T
[email protected]
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
My 50+ year old farm tractor had no indicator lamp to indicate the
ignition power is on. There is no key, just a push-pull switch. There
is also no gas gauge, so I never know when it will run out of gas. It's
no big deal to run out of gas. I just need to make sure I keep a 5
gallon can on hand. The problem is that when it runs out of gas, I
often forget to shut off the ignition switch, and if that switch stays
on for a few hours, the battery is dead.
I went to Radio Shack and bought a LED "pilot light" (has a built in
resistor and an enclosure around it). It's made for 12 volt. (The
tractor has a 12v battery). I installed it, and it worked great.
Within a few weeks I noticed it would flicker, get dim, go back to
normal, and so on. Eventually is just died, after only a few weeks of
use. Yea, the wiring is fine. I intentionally chose a LED to avoid
changing burned out bulbs.
Why would a LED burn out so quickly?
I should mention that the tractor has an alternator from a modern car,
with built in regulator. These tractors originally had an old generator
with eternal regulator, and were 6 volts. Almost everyone who still
uses them have converted them to 12v, which is simply changing to a
modern alternator, getting a 12v starter, changing 2 headlight bulbs,
and putting a different resistor on the ignition coil. And of course
using a 12v car battery.
Maybe this is just the result of buying crap from Radio Shack....
But I wonder if the vibration of the tractor or something else caused
such a short life???
ignition power is on. There is no key, just a push-pull switch. There
is also no gas gauge, so I never know when it will run out of gas. It's
no big deal to run out of gas. I just need to make sure I keep a 5
gallon can on hand. The problem is that when it runs out of gas, I
often forget to shut off the ignition switch, and if that switch stays
on for a few hours, the battery is dead.
I went to Radio Shack and bought a LED "pilot light" (has a built in
resistor and an enclosure around it). It's made for 12 volt. (The
tractor has a 12v battery). I installed it, and it worked great.
Within a few weeks I noticed it would flicker, get dim, go back to
normal, and so on. Eventually is just died, after only a few weeks of
use. Yea, the wiring is fine. I intentionally chose a LED to avoid
changing burned out bulbs.
Why would a LED burn out so quickly?
I should mention that the tractor has an alternator from a modern car,
with built in regulator. These tractors originally had an old generator
with eternal regulator, and were 6 volts. Almost everyone who still
uses them have converted them to 12v, which is simply changing to a
modern alternator, getting a 12v starter, changing 2 headlight bulbs,
and putting a different resistor on the ignition coil. And of course
using a 12v car battery.
Maybe this is just the result of buying crap from Radio Shack....
But I wonder if the vibration of the tractor or something else caused
such a short life???