AACstyle P13W LED

[fieldgoal00]

Originally Posted by RedJewel2SS

do you believe this is going to shorten the lifespan of the stock halos or sidemarkers also? i am using your wiring harness that you provide with the DRL bulbs.

No, this will shorten the span of these at all. Like they stated it is only the PWM signal that is affecting the LED's in your DRL's. This also only affects them when they are run in Auto mode because that is when the PWM signal is used to power them. When you use their harness that they sold you, you are powering your P13W's from a true 12v source which is being fed from the Sidemarkers.

[khislop007]

Originally Posted by Jonathan@AACstyle.com

I know a lot of you are frustrated right now about the P13W bulbs not lasting as long as they should. We have been taking defective bulbs and testing them to see if there was any fault when we built the lights and nothing appears to be wrong with the bulbs themselves.
What we think is going on is the Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) Signal is sending fluctuating output voltage/currents to the P13W bulbs when they are set on "Auto" mode and because of this fluctuation the lifespan of the bulbs is being drastically shortened.
The P13W bulbs we sell for the DRL replacements for the RS equipped models are the same exact bulb we use for our 5202 LED replacement bulbs for the Non-RS equipped vehicles. The only difference in the back housing of the bulb that is different due to the difference in connectors for the two different models. We have seen a very small percentage of 5202 LED bulbs being returned, which further solidifies our assumption that the PWM signal that is being sent to the DRL bulbs from the factory harness is the leading factor to the problem customers are experiencing with the P13W bulbs.
In Non-RS equipped vehicles, since the Fog lights are actually Fog Lights, the circuit being fed to the replacement 5202 LED bulbs is actually a 12V non-modulated source which does not cause any interference with the operation of the 5202 LED bulbs.
We are working on a solution for you because we do not want any of you to be frustrated with our products. Right now we have an Advanced MECP and an electrical engineer working with us to get the problem rectified.

I guess a relay kit like what they use on HIDs would work good for this.

[RedJewel2SS]

Originally Posted by fieldgoal00

No, this will shorten the span of these at all. Like they stated it is only the PWM signal that is affecting the LED's in your DRL's. This also only affects them when they are run in Auto mode because that is when the PWM signal is used to power them. When you use their harness that they sold you, you are powering your P13W's from a true 12v source which is being fed from the Sidemarkers.

right, but during the day when in auto mode, the DRL power is feeding the sidemarker and halos... so shouldn't this signal be sent to them during the day as well?

in the 8 months i've had it installed nothing other than the DRL bulbs has gone out. just wanna make sure my stock halos don't burn out. i'm sure the stock halogen bulb in the sidemarkers is fine.

you guys think this is what is causing some of the burn outs people are getting in the sidemarkers as well? considering those with them burning out have the sidemarker wired to the DRL using your harness.

[sting808]

Originally Posted by Jonathan@AACstyle.com

I know a lot of you are frustrated right now about the P13W bulbs not lasting as long as they should. We have been taking defective bulbs and testing them to see if there was any fault when we built the lights and nothing appears to be wrong with the bulbs themselves.
What we think is going on is the Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) Signal is sending fluctuating output voltage/currents to the P13W bulbs when they are set on "Auto" mode and because of this fluctuation the lifespan of the bulbs is being drastically shortened.
The P13W bulbs we sell for the DRL replacements for the RS equipped models are the same exact bulb we use for our 5202 LED replacement bulbs for the Non-RS equipped vehicles. The only difference in the back housing of the bulb that is different due to the difference in connectors for the two different models. We have seen a very small percentage of 5202 LED bulbs being returned, which further solidifies our assumption that the PWM signal that is being sent to the DRL bulbs from the factory harness is the leading factor to the problem customers are experiencing with the P13W bulbs.
In Non-RS equipped vehicles, since the Fog lights are actually Fog Lights, the circuit being fed to the replacement 5202 LED bulbs is actually a 12V non-modulated source which does not cause any interference with the operation of the 5202 LED bulbs.
We are working on a solution for you because we do not want any of you to be frustrated with our products. Right now we have an Advanced MECP and an electrical engineer working with us to get the problem rectified.

I bought Fieldgoal's harness. Overall, very nicely done. I'd like to add a fuse to the main hot and add a second relay. Use the DRL PWM as trigger for relay #1 and side marker(original harness design) as trigger for relay #2. Use the common fused hot to feed both relays for switched power for the DRLs. Helm manual shows PWM source in schematics, but I didn't get a chance to look for details for operation modes. Don't know why they just couldn't use simple, negative switched, relay designs. Easier just to convert DRLs to mechanical relays with 12v source.

When I took my car in for warranty work, work order sheet cited BCM log messages due to customer replacing LED bulbs, not related to warranty problem. I wonder if they used PWM to monitor DRL functionality.

Got my replacements and so far, so good.

[drtwo]

I was also going to get the DRL replacement....hmmmm

Are you going to replace all the bulbs that were defective? Standing behind them?

