LED's work in some outlets, but not all.

[shaw520]

Bought a package of (20) LED bulbs, 1156 compatible,.. and they work in some outlets but not all..??? And it's not the bulbs because I tried altering them. It's definitely certain outlets, and the old filment bulbs work fine... stumped..Is this a grounding issue

 

[wrvond]

What do you mean "altering" them? LEDs are polarity sensitive, if one doesn't work one way in the socket, flip it over and plug it in. It should work then.

 

[JoLin]

<deleted>

 

[H20Rat]

What do you mean "altering" them? LEDs are polarity sensitive, if one doesn't work one way in the socket, flip it over and plug it in. It should work then.

1156 bulbs can't be flipped...

But, I'd be willing to bet the original installer wasn't too careful on his + and - wires when they installed the lamp fixtures. Get out a multimeter, I'd be willing to bet the ones where they don't work are wired with + to the outside of the fixture. filament bulbs don't care.

 

[shaw520]

1156 bulbs can't be flipped...

But, I'd be willing to bet the original installer wasn't too careful on his + and - wires when they installed the lamp fixtures. Get out a multimeter, I'd be willing to bet the ones where they don't work are wired with + to the outside of the fixture. filament bulbs don't care.

This is what I suspected,.... SeaRay would be the original installer,...but like mentioned with 1156 filament bulbs it didnt matter.

 

[wrvond]

1156 bulbs can't be flipped...

But, I'd be willing to bet the original installer wasn't too careful on his + and - wires when they installed the lamp fixtures. Get out a multimeter, I'd be willing to bet the ones where they don't work are wired with + to the outside of the fixture. filament bulbs don't care.

Hah! Good catch!
I was reading 1156, but I was thinking 921 since that's what I just changed out in one of my campers.

 

[wrvond]

This is what I suspected,.... SeaRay would be the original installer,...but like mentioned with 1156 filament bulbs it didnt matter.

Sea Ray is usually pretty reliable. Does your boat have the dual bulb fixtures? One is for 12vdc and the other is 110vac, both in the same fixture. Of course the 110 bulb has some kind of European base bulb, hard to mistake for an 1156...

 

[hemi rt]

If the sockets that they don't work in are 12 volt sockets, pull the socket/light fixture and reverse the two wires feeding it and it should work, as stated above the LED is polar sensitive and the fixture may have been wired in reverse which would not affect a normal bulb.

 

[wrvond]

Before doing that - did you swap out the LEDs that don't work with LEDs that do work in other sockets? If you go swapping wires and the LEDs were faulty after all, you're going to have to swap them back before new LEDs will work.

 

[shaw520]

Yes, two of the fixtures are 110/12v, those I realize im probably stuck with oem bulbs, but the rest of the fixtures (16 others) are 12v only, guess im a bit surprised/disappointed that SeaRay wasnt as diligent as I hoped, and im sure no one has changed these fixtures, they are all original equipment.

 

[StarTed]

I'd check the connections. LEDs are low current but they do need good connections.

As mentioned before, LEDs are polarity sensitive so they have to be in right or wired right.

There also could be something in the way on the LEDs bases or sockets that prevent an adequate electrical connection. I've seen that on some of the bulbs and sockets from China.

 

[shaw520]

Before doing that - did you swap out the LEDs that don't work with LEDs that do work in other sockets? If you go swapping wires and the LEDs were faulty after all, you're going to have to swap them back before new LEDs will work.

Yes,... made sure of that.

 

[shaw520]

Im going to try and reverse polarity on one fixture right now,.. give me 10 mins and Ill report back

 

[Natesms]

Im going to try and reverse polarity on one fixture right now,.. give me 10 mins and Ill report back

I have a problem in my boat of low voltage to the fixtures. The LED's won't come on unless I get a charge going to the battery (start the motor) to boost the voltage up inside the cabin. LED's seem to be more sensitive to low voltage as the standard bulbs work, just dim.

Hopefully it's just polarity in your case. Let us know!

 

[gm280]

Actually if I am not mistaken, 1156 bulb are single filament type bulbs and therefore the bayonet base can be inserted either direction. The 1157 bulb is a dual filament setup and has an offset bayonet setup and can't be installed but one way. So if you have 1156 LED based bulbs and they don't work one way, swap them 180 degrees and try again. JMHO

 

[bruceb58]

1156 bulbs have only one contact on the bottom and uses the base as ground. Flipping them 180 shouldn't do anything.

Just get a meter out and measure the voltage from the single contact point at the bottom of the socket to the side ground and see if it measures positive.

 

[shaw520]

Ok,... it took a bit more than 10 mins,... because after realizing this IS the prob,... I reversed the wiring on all the non-working fixtures,... and now they all work !,... so there ya go.

 

[wrvond]

I love a happy ending!

 

[gm280]

1156 bulbs have only one contact on the bottom and uses the base as ground. Flipping them 180 shouldn't do anything.

Just get a meter out and measure the voltage from the single contact point at the bottom of the socket to the side ground and see if it measures positive.

Yes Bruceb58, Not sure why I thought it would change the polarity. I was thinking about some other bulb issue I guess. Anyway, Good catch. :sorry:

 

[shaw520]

Out of the 16 fixtures in my boat, only 2 were wired correctly for LED,... so thats 14 fixtures I have to remove/reverse....10 down and 4 more to go.