LED died after a few weeks.... WTF

tangerine3 · 2012-05-29T23:33:47+00:00

My 50+ year old farm tractor had no indicator lamp to indicate theignition power is on. There is no key, just a push-pull switch. Thereis also no gas gauge, so I never know when it will run out of gas. It'sno big deal to run out of gas. I just need to make sure I keep a 5gallon can on hand. The problem is that when it runs out of gas, Ioften forget to shut off the ignition switch, and if that switch stayson for a few hours, the battery is dead.I went to Radio Shack and bought a LED "pilot light" (has a built inresistor and an enclosure around it). It's made for 12 volt. (Thetractor has a 12v battery). I installed it, and it worked great.Within a few weeks I noticed it would flicker, get dim, go back tonormal, and so on. Eventually is just died, after only a few weeks ofuse. Yea, the wiring is fine. I intentionally chose a LED to avoidchanging burned out bulbs.Why would a LED burn out so quickly? I should mention that the tractor has an alternator from a modern car,with built in regulator. These tractors originally had an old generatorwith eternal regulator, and were 6 volts. Almost everyone who stilluses them have converted them to 12v, which is simply changing to amodern alternator, getting a 12v starter, changing 2 headlight bulbs,and putting a different resistor on the ignition coil. And of courseusing a 12v car battery.Maybe this is just the result of buying crap from Radio Shack....But I wonder if the vibration of the tractor or something else causedsuch a short life???

May 29, 2012 21 Replies

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David Eather 14 years ago

The zener will clip any positive spikes. If it is a negative going spike then the zener will simply conduct like any other diode. Either way it protects the LED.

We have failed to address the fundamental truth that endless growth is impossible in a finite world.

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tangerine3 14 years ago

Now that you mentioned Masey-Fergeson, I know where the name came from. Masey-Fergeson is a name I've heard quite a bit, but most of what I've seen with that name is other farm machinery, such as balers, combines, hay mowers, etc. I'm guessing that Masey bought Fergeson, and combined the names. Your tractor must have been before that merge.

I kind of think that aside from the 3 major names JD, Intl, and Ford, the other lesser common brands are more regional, due to where they were made and sold.

I got a GMC truck that needs a rebuild for the same reason. Coolant in the oil. I'm looking for a different engine, seems easier to change it than rebuild it, but old tractors are a whole different matter, engines are not easy to find.

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