Switched out map lights with LED but?

[Benedetto]

I exchanged the regular bulbs out for some LED on the rear view mirror map lights and they work great but I noticed that they are always on. After the lights fade out if you look closely they will remain on at about a 10th of their normal brightness. Of course I checked the on/off switch and it is off. If i put back one of the regular bulbs it does not do this. I suspect that the circuit is always energized, but why? I then used a voltmeter and found that as one would expect that when the door was open or the map light switch was in an open position there was about 12 volts but after the lights dimmed out the meter read around 8 volts. I wondering do I have a short? Has anyone else exchanged out to LEDs and noticed the same finding? If someone has the chance it would be helpful to see what type of reading you get with a voltmeter under the same mentioned circumstances.

[BLK GXP]

The lights are controlled by the bcm in the car. The circuit is never truly "off" per say. It operates by limiting the current to a level that does not pass enough current to light the lamps. LEDs by their very nature draw significantly less current than standard light bulbs. I upgraded my mirror to one that has the auto-dimming feature. It also has LEDs for the map lights. It has a relay in the wiriing harness to elliminate this problem. You could ad a relay to the circuit to make it a true on/off circuit.

[compdoc777]

It makes no sense to me why they won't change all the lighting circuitry in the car over to LED's. They use a 1/100th the power and last 10,000 times as long. In electric vehicals this would seem like a must.

Yet, in new houses this would save tons on energy costs. Low heat, low power less copper needs to be used. Hell the lights could probably run off a solar panel on the roof that charges a 12 volt batt in the attic during the day giving plenty light for night time use.

I look for LED lights at the store. Guess what they refuse to carry them? Why?!? Somebody must being paying these people off. Solar panels at HomeDepot? They are in the catalog, but they can't sell them in Texas? WTF?!?

[RedSkyMan]

It's all supply and demand. If you sell something that doesn't cost that much to produce for a reasonable price, you'll probably sell a lot of them the first time, but if It last almost forever, you won't be in business very long. Why do you think incandescent bulbs and a lot of other products have a predetermined life span built into them?

[jwolfpack02]

I work for a company that produces the lamps that go into LED Lighting products, so I might be able to shed a little light on your concerns.

You're going to see many more commercial applications than residential apps in the near term because the lighting hasn't gotten to a price point that consumers would be able to recoup the costs. It's coming...we're just not there yet. Also, there are only a handful of working lighting kits, such as the downlight you'll find at Cree Inc : Cree LED Lighting Solutions : The Cree Difference : Overview. If you're installing hundreds of these, you'll save in the long run. If you're installing 5, it's just cost prohibitive at this time. Plus, the light bulb's been around a long time in its current form & it's going to be a challenge to replace it. However, as we move to more energy conservation, it will make adoption of LED solutions even easier.

They're coming...just gotta be a little patient.