Mixing LED's and Incadescent bulbs

[max46]

I installed 3 led's and one incandescent courtesy bulbs. When i just had the three led's they worked great. I then added a incandescent bulb and all the others went dim. Question, can you mix different styles of light bulbs?
==========================================
Update..Cannot mix incandescent and led bulbs on the same circut. Took the incadenscent out of the equation and put in a led and it works perfect.

[chevynut]

There's really no reason you can't mix LED and incandescent bulbs in the same circuit. Who told you you can't ? Why would that be the case? Every bulb gets 12V.

[max46]

There's really no reason you can't mix LED and incandescent bulbs in the same circuit. Who told you you can't ? Why would that be the case? Every bulb gets 12V.

I did find the reason on the net, but can't seem to find it now. They just don't mix. When I mixed them all the bulbs got dim.

[chevynut]

That makes no sense to me. All the bulbs are in parallel, so they each "see" 12 volts and are not affected by the other bulbs in the circuit. I see no logical reason for them to get dim, unless something is wired wrong or you have a bad connection somewhere. If the circuit works with all incandescent bulbs, it should work with a mixture of LEDs and incandescents. Which bulbs are you talking about?

LED bulbs draw a lot less current than incandescent bulbs, so they won't work with a regular bi-metal type flasher. They will stay ON and not flash. You need an electronic timer flasher to make them flash. That flasher also works with incandescent bulbs.

[JT56]

I installed 3 led's and one incandescent courtesy bulbs. When i just had the three led's they worked great. I then added a incandescent bulb and all the others went dim. Question, can you mix different styles of light bulbs?
==========================================
Update..Cannot mix incandescent and led bulbs on the same circut. Took the incadenscent out of the equation and put in a led and it works perfect.

I have both. Haven't seen any issues. My LED's consist of dome, curosity, glove box, clock and instrument cluster.

[chevynut]

I have both. Haven't seen any issues. My LED's consist of dome, curosity, glove box, clock and instrument cluster.

What's a "curosity" light? :)

As I said, there's no reason they can't be mixed, even on the same circuit.

[max46]

I have both. Haven't seen any issues. My LED's consist of dome, curosity, glove box, clock and instrument cluster.


But, and a big BUT, are they on the same circuit???

[JT56]

What's a "curosity" light? :)

As I said, there's no reason they can't be mixed, even on the same circuit.

That is my redneck version of courteous

[JT56]

But, and a big BUT, are they on the same circuit???

The dome light and courteous lights are triggered from the door pin switches. The instrument cluster LED's is on the same circuit as the tail lights. The tail lights have incandlescents in them now.

[max46]

The dome light and courteous lights are triggered from the door pin switches. The instrument cluster LED's is on the same circuit as the tail lights. The tail lights have incandlescents in them now.


I am going to investigate this more. I will find out either way about mixing the different bulbs.

[chevynut]

Max46, I'm not sure what you plan to investigate. In an automotive electrical circuit, virtually everything is connected in parallel. That means everything is getting 12 volts (when switches are on), everything is connected to a common ground, and there should be no interaction among loads. In reality, everything is connected together in parallel from the battery, and the circuits just have different fuses. I don't see how mixing bulbs can cause anything like you say you observed if the wiring is correct. If you find anything, I'd like to see it.