LED Front Blinker Question

So I ordered the 7505 kit but I got the 1156 bulbs with the 180 deg notches instead of the 150.
I REALLY don't wanna go through the hassle of returning and waiting for the right ones, would it be okay if I just shaved one of the notches down to make it fit?

wow there's a lighting forum now too?
Anyways, is there nobody out there that can help???? JL??

yup, just shave one of the notches, no problem

Just shave one of the notches off, it will work like a charm

All right cool, I shaved one notch, installed it, mounted the resistors in the recommended locations, instant on/off effect, everything wonderful

HOWEVER

After driving around for a bit, I noticed a faint burning smell and even some really light smoke coming out of the driver's side from under the hood
From my computer engineering labs, it smelled to me like a burning resistor. I immediately park the car, turn it off, open the hood, and there is nothing! The resistor is obviously really hot, but not touching anything except metal. I would think that it would be the resistor but nothing was coming from there. So I'm wondering, has anybody ever had this happen with the kit? Are the resistors just "breaking in" or is there really a short somewhere? Any recommendations?
The connections that were made to the blinker socket using the provided blue wire taps were clean, and were wrapped with electrical tape once done.
The driver's side resistor is sitting directly on metal next to the airbox and has no place to move. Should the taps we wrapped individually perhaps? Could there be arcing taking place?
I don't want to drive the car until I make sure this is resolved.

Any help from the people at JL?
BTW the lights are awesome, great product and fast delivery

Are you 100% sure the burning was coming from under the hood and was not something you drove by or your tires?
JL

Originally Posted by Jlevi SW

Are you 100% sure the burning was coming from under the hood and was not something you drove by or your tires?
JL

Yes, I am 100% sure. Also when I was driving myself home, it was already starting to get dark outside. In the beam of light coming from my headlight, you could see some light traces of smoke coming from the driver's side corner. I have taken the bulb out and inspected it, and have also double checked the resistor and have seen no signs of burning. The only thing I have not done is unwrapped the wire taps. I will be checking that tonight.

OK get back to us.

I think the best thing to do is to run the car and turn on the lights, open the hood, and watch carefully!
JL

Originally Posted by Jlevi SW

OK get back to us.

I think the best thing to do is to run the car and turn on the lights, open the hood, and watch carefully!
JL

Hey JL
Thanks for the help so far.
That is exactly what I did last night. First I unscrewed the corner lens, took out the socket from the lens housing and kept the bulb plugged in. Turned on the lights and had the car run for a solid 15 mins. Resistors obviously got really hot but there was no smoke. I thought maybe it was because the hood was open and so it was getting more air than it normally would so I closed the hood and kept waiting, nothing at all. I then remembered that I saw the some of the smoke when I was making a left turn (ie: the drivers side blinker was going on and off) so I turned on the blinker and let it keep blinking for approx 10 mins both with the hood open and closed. Still, no smoke or smell or anything. Last thing I did was take off the electrical tape from the wire taps to inspect the taps and make sure there is no signs of burning. They're both perfect.
So as of right now, it SEEMS like everything is fine but it just seems really strange to me that it would have that smell and signs of smoke coming from the driver's side of the hood and the corner lens the first time I drove it and now there is nothing. Tonight I will be driving the car for a longer period of time so perhaps that will be a better test. I will post up my findings if anything later tonight or tomorrow.
In the meantime, have you ever had anybody report something like this? Is there such a thing as a break-in period for these resistors, having them behave in such a way the first time they get really hot? The resistor on the driver's side is sitting directly to the right of the stock airbox on the flat area of metal which is directly infront of the driver's side shock tower. The engine bay is painted I believe, could it be a reaction with the paint?
In any case, I will post up my findings from my drive tonight and take a picture of the engine bay where the resistor is located.

those resistors get real hot, maybe they are burning something under the hood

Originally Posted by BMWPower06

those resistors get real hot, maybe they are burning something under the hood

That's what I thought too but they are securely attached to metal and only metal. There is nothing else that can possibly touch them.
I will take a few pics tonight, I'm hoping that this was only a one time thing since it was all brand new. I appreciate everybody's help and insight.

I recently installed some LED turn signals that I got from JLevi. I installed the resistors on the wheel wells in the same manner as you described. I haven't encountered any smoke, but I could swear there was a slight smell of plastic burning. It only happened once and for a short period of time, but I did the same troubleshooting as you did, and came to the same result. There is no indication that anything is wrong. I assume it was just an ambient smell as apposed to something on my car.

I highly recommend AGAINST doing this type of install. The wheel wells are PLASTIC and will get melted by the heat of the resistors. Install them in the empty portion of the fender or against any NON PAINTED metal part of the car.

Originally Posted by TrippinBillyFL

I recently installed some LED turn signals that I got from JLevi. I installed the resistors on the wheel wells in the same manner as you described. I haven't encountered any smoke, but I could swear there was a slight smell of plastic burning. It only happened once and for a short period of time, but I did the same troubleshooting as you did, and came to the same result. There is no indication that anything is wrong. I assume it was just an ambient smell as apposed to something on my car.

Interesting.
With me I definitely know the smell was coming out of my car. You could distinctly smell it from the driver's side front corner. With the hood open, the smell goes away (I would imagine it's because it's getting a lot more air that way). The smell did seem to be trapped in the heat shield material for a while. Regardless, as of yesterday, there was no smell at all so it seems like it's a one time thing but we'll see after I drive the car for a bit longer. I'm hoping it's nothing.

Originally Posted by Nick@Jlevi SW

I highly recommend AGAINST doing this type of install. The wheel wells are PLASTIC and will get melted by the heat of the resistors. Install them in the empty portion of the fender or against any NON PAINTED metal part of the car.

I'm not sure if this is what billy meant but I will try and illustrate where the driver's side resistor is mounted.
This is the closest picture to the area that I can get without snapping new pics (I'm not currently at home)


Basically the resistor is placed towards the bottom left corner of this picture. You can see the stock airbox to the bottom left, there is a bare metal surface to the right of it. There is no way the resistor can touch the plastic casing of the air intake. Is this location okay or should it be moved?

sorry, i got the terminology wrong i meant fenders! exactly where tutankhamon's pic is showing. it was definately metal (i used self-tapping metal screws to secure it).

Sounds like it may have been a fluke, but keep us updated
JL

well the LEDs themselves dont get hot at all so the only thing it could be are the resistors

In that case, that location is perfect. That's where I have my driver's side resistor