What is LED?

LED is an abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode. LED’s are a superior choice of light over traditional styles of lighting options; halogen, incandescent, etc..

Polarity Sensitive

Most LED bulbs with a wedge style base (does not apply to push and twist bulbs) are polarity sensitive meaning power can only go one way in to the bulb. With an incandescent bulb, power can flow either way through the bulb but with LED, this requires you to insert the bulb in to its socket one way to work properly. If the bulb does not turn on the first time, simply remove the bulb and flip it 180 degrees and reinsert into socket.

Why would I use LED in my application?

There are a few reasons other than aesthetics, people choose LED over other lighting options. First, longer life than the incandescent bulbs they often replace in the automotive environment. Secondly, with use the output is more consistent compared to incandescent bulbs. Next, instant on and instant off, rich color and more intense light to make sure other divers can easily see the drivers intention.

Resistors and Flashers

I have added LED bulbs to my turn signals and now my turn signal blinks faster than when it did with incandescent bulbs. Simply put, LED bulbs draw such low amounts of power that the vehicle thinks the bulb is out. The solution is to add a resistor for each LED bulb or an LED flasher relay where applicable. Not all vehicles have replaceable flasher units.

CAN-Bus & Error Codes

Newer vehicles and many German vehicles use a vehicle interface that provides drivers with notifications regarding bulb out error messages, sometimes even when the bulb is functioning properly. LumaWerx designs and manufactures specific CAN-Bus bulbs for these applications which trick the vehicles computer into thinking the bulb is not out. The reason they do this is due to the low power draw from an LED bulb.

LED Color Options

Many different names have come to market when it comes to the shades of LED bulb colors over the years. For example a cool white which is a white with a small tint of blue has many different names that can confuse consumers. At LumaWerx we have created our names to fit with the look of the bulbs output:

Warm White – Yellowish/White

Pure White – No yellow/No blue

Cool White – White with tint of blue

We always recommend matching the color of LED bulb with the color of the lens the bulb will be seated behind. For example, you may remove a clear/white incandescent bulb from the brake lamp of your vehicle but when converting to LED, we recommend replacing with a red LED bulb. Same goes for amber with turn signals and so on.

LED Chip Options

LumaWerx chooses to manufacture LED bulbs using only high quality brand name LED chips from well known manufactures around the world. While brand name chips do cost more than generic chips, we choose to only use high quality chips for the longest lasting and most stable LED bulbs on the market.

CREE

OSRAM

Philips

Samsung