Replacing bulb with LED voltage to high?

Question

I am replacing an indicator bulb on my motorcycle with an LED light.

However the LED only take 2 volts while the power coming in is 12v.

How can I get it to work?

Answer 1

there is a little box that you can splice in tho the wiring of the bike for you LED lights when I put LEDS on my wife's bike it would not work with out the little box thing. Sorry cant remember what the box is called. dont you love all the high tec words I use.

Answer 2

you can do it through resistors however you will run into another problem that is most old style turn signals require a certian load felt before they will blink.

you will then need a load leveler ect which can be purchased at various sites. what i would suggest is that you visit sites that make conversion bulbs such as http://www.cfrlights.com/sdc.html?gclid=... and order what you really need and do it the right way instead of making a 1 of a king rig job.

Answer 3

You need a resistor to step down the voltage.Call the manufacture and see if there is a kit to replace regular bulb to LED.I personally would replace it with original equipment. Good Luck.

Answer 4

It doesn't matter how much voltage is coming in because the whole purpose of LED lights is to minimize the use of electricity.  

Answer 5

Is it an LED bulb for an indicator light such as a turn signal or a dash light? If you bought this as a turn signal from a store you should be all set. But if its just one led bulb such as a light for your dash then you are going to need to buy resistors. The easiest way is to go to radio shack and talk to the people there on how many resistors you need. There are voltage resistors that you put on the positive lead wire to the LED to resist voltage to only 2 volts.

Answer 6

dude how can 2v withstand a 12v power? is like asking a dog to pull an automobile. Yep u guessed it it is impossible. u need to buy a LED light with a 12v or higher.

Answer 7

If you have bought the L.E.D. replacement by application (for motorcycle/automotive lighting) there would be no question of it's suitability.

Answer 8

Technically - you can use a resistor, it takes a larger "sand block" style of resistor that is made to handle the wattage and heat. BUT GUESS WHAT? This is a "load resistor" and sure the LED has a minimal voltage drop and uses very low current BUT the resistor is now using up the voltage and current EXACTLY just like the filament in a standard light bulb

so in effect you are using more electricity by adding the LED.

You need to control the 12v circuit by reducing the voltage and one way to achieve this reduction efficiently is through the use of a switched mode power supply device like a "buck converter" so less load is used

LED = Light Emitting Diode  (It's not a light bulb, it does not have a filament, it is a Diode that emits photons

  BTW, many 2v rated diodes will handle 12v but for how long or how much life? Some of these diodes are designed for 2v operations but will actually handle far more voltage - it will just reduce how long it can last - the 2 volt rating is the minimum amount of voltage neccesary to turn the device on....