Hi Randy,
It's on my list of things to do... I bought a full set of LED
replacements for the taillights, signal lights, and parking lights,
through Digi-Key. I can dig up the part numbers if you're interested.
An important thing to note is that you must get red LEDs to go behind
your red lenses, and amber LEDs to go behind amber lenses. I got an
email from a guy on the MGB list who'd put white LEDs behind his red
taillight lenses and was very disappointed with the results. The reason
for this is that white LEDs are actually made using blue or ultraviolet
LEDs, with a fluorescent slug on top that actually emits the
broad-spectrum 'white' light. The problem with this is that only a small
portion of the fluorescent's output is in the red part of the spectrum
where it will get passed by the taillight lens. However, if you get red
LEDs, all the light generated goes through the lens and there is no problem.
The polarity of the LEDs must also be observed. With the Tiger being
negative ground it's mostly a no-brainer (the exception is the front
white marker lights, which are non-polarized sockets), but if you're
just testing things on the bench then make sure you attach the negative
battery lead to the jacket of the LED array, not the contacts on the
back of the bulb.
Lastly, you may need to upgrade the flasher to one that is suitable for
use with LEDs. The workaround is to install some low-value (high
wattage) power resistors in parallel with the signal bulbs, but that
defeats at least one of the advantages of having the LED bulbs in the
first place.
Good luck,
Theo
Randy Smith wrote:
> Has anyone converted their taillight and/or parking light bulbs to the
> new LED type. In searching a few websites, I noticed a number of
> variations on each type of replacement bulb. Since our lights are small
> by modern standards, I was hoping to get as much light as possible
> without somehow going overboard (maybe going overboard's not possible).
> I'm still running a generator, so saving on amperage also has appeal.
> Thanks for any experience and advise.
>
> Thanks- Randy
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