RazMan

There are a number of us that have been unhappy with the reversing lights on their steeds and I, like many others have tried lots of different LEDs in an attempt to get some more light output. Unfortunately the pesky canbus tries to block any changes so I have now decided on a different approach.

This might not be to everyone's taste as it requires a bit of permanent modification and is irreversible once completed, but I am really chuffed with the result.

I started with buying some rubber T10 bulb holders and some super bright LEDs






Here we go




Remove the back cover



Solder 2 wires onto the busbars to the reversing light - a bit tricky but a good soldering iron and some extra flux helps



Pass the 4 wires through the top vent - the grey cover will prize off with a screwdriver



Drill two suitable sized holes in the reversing reflector to take the new bulb holders - I used a step drill which made the job really quick and easy




Fit the new LED bulb making a watertight seal - you could add a smear of silicone if there is any doubt



Finally refit the cover and solder and heatshrink the wires


The end result is there is now many times the original light output, there are no canbus errors and no load resistors

RSbob

Brilliant. But where did you bring power and ground to the two wires you soldered on?

TomF

Grab a cup of coffee and rethink your question...

RSbob

Not being other than an electric hack myself, when you draw power from the bus bar which powers the original backup light, why doesn’t the new power wires draw even more power and then create error warnings? How do the bus bars isolate this? Do you still use the standard required incandescent bulb to prevent the error? How the h does this work?
Cheers from Kinsale

phatz

L and R
What is total draw?

RazMan

The standard current draw with a 21w bulb is in theory (rounding up) around 2 Amps. The canbus likes this value very much and gets quite upset if it sees anything different - he then starts having hissy fits and swears at everybody. The LED replacement bulb draws a lot less than 2 Amps ........ unless there are THREE of the little blighters - this makes the canbus very happy again and all is well in dashboard land.
So to summarise, there are no changes in current draw, no need to change fuse values, nada - just a LOT of extra light. I reckon about 3000 lumens for each light unit if the manufacturer's claims are correct.

Just returned home tonight and reversed into my usual spot and GOD THESE THINGS ARE BRIGHT! 🙃

Libast

Pics of them being bright? lol

RazMan

Give NASA a call and ask them if the ISS spotted any unusual light activity in the UK around 11:45 tonight 🤓👽

I will try and get a pic later in the week

Libast

Sounds good

deilenberger

Just a clarification - one of the three LED's was installed in place of the original incandescent bulb? Giving you 3X the current draw of a single LED, close enough to the incandescent..?

Think there will be any issue with heating? I realize normally the reverse light won't be left on for long, and LEDs put out much less heat than the incandescent - but still - there may be some considerable heat from them, and if they're located close to the outer clear lens there might be an issue - or not. The two going into the old socket appear to have some heat-sinking on the base, but the T10 ones appear not to have any.

Just wondering - great project BTW.

RazMan

That's right - the original filament bulb is replaced by the LED and they only get slightly warm, especially considering that they are normally only switched on for a few seconds at a time. They are built on an aluminium substrate so radiate any heat very effectively. Also they are not really that close to the lense either.

You can just about see the three LEDs behind the clear lense.

RSbob

Congrats on coming up with the ultimate solution. Looks totally stock but is so totally not. Got to post some night pics

Libast

Awaiting those pics!