Thoughts on Projectors.

[littleblazer]

I messed up above, the side markers are single filament, the directional is a dual filament bulb.

 

[Blckshdw]

So I lied. What I now plan to do is add the front amber as well. So 3757 amber in the housing, since the front bulbs are single filament they only need to be single power leds, and thus need a load resistor across the plug. Now this will make the corner markers blink as well, but there will not be a hyperflash issue... I think. Then add the amber side marker bulbs and everything should be correct? So I will retain cruise and all other functions, this is quite confusing.

Yep, you pretty much have it right. Most LED bulbs sold come as 3157, but will still fit in the plug. On occasion you may have to file down the nubs on the side, but most of the time they will still fit even though the nubs are centered, while the plug is offset.

 

[littleblazer]

Yep, you pretty much have it right. Most LED bulbs sold come as 3157, but will still fit in the plug. On occasion you may have to file down the nubs on the side, but most of the time they will still fit even though the nubs are centered, while the plug is offset.

one more thing, I read about ck bulbs where the polarity is reversed on some terminals, do we have that issue where we need the 3157 ck or are regular 3157 leds okay?

 

[Blckshdw]

2002s have SRK/CK sockets up front. And we all have them for the park/brake bulbs in the tail lights.

 

[Sib]

2002s have SRK/CK sockets up front. And we all have them for the park/brake bulbs in the tail lights.

Following this thread cuz I plan on goin leds all around very soon. So with the CK sockets in the park/brake, does that explain why the leds I put in there kept blowin a fuse every time? I know I need to add a resistor to get rid of hyper flash, but couldn't figure out why the fuse kept blowing for the park/brakes.

EDIT: Well since this is a projector thread, this prolly should be moved to the LED thread. This was prolly splained in there but there are so many pages I was going looking through everything.

 

[littleblazer]

2002s have SRK/CK sockets up front. And we all have them for the park/brake bulbs in the tail lights.

So normal for the front, ck for the rear. Got it, so the load resistors, what type? Are the ones from super bright okay? And it goes from ground to parking wire or directional signal wire.... excuse my ignorance on this part.

 

[Sparky]

Ground and directional signal wire for load resistors.

If you put regular LED bulbs in a CK socket yes it'll blow fuses.

 

[littleblazer]

Following this thread cuz I plan on goin leds all around very soon. So with the CK sockets in the park/brake, does that explain why the leds I put in there kept blowin a fuse every time? I know I need to add a resistor to get rid of hyper flash, but couldn't figure out why the fuse kept blowing for the park/brakes.

EDIT: Well since this is a projector thread, this prolly should be moved to the LED thread. This was prolly splained in there but there are so many pages I was going looking through everything.

It relates to my questions on what to do with my plans for projectors, so it is relative. Saves me some troubleshooting if I mess up. It's fine.

 

[Sib]

It relates to my questions on what to do with my plans for projectors, so it is relative. Saves me some troubleshooting if I mess up. It's fine.

Sounds good. Didn't want to be a terrorist and

 

[kickass audio]

Yes, you kept blowing the fuse for your stop lights because you used normal bulbs instead of CK bulbs in the brake lights. With my truck. I had to have it setup so the lower bulb for my running/stop light was the CK style LED bulb and the middle light (also for running/stop) have the normal halogen bulb in there. I tried to use both of the CK lights in the stop lamp part but only the bottom one would work. If I put it in the middle socket, it does not light up at all. Get some red CK lights for the stop lamp (I only needed one pair since the other pair that is in the middle of the light did not work with the CK bulbs) and hook them up. You could re-wire the stop lamps to be normal polarity instead of CK but I was too lazy to do that. Ain't got time fo dat! lmao!

With the load resistor, make sure you get one that is the right resistance for your setup. There are difference resistance values for if you only have one LED bulb installed for your turn signal as opposed to having both bulbs switched to LED. And IDK if our platform has the DIC read if a bulb is out but if ours does, you need to have another adapter that will trick the computer to think the bulb is not blown out.

