Melted taillight boards and LED replacements

[Crunch]

I'm posting this for a friend who has on '03. Like many of us, he's replaced the lamp board for the rear taillights, brake and backup lamps. He's got a melted brake lamp he needs to deal with, but already has a new replacement board. When he was at Walmart he say that he could get a 2-pack of the Sylvania replacement lamps for $5, but also saw that he could get a single LED replacement for $15. That's about half the cost of a new board, and he was wondering if the lower current draw with an LED lamp would end once and for all the problem of these boards melting. His logic is that the brake lamp kills the board because it has two filaments--one for the running lights which are always on at night, and another for the brake light which is on as long as the pedal is depressed. The turn signal and backup lamps are on intermittently or occasionally, by comparison. Is his logic sound that it is worth it in the long run to go with the LED replacement?

 

[Prairie Dog]

If you want to go LED, change the light fixture. If you just put LED's in those old housings you'll get minimal, very directional lighting. They wont perform anything like stock.

 

[mwilson]

Here's my take on what MAY be happening...

According to my quick research this morning..

2003 Ram calls for a 3057 replacement bulb. Bright side Candlepower is 32. Dim side Candlepower is 2..

Now most people are going to go to Wally World or wherever and I can pretty much guarantee they will come out with a 2 pack of 3157 bulbs because it looks the same and probably Wally World didn't have any 3057 bulbs..

3157 AND 4157 specs are .. Bright side Candlepower is 32. Dim side Candlepower is 3!!!

That's what is melting the boards....

Same thing with the 168 bulb that Dodge uses, 3 Candlepower. In confined spaces like a plate light housing where the heat doesn't dissipate well and the plate light is buried under snow and ice the socket will start to melt. In that event I use a 194 bulb which is 2 Candlepower..stops the problem.

Just my opinion....

 

[jjdiesel]

Mr Wilson....awesome research...thank you!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Here's my take on what MAY be happening...

According to my quick research this morning..

2003 Ram calls for a 3057 replacement bulb. Bright side Candlepower is 32. Dim side Candlepower is 2..

Now most people are going to go to Wally World or wherever and I can pretty much guarantee they will come out with a 2 pack of 3157 bulbs because it looks the same and probably Wally World didn't have any 3057 bulbs..

3157 AND 4157 specs are .. Bright side Candlepower is 32. Dim side Candlepower is 3!!!

That's what is melting the boards....

Same thing with the 168 bulb that Dodge uses, 3 Candlepower. In confined spaces like a plate light housing where the heat doesn't dissipate well and the plate light is buried under snow and ice the socket will start to melt. In that event I use a 194 bulb which is 2 Candlepower..stops the problem.

Just my opinion....

Mine failed with the stock bulbs in them. I had never replaced them.
FWIW, I took mine apart and couldn't find anyplace where they had "metled". I suspect the problem is more of a lousy connection with the so-called circuit boards that degrades over time.

 

[Crunch]

Mine failed with the stock bulbs in them. I had never replaced them.
FWIW, I took mine apart and couldn't find anyplace where they had "metled". I suspect the problem is more of a lousy connection with the so-called circuit boards that degrades over time.

The first time mine failed it was with the original lamps, also. But since then I've had to replace the light boards a few times, and can't remember which lamps I replaced them with.

 

[Ozymandias]

Just LED installation will give a permanent ding and lamp out indicator.
Installed LED with proper resistors will pull the same amount of watts as incandescent and therefore heat as them.

So, my opinion, no change for the better through LED, just more expensive.

 

[Crunch]

Just LED installation will give a permanent ding and lamp out indicator.
Installed LED with proper resistors will pull the same amount of watts as incandescent and therefore heat as them.

So, my opinion, no change for the better through LED, just more expensive.

I pointed the guy to this thread and I think the responses here and what he found elsewhere have turned him away from the LED replacements. He also said he found a lot of stuff through a Google search about LED for the brake lights causing serious computer malfunctions/shorts, though I haven't seen what he found and have no idea how LED lights can damage the ECM or other on board computers, at least in the 2003 models.

Over the years I've considered LED replacements for both the headlights and dash/HVAC lights, but ultimately decided to stick with the standard bulbs. I thought that dash/HVAC LED's would be too bright, and have read a lot over the years how LED headlights do not melt snow and ice from the clear covers the way halogen lights do. To me, that would be both aggravating and dangerous.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I replaced then entire assemblies with DOT approved LED units and they've worked out great! They have resistors built in so no lamp out warnings.

 

[AHutson]

Another thing to also keep in mind with LED's is they do get hot at their bases, so they need some heat sinking help in that area on conversions. I did do LED taillights in my 2001 before I sold it, used them for reverse lamp bulbs and turn signal bulbs too. I used Anzo products and they were ok, not the most perfect fit. Ozymandias is correct, the truck will think a bulb is out unless the computer can have it's programming for that changed or use resistors. I will say backing up in the dark was MUCH easier with them as reverse bulbs. Much more light for seeing things in the mirrors with. If you do go with them for dash lights make sure to get good ones rated for variable voltage, otherwise they won't work if they don't have the exact voltage they need to turn on. I can say from experience at work with them as tail and marker lights on the trailers and covering them in snow they will cut through it and still be visible when a halogen won't.