LED fog burning out...

I just purchased a set of LED fog lights for my 2007 and have already burnt through two bulbs on one side. The passenger side seems to be OK but the drivers side is the problem. I installed them the day that I received the first shipment and they came on fine. The next morning they came on fine again but after my 15 minute ride to work, they were toast. I emailed the company and they sent me a replacement immediately, no questions asked. I received the replacement bulb yesterday and exact same thing happened again.

Anyone have any ideas of what could be going wrong? Burning through two different bulbs leads me to believe that there may be a problem with the connection or wiring of the light. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Royce

 

Bump for Monday morning. Nobody has any input on this?

 

Check the voltage and amperage going through the bulbs. If its higher than the rated amount, that's your issue. Also, are the bulbs rated for 12v use?

If all of this is okay, it's highly possible that either the housings are too small to disperse the heat or you have another heat source that is frying the LEDs.

 

I appreciate the input. What do you mean when you say "the housings are too small to disperse the heat"? I don't believe that the LED's put out any heat but I could be wrong.

I will check the package tomorrow to confirm that they are 12v. What throws me off is why I haven't had a problem on the other side...

 

Contrary to most people's belief, LEDs actually do output heat. It's just much lower than the output of a typical incandescent lightbulb. I mean that the housing may be trapping in more heat than the what it may be letting out. Essentially, the heat from the bulb and an external source (radiator, engine, headlights, etc.) may be building up in that one particular housing and burning the LEDs up. If LEDs get too hot, have too much voltage PR amperage going through them, they will burn out very quickly.

It may be possible that the wiring has more resistance on the driver's side than the passenger's side which may create an increase in the current to the point that it burns out the LEDs.

 

Thanks for the clarification. So it's possible that the increase in resistance on the drivers side would burn out a LED bulb very quickly but not an incandescent?

 

Incandescent bulbs have a wider range of operating voltages than LEDs. An incandescent bulb's filament can withstand a higher or lower voltage up to a certain tolerance (lower is dimmer, higher is brighter but it reduces the life and may just burn out the bulb very quickly) whereas a 12v LED bulb is made of numerous cells each operate around 3.1-3.4 volts. They're wired in series and parallel along with a resistor so that the LEDs get the proper voltage and amperage they need. If there was added resistance in the wiring (dirty contact, corroded wiring) it would increase the amperage going through the circuit. Higher amps = more heat. So any excess amperage in the current may be heating up the leds to the point that they fail and burn out.

Take a multimeter and check the voltage and amperage going through the bulb on the passenger side and compare it to the driver's side.

To check the amperage, set the multimeter to amps. With the bulb plugged in, place the multimeter in series with the bulb. Take that reading and compare it to the driver's side.

To check the voltage, set the multimeter to volts. With the bulb removed, place the positive lead on the positive (hot) wire and the negative on the negative (ground) wire. Compare to the other side.

You can also check the resistance in the wiring by setting the multimeter to Ohms. Take either lead and connect it to one end of the wire and the other lead to the other end of the wire. The resistance should be 0 ohms or very close.

 

Wow...great information. Thanks for all of the help!