[fieldgoal00]

Originally Posted by sting808

I bought Fieldgoal's harness. Overall, very nicely done. I'd like to add a fuse to the main hot and add a second relay. Use the DRL PWM as trigger for relay #1 and side marker(original harness design) as trigger for relay #2. Use the common fused hot to feed both relays for switched power for the DRLs. Helm manual shows PWM source in schematics, but I didn't get a chance to look for details for operation modes. Don't know why they just couldn't use simple, negative switched, relay designs. Easier just to convert DRLs to mechanical relays with 12v source.

When I took my car in for warranty work, work order sheet cited BCM log messages due to customer replacing LED bulbs, not related to warranty problem. I wonder if they used PWM to monitor DRL functionality.

Got my replacements and so far, so good.

We can certainly add a second relay and we actually had designed one like that, it's just the question are people willing to pay more for this addition to the harness?

[Support@OracleLights.com]

Originally Posted by SS Drifter

It sounds like you guys got lucky. My DRL LED replacements didn't fit and this seems to be a very common problem. AAC's solution is to modify the base with an xacto. BS in my opinion. I didn't pay $69 for a bulbs with bases that are out of spec... They are kind of pain to get to ya know. If they were advertised as great LEDs, no warranty and they might not fit I probably would have passed on buying them.

Quality problems happen but, you don't keep selling parts out of a bad lot. You fix the problem or discontinue the product. I have to wonder how many C5 members are stuck with DRL bulbs that don't fit right.

Originally Posted by drtwo

I was also going to get the DRL replacement....hmmmm

Are you going to replace all the bulbs that were defective? Standing behind them?

We always stand behind our products!

[fieldgoal00]

Originally Posted by sting808

I bought Fieldgoal's harness. Overall, very nicely done. I'd like to add a fuse to the main hot and add a second relay. Use the DRL PWM as trigger for relay #1 and side marker(original harness design) as trigger for relay #2. Use the common fused hot to feed both relays for switched power for the DRLs. Helm manual shows PWM source in schematics, but I didn't get a chance to look for details for operation modes. Don't know why they just couldn't use simple, negative switched, relay designs. Easier just to convert DRLs to mechanical relays with 12v source.

When I took my car in for warranty work, work order sheet cited BCM log messages due to customer replacing LED bulbs, not related to warranty problem. I wonder if they used PWM to monitor DRL functionality.

Got my replacements and so far, so good.

A fuse was not added to the wired harness to reduce cost to the end user, it isn't really necessary since you are feeding an LED light. We had one on our wireless harnesses due to the fact we were powering a remote control box.

[sting808]

Originally Posted by fieldgoal00

We can certainly add a second relay and we actually had designed one like that, it's just the question are people willing to pay more for this addition to the harness?

I think your product commands the price it does since it uses proprietary connectors not found in auto/electronic stores. Same goes for AAC's custom P13W bulb replacement. I wouldn't mind paying extra for the matching relay and fuses. I prefer use of fuses, being old school safety, regardless of low-risk factor.

I took the harness apart to see how it was designed. I like your attention to detail regarding color code usage, wire tapping, heat shrink, and installation for the novice. I don't like "butcher" job solutions just because it's the cheap way of doing it.

OCD/anal retentive guys like me need psychological help.

IF PWM(auto mode) is a contributing cause for the isolated failures, this solution will help.

Sorry for the semi OT reply.

[GB EB]

Originally Posted by SS Drifter

The quality control of P13W LED bulbs are extremely poor. They don't fit properly and many buyers buyers are have premature failure. AAC just keeps selling the same junk.

As much as you may want to believe that this will work, don't waste your money. This only incourages more scams like this one.

[TaylorRyanSS]

I have had mine on since 4/6/11. One went out today and they have only been installed for not even 4 months yet. They look great, but I was hoping they would last a little longer. I PMed AAC and hope they can get me out a new one ASAP.

[c_LoW29]

I have a friend that owns a dodge charger that ordered their Halo kit to install it. I cant count how many times he is telling me either the ring or something else has gone bad on it. So this isnt anything new.

[The Stig]

But the thing about the p13w bulbs is that AAC knows what the problem is, and they inform the consumer what the problem is. Then they even tell the consumer how to fix the problem. If you don't want to fix the problem you can spend the $30 and upgrade to the plasmas which have 0 problems.

People who complain about the shoddy p13w bulbs I have no sympathy for, because their are multiple options as to how they can fix the problem. They just choose not to.

[TaylorRyanSS]

Originally Posted by stieger

But the thing about the p13w bulbs is that AAC knows what the problem is, and they inform the consumer what the problem is. Then they even tell the consumer how to fix the problem. If you don't want to fix the problem you can spend the $30 and upgrade to the plasmas which have 0 problems.

People who complain about the shoddy p13w bulbs I have no sympathy for, because their are multiple options as to how they can fix the problem. They just choose not to.

But the plasmas do not match the headlights. They have more of a blueish tint and the p13w bulbs match perfectly.