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GL1500 LED Tail/Brake Light Conversion Cancels Cruise Control Problem Solved

11K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Erdeniz Umman 
#1 ·
Today, I have completed diode and resistor modification of the LEDs and replaced 4 rear tail/brake lights with these LEDs.
They have worked quite fine, no problem, and the brightness of them were better than regular bulbs. Especially the red color of them fit perfectly.

And also I checked the cruise control, it is functioning perfectly, no problem.

Here is my conclusion about the led and its effects on the cruise control system.
As I have read many threads about this issue, many people have had problems and some of them given up using them. During my study and tests on this issue, I have found that the problem is the leaking positive voltage of the tail light to the brake light end through built in resistors which causes the cruise control to disengage or never engage. As a solution I have added a 1N4001 diode to the brake light end for each bulb to prevent this voltage leakeage.

And another problem was the heat built up which toasts the built in resistor. I have replaced the built in 47ohm 1/4 watt resistor with a 47 ohm 3W one on the tail light end.

I have done the modification inside the bulb case, and tested the heat built up. The picture of the modification and the maximum temperatures that I measured are given below.

As a recommendation I have to say; if you are not familiar with electronics dont try to do this by yourself, instead you may find proper led bulbs which have built in diodes.

When to buy a led bulb, grab a multimeter and measure the resistances between the contacts to understand the existence of diodes. If the reading between tail and brake positive ends (at the bottom of the bulb) is O.L it will mean that there is a diode between them which will prevent voltage leakage.


If you have a look at the temp table, the temp of LED (modified) is almost less than a regular bulb. The temp at the lead is slightly higher at tail light mode, but lower than brake light mode (48<61<91 in C) or (118<142<196).


I would prefer to use a 5W resistor for less heat up, but I could not find a small size for the bulb case, I am sure this one will be safe as well.


And if you will add the diode on the brake cable instead of inside of bulb case; use a higher amperage diode for safety, thinking someone else later may try to use a regular bulb which will draw higher current.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
The problem is at the connections. For two contact LEDs most of the manufacturers use a resistor to dim the light on tail light mode while in a regular bulb two different filaments are used.
For that reason if we don't use a diode at the brake light end some of the positive voltage (here 7-8v) is found at the brake light end as if we apply brake.
 
#5 ·
The problem is at the connections. For two contact LEDs most of the the manufacturers use a resistor to dim the light on tail light mode while in a regular bulb two different filaments are used.
For that reason if we don't use a diode at the brake light end some of the positive voltage (here 7-8v) is found at the brake light end as if we apply brake.
I see, I have not messed with any LED bulbs. I knew tail lights for trailers etc. used that kind of set up.
 
#6 ·
I tried these and got 6 bulbs for $36 because i asked what the price would be for 3pr. Not cheap but they are brighter than OEM on running lights and brake lights. OEM are bright enough in my opinion but these still keep a good brightness differential between running and brake. I greatly reduced current draw, especially when brakes are on.

Bulbs have 4 contacts and are polarity sensitive.. If they don't work right turn them around.

My CRUISE works yet.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-7443-Hig...ash=item3d078b8608:g:nUkAAOSwl9BWM7dB&vxp=mtr

First pic is LEFT replaced with LED and RUNNING lights ON.
Second is BRAKE lights ON and LED on left - OEM on RIGHT.
Third is top 4 LED on RUNNING lights. LOWERS are OEM
4th is BRAKE on SPOILER and TOP TRUNK LED-lower is OEM and just running light.
5th is RUNNING lights and LOWER LEFT replaced with LED--LOWER RIGHT is OEM

Camera on 3rd pic didn't show the LED as bright as it should have been but does show the difference between LED on top and OEM on bottom.
 

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#7 ·
Just for the record, I'm still using these 1157 LEDs on a '97 GL1500 SE, with no ill effects on the cruise system. I was unaware that there was even an issue with LED tail/brake lights, regarding the cruise system. They are equally as bright as the OEM incandescent bulbs. No brighter, no dimmer. But they certainly do 'trigger' faster, thus a more distinct flash rate when turned on or off.

One thought did just occur to me while writing this. I have a Back-Off brake flasher in the system, between the brake lights and the incoming signal. So, the braking system of the bike doesn't really 'see' the LEDs. It sees the Back-Off modulator. I wonder if that could explain why I have had no issues with the cruise system. The Back-Off was installed before I ever went to LEDs on the rear end. Just a thought. Personally, I wouldn't be without the Back-Off brake modulator. It gets a lot of attention on braking. That might be a simpler solution to the discussed LED / Cruise issue. Just install a Back-Off, and your LEDs are good to go ?
 

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#8 ·
I have been using 1157 LED tail/brake bulbs for about 5 years now with no ill effects to my cruise control operation. What Bluewaterhooker said about the Back-off flasher unit got me to wondering about whether that was why I hadn't seen any difference in the cruise control. I went back and looked up when I installed the Back-off flasher on mine and it was a little over a year after I had put in the LED tail/brake lights, so that did not have anything to do with mine working or not. I got my 1157 LEDs from superbrightleds.com. They are the tower type bulbs that have the LEDs all around the surface of the bulb.
 
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#9 ·
Question on back-off modulator, DO I have to use one specific- maybe has connectors for the Wing? as found at wingstuff or similar
OR can I grab the one currently on the Shadow that was wired in and re-use it.
Would like to have it just on the spoilers LED strip, 94-SE

those extra bright LED bulbs Indiana posted pics of look like the right idea,,,
lots of running light and more brake lights.
 
#11 ·
I don't see why you couldn't use it on the spoiler, as long as it is LED compatible. However, you have to be sure and wire it in the correct place, as the spoiler on my 97 serves double duty as running lights and brake lights. Honda has a special circuit to accomplish this, and you'd need to wire it in after that circuit, to the brake light function only. I did something similar and had to use a relay to accomplish it. It's been a while, and I forget the exact wiring.
 
#13 ·
LED solution

I put LED stop/ tail light bulbs in my '97 GL1500 and had the problem of the turn signals canceling the cruise, it worked ok with one standard bulb installed.
The turn signal circuit is not connected to the stop/ tail light circuit right?
Wrong, when i took the 5 wire to 4 wire converter out and rewired my trailer to separate turn signals the problem went away.
Now i can run all LEDs, the feedback was coming from the 5 to 4 converter.
 
#14 ·
I put LED stop/ tail light bulbs in my '97 GL1500 and had the problem of the turn signals canceling the cruise, it worked ok with one standard bulb installed.
The turn signal circuit is not connected to the stop/ tail light circuit right?
Wrong, when i took the 5 wire to 4 wire converter out and rewired my trailer to separate turn signals the problem went away.
Now i can run all LEDs, the feedback was coming from the 5 to 4 converter.
Good catch.
However I want to remind you one point that if a 1157 led bulb and a regular 1157 bulb are used on the same circuit, and there is not a diode protection in the LED bulb, voltage will leak into the regular bulb and find the ground through its filament. This will toast the resistor in the LED bulb sooner or later based on the usage.
 
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