LED backup lights

[musigenesis]

I bought a pair of clear LED 7" lights for my backup lights. The original lights each had a single wire to them, so I assume they were grounded via their attachment to the frame. These replacement lights are sealed and all-plastic and have red, black and white wires on the back. I assume what I need to do here is connect the red wire to the original wire from the bus, and connect the white wire (which even has a handy grounding loop on the end) to the frame somewhere?

 

[kazetsukai]

I bought a pair of clear LED 7" lights for my backup lights. The original lights each had a single wire to them, so I assume they were grounded via their attachment to the frame. These replacement lights are sealed and all-plastic and have red, black and white wires on the back. I assume what I need to do here is connect the red wire to the original wire from the bus, and connect the white wire (which even has a handy grounding loop on the end) to the frame somewhere?

Wait, so the new, clear lights have three leads? Usually only red LED (brake) lights have three, my clear LEDs had two leads. On the two lead lights, I connected one to the chassis by screwing through it when attaching the light. On the three lead lights, one is chassis/ground and then the other two are high and low (brightness) respectively. You could connect just the highs to the existing leads, or, connect the lows to the existing leads.


As for color scheme, typically red is positive, black is negative with DC wiring- White may be low or high (positive), red being vice-versa.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

I would assume the white wire is ground and the red and black are positive with one being brighter than the other. Test with a battery by holding white on ground and then test the red and black one at a time to see if there is a difference.

 

[o1marc]

Do you have a link for the light in question? It may be set up for a dual bulb and also sold as a single filiment fixture utilizing only 2 of the wires. I also suggest hooking a battery and checking what happens with each wire.

 

[musigenesis]

Do you have a link for the light in question? It may be set up for a dual bulb and also sold as a single filiment fixture utilizing only 2 of the wires. I also suggest hooking a battery and checking what happens with each wire.

This is the light: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7VLTRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00

 

[musigenesis]

Looking at it now, I'm not sure it's a backup light? But it seems like all the other clear 7" lights have "backup" in the description.

 

[o1marc]

This is the light: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N7VLTRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00

Dude, Really? Those are not back up lights, the title clearly states they are Stop/Turn/Clearance lights. Have you hooked them to a battery to see if they light up white, or Red?

 

[Brad_SwiftFur]

I'm going on the assumption the lights really are white. I recently bought some that were listed as turn signals and in fact had 3 wires coming from the circuit board, but they had no "low" function (taillight) so the black wire didn't really do anything. I figure some factory in China uses the same base circuit board for all the lights and simply installs whatever LED's and resistors needed for the end result.


Needless to say, mine were returned. Don't be surprised if one wire (either black or red) doesn't seem to do anything.

 

[o1marc]

I'm going on the assumption the lights really are white. I recently bought some that were listed as turn signals and in fact had 3 wires coming from the circuit board, but they had no "low" function (taillight) so the black wire didn't really do anything. I figure some factory in China uses the same base circuit board for all the lights and simply installs whatever LED's and resistors needed for the end result.


Needless to say, mine were returned. Don't be surprised if one wire (either black or red) doesn't seem to do anything.

Did you look at the listing?

 

[musigenesis]

My light is a back up lamp. This is the company's listing for the lights: https://grandgeneral.com/auto-parts/led/7-led-bus-light/ and it shows "Back Up" as the function for the 82336. Since it's white, it obviously could not function as a stop or turn signal, so "Stop/Turn/Clearance" in the listing doesn't make any sense. That's just the name of the game when China makes everything.

Interestingly, though, the package my lights came in contains an interesting disclaimer for the 82336: "*Does not meet DOT specs. Designed for interior or decorative use only." I wonder if that's true for all the other 7" white LED lights of this type, or only this brand?

 

[musigenesis]

I'm going on the assumption the lights really are white. I recently bought some that were listed as turn signals and in fact had 3 wires coming from the circuit board, but they had no "low" function (taillight) so the black wire didn't really do anything. I figure some factory in China uses the same base circuit board for all the lights and simply installs whatever LED's and resistors needed for the end result.


Needless to say, mine were returned. Don't be surprised if one wire (either black or red) doesn't seem to do anything.

I think you're right. This is the product listing from the company that "makes" (i.e imports from China and Taiwan) my lights: https://grandgeneral.com/auto-parts/led/7-led-bus-light/ and they're obviously all exactly the same just with different colors of plastic and LEDs.

 

[Mark_In_MA]

Interestingly, though, the package my lights came in contains an interesting disclaimer for the 82336: "*Does not meet DOT specs. Designed for interior or decorative use only." I wonder if that's true for all the other 7" white LED lights of this type, or only this brand?

That's probably true of all the white lights of this type.

Generally speaking, the only white lights you can display on a vehicle are the headlights and the backup lights - both of which are DOT regulated. I get needing to see at night, but it's also nice not to blind everyone in the supermarket parking lot when you go to back up.

For a while, some states (had, maybe still have) rules that non-DOT lights need to be covered - which is why all these cool 4x4s drove around with little yellow smiley faces or KC logos covering all their off-road lights. If it wasn't DOT-approved, it had to be covered.

Even Marty McFly couldn't avoid it.

Now I'm not sure what the current laws are (I've seen enough idiots driving down the highway with a super bright LED bar turned on under the bumper), or if the police would even care on a bus or truck. Trucks in particular seem to get away with having a lot of extraneous lights that would never pass on a car.

The real question is weather or not the red/colored ones pass. . . .

 

[Native-SKO]

Here is a possible use for three wires ... ground, backup light, and running light. Of course, testing with the battery will tell the story.


We purchased small white LED lights as backup lights and then I added a couple LED lights to be on when the running lights are turned on. They are only a glow, but to provide markings to drivers behind our bus. The backup lights are bright though.


@Mark_MA ... the license plate lights are also white.

 

[musigenesis]

Here is a possible use for three wires ... ground, backup light, and running light. Of course, testing with the battery will tell the story.


We purchased small white LED lights as backup lights and then I added a couple LED lights to be on when the running lights are turned on. They are only a glow, but to provide markings to drivers behind our bus. The backup lights are bright though.


@Mark_MA ... the license plate lights are also white.

I'm going to see how bright it is with the low and high voltage leads. If it's fainter with the low voltage, maybe I'll hook that up as the backup light and then rig a separate circuit to feed the high voltage lead - and use that to blind drivers behind me when they have their brights on. :biggrin: