America Idiot Light Upgrade

I struggled with mine too but I found some cheap LED bulbs from China that just plug straight in (Ebay or Aliexpress have them for about a pound each). The ones I got were called 'bulb LED T10 W5W no polar'. Apparently the 'no polar' means they are not sensitive for polarity and this is important for the indicator which reverses polarity between right and left indications. The ones you need have all the LEDs facing upwards and mine look like they are set in red metal. I got different colours to suit the different lights but white ones should be OK instead.
Just had a look, £3.87 for ten bulbs on Ebay, search for 'white LED Z2787'

 

There are some upgrade kits availabe on the internet. I did my America 5-6 years ago. I can now see my idiot lights, even in the daytime in our desert sun. BIG improvement. I think I got mine from newbonneville.com ...J.D.

 

Well I’m sorry Bob, but I think you’re a bit off in your explanation there too.
The reason you can’t use LEDs for the indicator warning light is nothing to do with their polarity, it’s to do with the resistance shown to the flasher relay circuit which isn’t high enough for the relay to operate correctly. A filament lamp gives enough resistance for this to happen.
The current flow through the warning light is in the same direction whether it’s a left or right indication. The LED will still only work one way round so if you put it in with the wrong polarity it won’t work for either direction.

 

Sorry to be the first one in this thread to mention the polarity issue, I thought it would help. The LED bulbs I mentioned do work for all lights including the indicator. The challenge with the indicator light is the polarity (as it is reversed between right and left signals) and not the resistance of the bulb (apart from the fact it is a diode so the current can only flow one way through it).

 

Why do you keep saying ‘polar’ and ‘non-polar’? LEDs are all the same, they are a Light Emitting Diode and as such allow current flow and hence light output in one direction (or polarity) only. This is how a diode works.
The only type that is different is a Zener diode which will allow reverse polarity current flow above a predetermined voltage.
I can’t explain why your LED worked as you say without seeing the circuit diagram and flasher circuitry. Maybe there’s a resistance difference in the circuit depending on which polarity the LED is in. Can’t be certain without seeing it I’m afraid.

 

The non polar bulbs have circuitry built in that makes sure the LED always receives a current the correct way to illuminate it. This means it will illuminate when plugged in either way in a normal socket (eg as a normal light) in which a simple LED will only work one way round. That's why we keep saying non polar, as thats what these bulbs are.

 

I think I'll get mine too before the Polar bears return............

 

Ah, I see. There’s additional circuitry involved. Can’t say I’ve ever seen them referred to as polar and non polar. They must also have an additional resistor to emulate the load of a filament lamp then I guess.

 

You weren't be playing nice, so I took the ball home.