jfz80
Cruisin’
@Robb235
this is copy pasted from MikePL on another led thread discussing the flickering effect when using led gauge bulbs. Hope it helps
It's not the fault of the LEDs themselves. The problem is that a vehicle has lots of electrical circuits, solenoids, electrical motors and other stuff which causes momentary (miliseconds) voltage peaks (maybe even up to 50V). An incandescent bulb is not affected by this because inside there is just a metal wire which would need more time to be heated up by such a voltage rise. A LED is a semiconductor and even a very short pulse of high voltage causes damage which adds up over time causing filckering and then death. Please also note that LEDs use resistors that assume you have 12 volts but with the engine running you get up to 14.4V
One way to address this issue is to install LEDs whch are driven under their maximum specs. Usually a stronger resistor is used. But over time the same problem might appear, only later.
The better way is to use a voltage regulator (google LM7812) which costs around 30 cents and can operate upt to 1.5Amps. So ideally you should find the wiring for the gauge cluster and insert the regulator before all the LEDs. This will keep them safe for the next 20 years.
So my conclusion is that any LED with only a resistor will start to flicker sooner or later. Only a voltage regulator will solve the problem. I have some LED strips which were installed 8 years ago and not a single LED is flickering.
this is copy pasted from MikePL on another led thread discussing the flickering effect when using led gauge bulbs. Hope it helps
It's not the fault of the LEDs themselves. The problem is that a vehicle has lots of electrical circuits, solenoids, electrical motors and other stuff which causes momentary (miliseconds) voltage peaks (maybe even up to 50V). An incandescent bulb is not affected by this because inside there is just a metal wire which would need more time to be heated up by such a voltage rise. A LED is a semiconductor and even a very short pulse of high voltage causes damage which adds up over time causing filckering and then death. Please also note that LEDs use resistors that assume you have 12 volts but with the engine running you get up to 14.4V
One way to address this issue is to install LEDs whch are driven under their maximum specs. Usually a stronger resistor is used. But over time the same problem might appear, only later.
The better way is to use a voltage regulator (google LM7812) which costs around 30 cents and can operate upt to 1.5Amps. So ideally you should find the wiring for the gauge cluster and insert the regulator before all the LEDs. This will keep them safe for the next 20 years.
So my conclusion is that any LED with only a resistor will start to flicker sooner or later. Only a voltage regulator will solve the problem. I have some LED strips which were installed 8 years ago and not a single LED is flickering.