 

[littleblazer]

Yes, you kept blowing the fuse for your stop lights because you used normal bulbs instead of CK bulbs in the brake lights. With my truck. I had to have it setup so the lower bulb for my running/stop light was the CK style LED bulb and the middle light (also for running/stop) have the normal halogen bulb in there. I tried to use both of the CK lights in the stop lamp part but only the bottom one would work. If I put it in the middle socket, it does not light up at all. Get some red CK lights for the stop lamp (I only needed one pair since the other pair that is in the middle of the light did not work with the CK bulbs) and hook them up. You could re-wire the stop lamps to be normal polarity instead of CK but I was too lazy to do that. Ain't got time fo dat! lmao!

With the load resistor, make sure you get one that is the right resistance for your setup. There are difference resistance values for if you only have one LED bulb installed for your turn signal as opposed to having both bulbs switched to LED. And IDK if our platform has the DIC read if a bulb is out but if ours does, you need to have another adapter that will trick the computer to think the bulb is not blown out.

Like super bright listed these: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/marker-lamp-load-resistor/191/832/ would they be correct or do I need to dig more? I thought the resistance of a 3157 was pretty much the same no matter what. You only need more for more bulbs.

 

[kickass audio]

That resistor seems pretty high. I installed all v-leds lights on mine and ran their 6 ohm, 50w resistor for my setup. The difference comes in whether you do the pair of turning lights or just one per side. If you replace lets say only the rear turn signal with LED and leave the front as halogen, you need something like an 8 ohm resistor. If you do the front and rear, I used a 6 Ohm resistor. If you were to do more than a pair per side, then a 3 ohm resistor.

 

[littleblazer]

That resistor seems pretty high. I installed all v-leds lights on mine and ran their 6 ohm, 50w resistor for my setup. The difference comes in whether you do the pair of turning lights or just one per side. If you replace lets say only the rear turn signal with LED and leave the front as halogen, you need something like an 8 ohm resistor. If you do the front and rear, I used a 6 Ohm resistor. If you were to do more than a pair per side, then a 3 ohm resistor.

I'm like this: Looks like I need to research a little more.

 

[Sparky]

Let's keep it simple.

1 regular bulb = 6 ohms

So for each regular bulb you replace with LED you need a 6 ohm resistor (turn signal only, brake does not matter).

If you did all 4 bulbs in LED (2 front, 2 rear) then you would have a 6 ohm resistor at each bulb location, so total of 4 resistors.

Easier for someone new to electronics to keep straight this way I think

 

[kickass audio]

Actually it would be 6 ohms needed if you have 2 LED bulbs in your turn signal (IE, our truck, 1 in front and another in the rear), if for some reason you have something like my dads 97 tahoe, he has 4 lights for the turn signals, 2 in front and another 2 in the rear then you need a 3 ohm resistor on the truck. I again only have 2 LED bulbs for the turn signal on my envoy so I have a single 6 ohm resistor per each side and wired them in line with the front turn signal wires since it was easier to tuck them in behind the front grille than it would be to strap them in the back to my bumper and hope they don't come undone.

Also, if you are thinking "hey wait a minute, I have 3 bulbs for my setup, the two 3157 bulbs and one of the 194 bulbs." ignore the 194 bulb. That one actually only gets switched off when your running lights are on and you put your 4-ways or turn signal on for that side. It does not affect the flashing speed at all. I have the exact same flash speed with my single 6 ohm resistor per side as you would have with the stock halogens installed.

 

[Sib]

Ok so now I'm confused. If I want to do leds for the front and rear, I need to just add one 6ohm resistor to each side (either spliced in the front or rear)?

If I used 3ohm resistors then I would need to splice one in on each bulb (hook up one to each of the front turns and then each of the back turns)? I'm confused cuz I thought it was just the opposite...

