fixture


Outside in a dark area

 

invincible,

Do you mind letting us know where you got the LEDs?

 

Not at all. I changed mine out with the bumber installed.

I purchased them from: http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm

I tried a different LED model since I heard of others complaining about brightness from the side:

Light Tower (US Patent Pending)

16 Wide Angle Oval LEDS

These Bulbs have Advanced Patent Pending Control Circuitry Found in no Other LED Bulbs

These are the most advanced led bulb assemblies ever produced.

8 high flux side facing LEDS

8 forward facing LEDS

 

Wow, looks awesome... I bought the original silver coated bulbs from autolumination and they sucked. That's what is in my car now... maybe this is THE solution. Did you also buy the resistors from automlumination? 6ohm right?

 

I bought the resistors from the Ebay source:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LED-L...4181QQtcZphoto

Not sure if they are the same or not as autoilluminations.

The problem with these LED's is that they are a bit more expensive, but i took a chance.

 

The LEDs are pretty expensive... argh. Oh well, we'll see if the ones I have now are bright enough. If not, I'll consider the light towers.

 

how do the towers look like when they are off? i like the way the regular LEDs look like. not sure if the towers would give you the cool LED look. or, do they???

 

It just hurts to have to fork out another $23 for LEDs and $10 for resistors + shipping... ARGH

 

Hey guys,

I had nothing to yesterday and I went to Autozone. I found regular 7443's bulb in amber for $6. It's just too bad that photobucket is down. I'm going to post the picture probably tomorrow. The brightness isn't that bad, it does have a smaller watt compare to our stock bulbs or my xtreme white PIAA bulbs. I bet if I keep the amber reflector, it would have been brighter. or do you think because I black out my headlights. I posted a thread before about the brightness of my headlights, it seems less brighter after I blacked out my headlights. Well, I compare it to my friend IS300, his headlights definitely brighter and whiter than mine. Any comments?

 

You cant really see them. The line that goes across the headlights blocks it out. I guess Im not cool anymore. Im not too sure how cool im suppose to look. But honestly, you cant tell unless you stare really hard and know what you are looking at.

 

invincible,
Thanks for posting that. I was curious what the towers looked like. Not sure I want to buy another set of fricking bulbs though.
KBOM