Electrical Help - LED bulbs glowing faintly when car is off ??
#1
Help - LED bulbs glowing faintly when car is off ??
Hello everyone,
I installed some aftermarket 194-type LED bulbs in my wheel arches. They are color-correct and I did locate & mark the new bulb's pos/neg terminals before inserting them by means of a multimeter.
The bulbs look and work great behind my new clear arch reflector lenses.
Here's the weird part (!) : I walked into the garage tonight and before I hit the light switch I noticed the rear arch light bulb was glowing v-e-r-y faintly. I thought I was imagining things, but I checked the other three corners and sure enough, all 4 arch lights are getting a trickle of current from somewhere. The LEDs are efficient enough to glow at really low current, but this is WEIRD.
I switched the parking light switch to the 'on' position and the lights all glowed at normal brightness. I am estimating they are glowing at 1/10 their full output when the car is "off" ... any ideas??
I am concerned about eccessive current draw on the battery. I did check the battery voltage at under-hood battery post with the car off, and it reads a respectable 12.37 Volts.
Any thoughts, comments or similar experiences anyone?
thanks,
rob
I installed some aftermarket 194-type LED bulbs in my wheel arches. They are color-correct and I did locate & mark the new bulb's pos/neg terminals before inserting them by means of a multimeter.
The bulbs look and work great behind my new clear arch reflector lenses.
Here's the weird part (!) : I walked into the garage tonight and before I hit the light switch I noticed the rear arch light bulb was glowing v-e-r-y faintly. I thought I was imagining things, but I checked the other three corners and sure enough, all 4 arch lights are getting a trickle of current from somewhere. The LEDs are efficient enough to glow at really low current, but this is WEIRD.
I switched the parking light switch to the 'on' position and the lights all glowed at normal brightness. I am estimating they are glowing at 1/10 their full output when the car is "off" ... any ideas??
I am concerned about eccessive current draw on the battery. I did check the battery voltage at under-hood battery post with the car off, and it reads a respectable 12.37 Volts.
Any thoughts, comments or similar experiences anyone?
thanks,
rob
#2
#3
yes, you need a certain ohm something or other to stop the problem. but, seeing as though LED's use very little power to begin with, it should not be a problem, it is only using up power still left in the system. Try stepping on the brakes after turning off the car, that might drain out the remaining power in the system. Alot of people who have clear tail lights with LED bulbs experience the same thing.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Interior/Exterior DEPO/Helix Projector Headlights Installed
Alkaidovich
Interior/Exterior
68
01-30-2021 01:35 AM
igzekyativ
MINIs & Minis for Sale
34
07-16-2020 12:54 PM
theateist
General MINI Talk
5
08-22-2015 06:58 AM
PSIChocolate
Stock Problems/Issues
1
08-13-2015 12:46 PM