 

[Sparky]

Actually it would be 6 ohms needed if you have 2 LED bulbs in your turn signal (IE, our truck, 1 in front and another in the rear), if for some reason you have something like my dads 97 tahoe, he has 4 lights for the turn signals, 2 in front and another 2 in the rear then you need a 3 ohm resistor on the truck. I again only have 2 LED bulbs for the turn signal on my envoy so I have a single 6 ohm resistor per each side and wired them in line with the front turn signal wires since it was easier to tuck them in behind the front grille than it would be to strap them in the back to my bumper and hope they don't come undone.

Also, if you are thinking "hey wait a minute, I have 3 bulbs for my setup, the two 3157 bulbs and one of the 194 bulbs." ignore the 194 bulb. That one actually only gets switched off when your running lights are on and you put your 4-ways or turn signal on for that side. It does not affect the flashing speed at all. I have the exact same flash speed with my single 6 ohm resistor per side as you would have with the stock halogens installed.

Not sure how a single 6 ohm is doing the trick in your truck, that's weird. A single 6 ohm with front and rear LED bulbs should cause hyperflash. A 3157 bulb is 27 watts, which puts it around the 6 ohm mark. It may depend on the LED bulbs you're using - depending on the design of them they may have enough resistance that a single 6 ohm works.

Guess you could always put your LED bulbs in, hook up one 6 ohm on one side, and see if you get hyperflash. If not, great, if so, put a 6 ohm on the other end also

Yeah the 194 makes no difference for flash speed.

 

[kickass audio]

It may be the resistor that my bulbs use that makes it that way. idk. I thought the same thing and wondered about it. Yes, you could use two 3 ohm resistors, one at each bulb or you could wire 2 in series at the front to get 6 ohm resistance if you really wanted to go that route.

OP, I would call the guys you are buying your LED's from just to ask what they say. I am sure each company has different resistance values in the LED's themselves to make them work.

 

[littleblazer]

Not sure how a single 6 ohm is doing the trick in your truck, that's weird. A single 6 ohm with front and rear LED bulbs should cause hyperflash. A 3157 bulb is 27 watts, which puts it around the 6 ohm mark. It may depend on the LED bulbs you're using - depending on the design of them they may have enough resistance that a single 6 ohm works.

Guess you could always put your LED bulbs in, hook up one 6 ohm on one side, and see if you get hyperflash. If not, great, if so, put a 6 ohm on the other end also

Yeah the 194 makes no difference for flash speed.

Order 4, return 2 if it works with 2. Got it.

Let's keep it simple.

1 regular bulb = 6 ohms

So for each regular bulb you replace with LED you need a 6 ohm resistor (turn signal only, brake does not matter).

If you did all 4 bulbs in LED (2 front, 2 rear) then you would have a 6 ohm resistor at each bulb location, so total of 4 resistors.

Easier for someone new to electronics to keep straight this way I think

That is what my math came to, I think.

Actually it would be 6 ohms needed if you have 2 LED bulbs in your turn signal (IE, our truck, 1 in front and another in the rear), if for some reason you have something like my dads 97 tahoe, he has 4 lights for the turn signals, 2 in front and another 2 in the rear then you need a 3 ohm resistor on the truck. I again only have 2 LED bulbs for the turn signal on my envoy so I have a single 6 ohm resistor per each side and wired them in line with the front turn signal wires since it was easier to tuck them in behind the front grille than it would be to strap them in the back to my bumper and hope they don't come undone.

Also, if you are thinking "hey wait a minute, I have 3 bulbs for my setup, the two 3157 bulbs and one of the 194 bulbs." ignore the 194 bulb. That one actually only gets switched off when your running lights are on and you put your 4-ways or turn signal on for that side. It does not affect the flashing speed at all. I have the exact same flash speed with my single 6 ohm resistor per side as you would have with the stock halogens installed.

Understood, 194 is single filament, blinks because of the common ground which I believe was said earlier, if that is right that is?

