I picked up a set of these (LINK) cool LED blinkers to try out.

They shine white at a color temperature of about 6000k, which is a very true white with just a very slight tinge of blue, almost not noticeable. However, the cool part is, when you turn on your blinker, the white turns off, and you get standard amber blinkers! Very cool and definitely a unique look.

Now unfortunately, because I have incandescent bulbs the color temperature does not match up at all, and makes my headlights look yellow! (In the picture the LEDs look very blue, but they do not look like this in person.)

Also, they do need a resistor installed, and I believe that this MAY even eliminate the return of the white light between blinker flashes. When I saw these demonstrated to me there was a delayed return to white after the blinker turned off. This was to make sure that when the blinker was on you werent getting WHITE/AMBER/WHITE, but rather AMBER/OFF/AMBER flash patterns. Obviously, mine did not do that (view the video).

I think these are very cool. They appear well built, and shine very bright. However, they do not work for my application but I wanted to test them out.

Therefore I will be giving them away. I encourage discussion and posts of those who are not interested in receiving them, however if you are interested, just say so in your post. I will pick a random winner tomorrow around 9:30pm PST (or whenever I get off work, it should be around then) and post the winner.

What do you guys think of these?


Color temperature comparison. In person, the LEDs do not appear blue at all.


Required resistor installation.


As they appeared out of the box. No resistors included, but will be needed for proper installation.

 

Those are pretty cool. I'd be interested in them.

 

They really show blue to the camera.
And yes I would be interested.

 

Those are a pretty cool look. I have been looking at brightening up the lights on the truck. I think they would look nice on my truck. Count me in

 

I've been wanting to get a pair of those.
I want to see how they'd look with my LED mod I did.
Also - if I recall correctly - you won't need the resistors to prevent the hyperblinking if you still have the stock bulbs in back.
Once you go all LED - then yes you'll need to the resistor or the upgraded blinker relay.
I'll have to dig around - but there is another one out that has the resistor built in - and does do like what you're wanting Trey.
Blinks amber until the turn signal is off - then back to white.

 

Trey,
6500 is what we in the lighting industry call "Cool White" which is pretty high up the Kelvin scale and has a lot of blue in it. "Daylight" is about 5000k and what I presume many headlights are attempting to produce (although I do not know that for certain...). This is why the light appears to be different in your photo. For comparison's sake, a Warm White or Soft White would be in the 3000-3500 K range.

Because of the way LED lighting works, most every product will either start out life around 1700 or 8500 K and then need a phosphorus optic lens to change the color. Many basic LED lights starts out with a blue diode that has a phosphorus lens to achieve around 6500 K (this is the same method used for fluorescent lighting and neon tubing btw...). For many applications, this method is just fine and does the job.

However, if you really want to represent a true white with an LED illumination source then the ONLY way that I am aware of is to use an RGB LED cluster. Those are usually about 5 times more expensive than a single led product but they are pretty good at honing in on the exact color frequency that you desire. If your LED is able to make 6500 white and then also switch over to producing something around 2000 amber then you may be working with an RGB cluster already. RGB stands for Red-Blue-Green so all you need to do is put a resistor on your blue diode(s) and you can 'adjust' the color to get the desired effect. This is essentially how the large LED displays work that you see on the freeway or sports stadiums.

Keep in mind, the more you 'drive' the diodes (electrically) the brighter they will be AND the hotter they become. Heat sinks will help but the same law of physics apply as with most things that heat=reduced lifespan. Just food for thought. Good luck with your experiments and have fun.

 

This is true for the 4 way flashers. However directional signals will still hyper flash (as seen in my video)

 

You can also order a led flasher module from companies like super bright leds. I had that problem on my f150 and fixed the problem without the need for load resistors. Just another option to look at!

 

Here's the ones that do the AMBER/OFF/AMBER when flashing - then back to white.
5K WHITE AMBER DUAL COLOR TYPE 2 CHANGING SWITCHBACK 92 TURN SIGNAL BULBS 3157 3157NA 3357 3457 4157 4057 | 1 PAIR - SwitchBack LED - 3157 - 3156 LED - Tail Brake Turn Signal - Bulb Type

 

I'd be interested in those, however, I wonder if they're legal to have on a vehicle ?

 

Am I the only one who thinks they look cool going AMBER/WHITE/AMBER? I think it will get attention when you are turning which is kind of the point of a flasher right? haha. But I am also curious about the legality of them. As far as I know it seems like it shouldn't be a problem, but does anyone have a definitive answer? The only reason I could see it being a problem is the AMBER/WHITE/AMBER, because I think that is pretty rare.

 

The rule about white lights on the tail when not backing up
may be something that could get used if the cop wants to give
you a hard time. Sort of like a broken lens with the light showing.

Sean

 

Cool. So without the added resistor it's as simple as plugging it in? Not only do more lights on your truck look cool in my opinion, but they make you mare visible/safe. I have LED cab lights and Big Rig running lights. These might be my next investment. Thanks for the idea.

 

They do look cool. That's why I got them haha
You will have to look up your local state vehicle code or call state highway patrol. I know you need an amber corner light but we have one of those in addition to the blinkers. Hard to say, but they definitely get your attention, and will catch the eye of the 5-0 across the intersection from you.

But, they are still cool

 

From what I've been able to find from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - DOT regulations lighting requirements for passenger vehicles (the reading of which is a good way to put yourself to sleep), it states that vehicles are required to have front amber colored clearance lights on each side of the vehicle and be (and I quote) "Steady burning, except may be flashed for signaling purposes. Must be activated when the headlamps are activated in a steady burning state or the parking lamps on passenger cars and MPVs, trucks, and buses less than 80 inches in overall width are activated."

I would think the lamps mentioned in this thread would not comply with these regulations. Of course you could put them on anyway. I myself probably wouldn't do so because I want to give the cops the least amount of reasons to pull me over as possible. Which is also why I haven't put in the HID headlights yet.