Owen made a very good point here, that one gains some tens or hundreds of milliseconds in turn-on time using LEDs vs incandescant for brake lights, which can be the difference between being hit from behind and not. Are LEDs available for the Delorean brake lights? >Disclaimer: I have no knowledge of the specific LED kit in >question. I don't have LED door lights on my DMC, and when I do, >I'll be building them myself from my own hand-picked ultra-bright >LED components. > >That said, red and amber are probably the smart choices. Here comes >the reason why, in the form of more information than you probably >ever wanted to know about LEDs: > >LEDs work by emitting light directly; not by filtering the light. >For example, a red LED will actually emit red light. You don't need >to (and in fact you cannot) filter the LED light to make it any >other color. The brightest red LEDs actually have a transparent >lens that looks perfectly clear when off, but the light is still >red. > >By contrast, incandescent bulbs emit an orange-white light, which is >filtered by a lens to make it red/amber/whatever. For example, a >red lens removes the non-red parts of the light, leaving the red to >pass through. This hints at part of the reason LEDs are more >efficient -- they emit the desired color directly, so you don't have >to filter them to make them red/amber, throwing away much of the >light in the process. > >LEDs in the red/orange area of the spectrum have been around for a >long time, and have seen a lot of development. Advances have >gradually permitted shorter and shorter wavelengths, giving us >yellow, green and, recently, blue and violet. The cooler colors >(green/blue/violet) are harder to make in high-output form. > >To make a light that looks white to humans, you need to mix the >three colors we can see (red, green, blue). You actually need a >little extra blue, because our eyes are less sensitive to blue. >Blue LEDs are usually less powerful, too. Thus, a "white" LED is >usually four LEDs in one package: red, green, blue, blue. > >In addition, to give the LEDs and even whiter appearance, almost all >"white" LEDs use organic phospors that "glow" and enhance the >output. These break down over time, dimming the output (whereas the >LED elements themselves will last just about forever). > >So, to summarize, if you use an LED that's the correct color to >begin with, you're benefiting because red and orange LEDs are some >of the most bright and efficient LEDs around, and because they're >turning electricity directly into light that's the color you want >anyway, AND they'll probably last longer than your car without >breaking or fading. If you use "white" LEDs, you're using hybrid >LED/phosphor technology that will fade over time, cost more to begin >with, and require more electrical power. On top of that, you're >going to put it behind a red (or amber) lens and throw away all the >non-red (or amber) parts of the light anyway. > >Aside from being more efficient, LEDs have two other major >advantages: 1) they're solid state (i.e. no moving parts), which >makes them last almost forever, and 2) they turn on instantly, >whereas incandescent lights fade on over the course of approximately >0.1-0.2 seconds. For this reason, I believe LED brake lights are >safer. 0.2 seconds might not sounds like a lot, but at 65MPH, 0.2 >seconds is about 20 feet, which I believe could make a difference in >a rear-end collision situation in some cases. The instant-on effect >is quite jarring and grabs the attention like nothing else. If >you've ever been behind a vehicle with LED turn indicators or brake >lights, you've probably seen what I'm describing. > >If you've made it this far, here's one thing I'd recommend doing if >you're going to use a production LED kit: Make sure the LED color >matches your filter color pretty closely. > >For example, if you put a red LED behind a blue filter, you WILL NOT >GET BLUE LIGHT. You'll get almost nothing -- black. This is >because the red LED emits only red light, and the blue filter >removes everything but blue, leaving NOTHING. You would never do >this in practice, of course, but the same idea applies in putting a >red LED behind a red filter -- if the filter doesn't match the color >of the source light, the output will drop off severely. > >Regards, >Owen > >VIN 10470 "1 21 GW" > > > >M. P. Olans wrote: >> >> >> Hi all, >> For everyone who has converted their door lights to LED's, I have >> a question: did you go with white LED's or red and amber? What is the >> advantage/disadvantage with red and amber LED's vs. plain white? I >> saw them on a car at the last show I was in and the owner said he had >> used red and amber LED's but felt he should have gone with white >> because he thought they would be brighter. I don't know enough about >> LED's to know if that makes sense or not, and I know some people from >> the DML have done the conversion and others sell them, so I figured I >> would pose the question here. >> >> Thanks, >> Matt, AZ-D VeeP >> VIN 16816 > > > > > >To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: >moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx > >For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com > >To search the archives or view files, log in at >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews >Yahoo! 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