Yes, you kept blowing the fuse for your stop lights because you used normal bulbs instead of CK bulbs in the brake lights. With my truck. I had to have it setup so the lower bulb for my running/stop light was the CK style LED bulb and the middle light (also for running/stop) have the normal halogen bulb in there. I tried to use both of the CK lights in the stop lamp part but only the bottom one would work. If I put it in the middle socket, it does not light up at all. Get some red CK lights for the stop lamp (I only needed one pair since the other pair that is in the middle of the light did not work with the CK bulbs) and hook them up. You could re-wire the stop lamps to be normal polarity instead of CK but I was too lazy to do that. Ain't got time fo dat! lmao!

With the load resistor, make sure you get one that is the right resistance for your setup. There are difference resistance values for if you only have one LED bulb installed for your turn signal as opposed to having both bulbs switched to LED. And IDK if our platform has the DIC read if a bulb is out but if ours does, you need to have another adapter that will trick the computer to think the bulb is not blown out.

So the rear has one CK, and one regular. Okay. P.S. no DIC readout at least on mine.

It may be the resistor that my bulbs use that makes it that way. idk. I thought the same thing and wondered about it. Yes, you could use two 3 ohm resistors, one at each bulb or you could wire 2 in series at the front to get 6 ohm resistance if you really wanted to go that route.

OP, I would call the guys you are buying your LED's from just to ask what they say. I am sure each company has different resistance values in the LED's themselves to make them work.

I think I'll do that. That way I know exactly what is going on and what I'll need.

 

[kickass audio]

Wrong! You have 2 CK bulbs at a minimum on your truck. The two CK bulbs are for your rear running/stop lights. On some years, the front turn signal is also CK. You need to use a multimeter to test the voltage on the pins to find out.

 

[littleblazer]

Wrong! You have 2 CK bulbs at a minimum on your truck. The two CK bulbs are for your rear running/stop lights. On some years, the front turn signal is also CK. You need to use a multimeter to test the voltage on the pins to find out.

I thought only one on the stop lamp was a CK, the other was a regular... or is there and issue with yours that one is but not the other? As in, 4 bulbs that work the stop in the rear all together, but only two are CK wired?

 

[Blckshdw]

Wrong! You have 2 CK bulbs at a minimum on your truck. The two CK bulbs are for your rear running/stop lights. On some years, the front turn signal is also CK. You need to use a multimeter to test the voltage on the pins to find out.

I thought only one on the stop lamp was a CK, the other was a regular... or is there and issue with yours that one is but not the other? As in, 4 bulbs that work the stop in the rear all together, but only two are CK wired?

2002s have SRK/CK sockets up front. And we all have them for the park/brake bulbs in the tail lights.

 

[littleblazer]

Yes, you kept blowing the fuse for your stop lights because you used normal bulbs instead of CK bulbs in the brake lights. With my truck. I had to have it setup so the lower bulb for my running/stop light was the CK style LED bulb and the middle light (also for running/stop) have the normal halogen bulb in there. I tried to use both of the CK lights in the stop lamp part but only the bottom one would work. If I put it in the middle socket, it does not light up at all. Get some red CK lights for the stop lamp (I only needed one pair since the other pair that is in the middle of the light did not work with the CK bulbs) and hook them up. You could re-wire the stop lamps to be normal polarity instead of CK but I was too lazy to do that. Ain't got time fo dat! lmao!

With the load resistor, make sure you get one that is the right resistance for your setup. There are difference resistance values for if you only have one LED bulb installed for your turn signal as opposed to having both bulbs switched to LED. And IDK if our platform has the DIC read if a bulb is out but if ours does, you need to have another adapter that will trick the computer to think the bulb is not blown out.

I think I misinterpreted this.

Wrong! You have 2 CK bulbs at a minimum on your truck. The two CK bulbs are for your rear running/stop lights. On some years, the front turn signal is also CK. You need to use a multimeter to test the voltage on the pins to find out.

Which resulted in this.

I thought only one on the stop lamp was a CK, the other was a regular... or is there and issue with yours that one is but not the other? As in, 4 bulbs that work the stop in the rear all together, but only two are CK wired?

Which caused this.

