LED (v-leds) parking light bulb melted off, now headlamp goes off occasionally

darkseed · 03-09-2010, 02:52 PM

So I ordered 2 parking bulbs from V-leds. Installed them and they worked great for a week. However my left light went out and I checked into it, the whole bulb had melted in half so I took it out. Now my headlamp turns off sometimes at night and I have to nudge the side of my car to get the light back on. I made sure the wiring was properly connected right.

Anybody have this issue or heard of the parking lamp melting off, any causes?

On the upside nissan ordered a whole new headlamp. Not sure if I should ever go with V-leds again.

shabarivas · 03-09-2010, 03:22 PM

hey wanna sell me your busted head light? got a few ideas in mind - let me know

res0zsfa · 03-09-2010, 06:40 PM

i ordered the reverse light from v-leds just yesterday. are you talking about the 921 led reverse light? cuz if mine is gonna melt off too, den i aint putting it in. heres the led link V-LEDS HID WHITE 19 M-SMT 8W HIGH POWER BULBS 917 918 920 921 922 923

shabarivas · 03-09-2010, 06:51 PM

no no i meant the driver side head light as your dealer is getting you a new one

Csquared · 03-09-2010, 08:07 PM

Pics of the melted bulbs? Thats not cool at all. I just got LEDs I hope they don't melt!

Btw you're the first person, I can find even on google, to have melted the parking light LEDs

The BlueMax · 03-09-2010, 08:24 PM

I got my order from V-LEDs late last week and the interior 194 blues are fantastic. I made a mistake by getting the 7443 turnsignal bulbs which only work when your turning or emergency flash. They don't work as parking lights, there is a smaller 194 {white incadesent} that I put in for trade off on the 7443s that I bought. With the remainder I ordered some white 194s for the rear license plate. I don't know how they could melt because LEDs don't produce any heat unlike incadesents or halogen. The 370 uses a 194 for parking along with another bulb that I'm leaving only because its encased in an amber lense, oh by the way, I used "high power" on blue interior 194s, will be using the same for front parking in amber, and a "lower power" white on the back plate. I sent out my return exchange package today, I will take some pictures when done.

Cjanik · 03-09-2010, 09:45 PM

just FYI the LED bulbs don't get hot enough to burn plastic.

having worked with and diagnosed many melted, burnt, fired lenses from bulbs....the conclusion was made that its the connection point.

In other words, I have a V-led bulb in a couple sockets as well, I noticed they use a very thin wire on each side of the bottom thats supposed to contact the sockets power. I didn't like this because it may not be a very good connection. With a bad connection, you have resistance which gets warm, and to add to the mess, if its intermediate, then its going to spark and spark and spark and spark, which will get VERY VERY HOT and burn lots of things.

long story short, check your connections inside the socket. most likely its loose and sparking thus causing the heat to melt things. and yes you can probably (not guaranteed) blame V-LED for their lousy connection plates on the LED bulbs (which is just a single thin wire strand).

nogoodname · 03-09-2010, 10:02 PM

I have VLEDs, I did a total LED swap and no problems at all.

Send them an email and they'll replace it.

Csquared · 03-09-2010, 10:13 PM

I understand that the LEDs don't get very hot, I figured it was the HID bulbs getting hot enough to cause the LEDs to fail or melt. I know on my G35, When I used Superbright LEDs the HID lights would get hot enough when I drive at night to cause them to fail. They never melted though.

DIGItonium · 03-09-2010, 11:15 PM

LEDs can get hot, but it depends on how much current it is fed. My Luxeon K2-based license plate and parking light is fed around 114mA @ 3.5V, and it gets lukewarm at worse. The map light is 350mA, and it has a heat slug. The trunk light is around 600mA with a small heat sink attached to it. The turn signal bulbs are around 266mA, and it has a small heat sink as well.

The LEDs melting plastic can be caused by a short, being overdriven, and resistor burning up. It can also be caused by inadequate heat dissipation so heat has to go somewhere.

