# P21W LED Q's



## ANT THE KNEE (Aug 25, 2000)

Purchased some Ebay tail's for my MK4 and now need to run a red bulb because of it's material. I figured why not run a LED bulb and make it brighter. I'm looking for a bulb with multi LED's and found some with 24,25,ETC LED's. Multi directional being the prefernce of coarse also. I know that the bulb is 55W and 12V and figured it pulls a little over 5 amps. So I know it's gotta be less to avoid probs. Found out that i need to run a resistor to avoid "hyper-blinker" or get a upgraded flasher relay also. There's just a few things I think I'm missing though if anyone can help.Thnx
1: Does anyone have info on the relay itself or the resistor that has to be installed?
2: Anyone have experience on use.. I've researched and haven't found any feedback.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*Re: P21W LED Q's (ANT THE KNEE)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ANT THE KNEE* »_Purchased some Ebay tail's for my MK4 and now need to run a red bulb because of it's material. I figured why not run a LED bulb and make it brighter. I'm looking for a bulb with multi LED's and found some with 24,25,ETC LED's. Multi directional being the prefernce of coarse also. I know that the bulb is 55W and 12V and figured it pulls a little over 5 amps. So I know it's gotta be less to avoid probs. Found out that i need to run a resistor to avoid "hyper-blinker" or get a upgraded flasher relay also. There's just a few things I think I'm missing though if anyone can help.Thnx
1: Does anyone have info on the relay itself or the resistor that has to be installed?
2: Anyone have experience on use.. I've researched and haven't found any feedback. 


You got quite a bit of mis-information in your post there. Lets see if I can straighten some of it out for you.
Most importantly, the brake lights are not 55 watts. They are 21 watts.
Second, Even if they were 55 watts, it is not "a little over 5 amps". 55 watts divided by 12 volts equals 4.58 amps. But since it is only 21 watts, that means the total current draw is actually only 1.75 amps.
Third the typical LED "bulb" replacements that you can buy on Ebay and the like really suck. They typically have really bad output. The so called uni-directional bulbs "might" be better but I have not seen a review of them.
and finally, if you are just looking for LED brake light bulbs, you do not need a load resistor or a special flasher. The brake lights don't flash. the turn signals do. Considering the turn signal relay is built into the hazard switch, you will not find an aftermarket turnsignal flasher relay for it. Noone makes it. So you are down to a load resistor (sometimes called a load equalizer) or custom building LED panels with the right resistance built in.


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## ANT THE KNEE (Aug 25, 2000)

*Re: P21W LED Q's (fixmy59bug)*

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Thnx for the info.. i actually realized that it's a 21W bulb after i did some research.. hence p21W







. Anyone know what resistor to put inline? That's going to be the easier route for both tail and blinker. For now i'm goin got put on a red plastic cap(bought @ autozone) on the bulb and see what i get


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## nater (Apr 10, 2000)

*FV-QR*

Ant,
Just wait. Any single bulb replacement LED (at this point) isn't doing you any good. You'll realize after you've done all of the work (resistor and special blinker relay) that the light output is going to SUCK - even the ones with multiple LEDs. 
As of right now, your best bet is going to be to buy single small diameter LED's and wire them in - in a group of many - as a retrofit. A bit more work but a much more *real* oem look.


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## fixmy59bug (Apr 9, 2002)

*FV-QR*

ANT, for an example of what Nater is talking about when he says buying small diameter LED's and wiring in a group of many, May I refer you to my build thread:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4054742
If you want more technical information about building LED panels and all that stuff, I refer you to Hidplanet.com
You will find an LED specific forum where you can learn LOTS of information.
For example, Standard 3mm and 5mm "dome" shaped are useless for automotive use. There are "high power" dome LED's but their stability is on the lower end of the quality scale.
For the best LED's for brake light use, you want 70mA superflux Red-Orange LED's.
But you can find more information on HID Planet.


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## ANT THE KNEE (Aug 25, 2000)

*Re: FV-QR (fixmy59bug)*

Thanks for the reply guys..i was thinking that the lighting forum was like a ghost town







. I'm going to do some more research and see what's the best looking result. I will probably give those multi directional led's a shot since it's pretty cheap and noone has experience with how the'll look. I'll take some pics of tail and etc over the next few days. I think i should have held out for the hella magic colours instead of the ebay's


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