Only to come to this which was resolved a while ago.


Two regular up front, 4 CK out back, Got it. I hope.

 

[kickass audio]

Unless for some reason the wiring was changed, when I tested the polarity on my lights, I found the stop/running lights in the back were CK style. If I put the regular bulb in the top stop light, it works fine until I press the brake and then the fuse blows. When I put the CK bulb in the top stop lamp, it does not light at all. This is why I say the rear 4 are CK style however for whatever dumb reason, i could only use my LED's in the lower socket of my rear stop/running lights.

 

[Blckshdw]

The turn signal and reverse sockets are a 3156, which is the same as a 3157 but only with the 'high' connections. So you can still use a normal 3157 bulb, just that the low filament will never be used.

 

[Matt]

When the fuse blew, did you turn the bulbs around to see what would happen? I only ask because I can't see where you mentioned it and you'd be the first that we've ever heard of that had 4 CK's in the rear.

 

[littleblazer]

So I started this morning. How do these damned reflector bowls come out? I tried pulling but they appear to be secured some how.

 

[Blckshdw]

So I started this morning. How do these damned reflector bowls come out? I tried pulling but they appear to be secured some how.

There's a plastic tab screwed into the reflector bowl, and that tab connects to the housing by ball joints. After breaking one of the posts for the ball joint off a long time ago, what I do is drill a small hole next to the stationary mount, and the side mount, so I can get a screw driver in and unscrew the tabs in those spots.

Then you can rotate the reflector bowl upwards and torque the tab off of the vertical adjustment mount. I can snap a couple pics from mine if you want, since they are sitting on the counter right now (yes, I'm still slacking )

Edit: The other way you can do it, is just to grip as best you can with your fingers, and yank like hell

 

[littleblazer]

I think i get what you are saying.... but since they are there a picture wouldn't hurt.

 

[Blckshdw]

Here you go. You can see just to the left of the bottom 2 mounts where I drilled the holes.

Edit: Please disregard the huge gaping cutout on the low beam access hole :blush:

 

[littleblazer]

Here you go. You can see just to the left of the bottom 2 mounts where I drilled the holes.

Edit: Please disregard the huge gaping cutout on the low beam access hole :blush:

Thank you! Passenger side is done, just gotta wait till its dark to align it.

 

[Sparky]

What I did was loosen the adjusters all the way so those came unscrewed, so I only had the one ball joint to mess with.

 

[littleblazer]

Just thought I'd throw in my impressions after a month. Light output is awesome just need to get around to leveling them exactly but they're about perfect. The cut off is about 40 inches from the ground at 25 feet, drove behind my friend in a Malibu and he said the flicker was annoying but not blinding. My only issue is that if i shut off the the car for like a minute and then start it back up, the passenger side occasionally doesn't fire. Besides that its great. So just wondering how high you guys have the cutoff aimed or if I'm on the money.

 

[Mounce]

What ballasts are you running?

 

[littleblazer]

It's the morimoto xb35s.

 

[dmanns67]

It's the morimoto xb35s.

I installed the XB35s a couple weeks ago and I am impressed with them over the 3Fives.

Are you running a relay harness?

 

[littleblazer]

I installed the XB35s a couple weeks ago and I am impressed with them over the 3Fives.

Are you running a relay harness?

They're great, and yes I'm running a relay harness.

 

[Mounce]

It's the morimoto xb35s.

You might aren't to email them about it, they might replace it for you. My cheap Ebay ballasts fire every single time. I'd be pissed if a $110 set of ballasts didn't. :02:

 

[littleblazer]

You might aren't to email them about it, they might replace it for you. My cheap Ebay ballasts fire every single time. I'd be pissed if a $110 set of ballasts didn't. :02:

That might not be a bad idea. They work when you let them sit. but lets say they turn on when you unlock at night and they shut off before its started, then you turn them on like 30 seconds later, one out of every 20 times it won't fire... I'll email them.

 

[Mounce]

Let us know how it goes, they're normally pretty good about replacing defective items.