03-09-2010, 02:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
darkseed Base Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: SoCal Posts: 86 Drives: 09 370Z PG M6 Rep Power: 16	LED (v-leds) parking light bulb melted off, now headlamp goes off occasionally So I ordered 2 parking bulbs from V-leds. Installed them and they worked great for a week. However my left light went out and I checked into it, the whole bulb had melted in half so I took it out. Now my headlamp turns off sometimes at night and I have to nudge the side of my car to get the light back on. I made sure the wiring was properly connected right. Anybody have this issue or heard of the parking lamp melting off, any causes? On the upside nissan ordered a whole new headlamp. Not sure if I should ever go with V-leds again. __________________ 09 PG M6 w/NAV - 307RWPH - FI mods

03-09-2010, 08:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Csquared Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 302 Drives: 09 Nissan 370z Y 7sp Rep Power: 15	Pics of the melted bulbs? Thats not cool at all. I just got LEDs I hope they don't melt! Btw you're the first person, I can find even on google, to have melted the parking light LEDs Last edited by Csquared; 03-09-2010 at 08:18 PM.

03-09-2010, 08:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
The BlueMax Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Louisville Posts: 337 Drives: 09 370/97 T/A 01 ZRX Rep Power: 25	reply I got my order from V-LEDs late last week and the interior 194 blues are fantastic. I made a mistake by getting the 7443 turnsignal bulbs which only work when your turning or emergency flash. They don't work as parking lights, there is a smaller 194 {white incadesent} that I put in for trade off on the 7443s that I bought. With the remainder I ordered some white 194s for the rear license plate. I don't know how they could melt because LEDs don't produce any heat unlike incadesents or halogen. The 370 uses a 194 for parking along with another bulb that I'm leaving only because its encased in an amber lense, oh by the way, I used "high power" on blue interior 194s, will be using the same for front parking in amber, and a "lower power" white on the back plate. I sent out my return exchange package today, I will take some pictures when done.

03-09-2010, 11:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
DIGItonium A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Kansas Posts: 3,800 Drives: 09 Z34-TT 6MT Rep Power: 42	LEDs can get hot, but it depends on how much current it is fed. My Luxeon K2-based license plate and parking light is fed around 114mA @ 3.5V, and it gets lukewarm at worse. The map light is 350mA, and it has a heat slug. The trunk light is around 600mA with a small heat sink attached to it. The turn signal bulbs are around 266mA, and it has a small heat sink as well. The LEDs melting plastic can be caused by a short, being overdriven, and resistor burning up. It can also be caused by inadequate heat dissipation so heat has to go somewhere. __________________

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03-09-2010, 03:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
shabarivas A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,188 Drives: 370z MB 6mt Rep Power: 914	hey wanna sell me your busted head light? got a few ideas in mind - let me know

03-09-2010, 06:40 PM	#3 (permalink)
res0zsfa Base Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Mukilteo/Seattle Posts: 248 Drives: 09 370z PW MT Rep Power: 15	i ordered the reverse light from v-leds just yesterday. are you talking about the 921 led reverse light? cuz if mine is gonna melt off too, den i aint putting it in. heres the led link V-LEDS HID WHITE 19 M-SMT 8W HIGH POWER BULBS 917 918 920 921 922 923

03-09-2010, 06:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
shabarivas A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,188 Drives: 370z MB 6mt Rep Power: 914	no no i meant the driver side head light as your dealer is getting you a new one

03-09-2010, 09:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
Cjanik Track Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 578 Drives: N/A Rep Power: 17	just FYI the LED bulbs don't get hot enough to burn plastic. having worked with and diagnosed many melted, burnt, fired lenses from bulbs....the conclusion was made that its the connection point. In other words, I have a V-led bulb in a couple sockets as well, I noticed they use a very thin wire on each side of the bottom thats supposed to contact the sockets power. I didn't like this because it may not be a very good connection. With a bad connection, you have resistance which gets warm, and to add to the mess, if its intermediate, then its going to spark and spark and spark and spark, which will get VERY VERY HOT and burn lots of things. long story short, check your connections inside the socket. most likely its loose and sparking thus causing the heat to melt things. and yes you can probably (not guaranteed) blame V-LED for their lousy connection plates on the LED bulbs (which is just a single thin wire strand).

03-09-2010, 10:02 PM	#8 (permalink)
nogoodname Lifetime Premium Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Montreal Posts: 22,357 Drives: E46 M3 Rep Power: 1764	I have VLEDs, I did a total LED swap and no problems at all. Send them an email and they'll replace it.

03-09-2010, 10:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
Csquared Enthusiast Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hong Kong Posts: 302 Drives: 09 Nissan 370z Y 7sp Rep Power: 15	I understand that the LEDs don't get very hot, I figured it was the HID bulbs getting hot enough to cause the LEDs to fail or melt. I know on my G35, When I used Superbright LEDs the HID lights would get hot enough when I drive at night to cause them to fail. They never melted though.