I have a 1999 Magna to which I have replaced the regular bulbs in the brake and turn signals with L.E.D. bulbs. I also added a licence plate frame with a row of L.E.D. lights that are tied into the brake light.
I have been having problems...after I've riden about an hour...she dies. The battery does not have enough juice to turn her over. However, I can jump start it.
A friend suggested that the cause of my problems was the L.E.D. lights. He claims that they draws more power and overload the system causing my battery to drain.
Any comments?
Properly functioning LEDs draw far less power than incandescent bulbs. Your friend is misinformed.
Curtis
LEDs draw almost no power compared to the conventional bulbs. One of the reasons why people move to them is to lighten the load on electrical system so they can run other attachments.
Also, I was told by a lighting engineer that unless the lense covers and fixtures were specifically designed for LEDs (to have the lights close to the lense) they will not be brighter then the conventional bulbs in the fixtures.
I think your problem may just be a coincidence or possibly linked to any wiring you may have bump while installing the LED license plate. But there are certainly better electrical experts here.
My first question would be how old is the battery and I would start with it they have been know to cause issues and with this cold weather coming I will bet this will not be the last electrical post lolololoollool...
2 times a year that a battery has caused me problems is the first cold spell and the summer heat.
LED's as previously mentioned use very little in the way of power and we have folks who leave them on all night and still never even notice when we start the bike the next day.