License plate light: replacement and selection

When and why it is necessary to replace license plate light

The license plate light has no lifetime limit specified by the manufacturer. It requires replacement if the lense got melted, cracked or cloudy, the lamp cap is broken down or fasteners are torn off. Also the lights can become unserviceable due to corrosive damaging of the contacts. These defects are usually caused by usage of the light source of excessive wattage, voltage variations in the car on-board electrical system, constant effect of vibration or moisture, or a damage as a result of a road accident .

You can make the conclusion about license plate lights defectiveness if the components do not activate at their turning on, or their light becomes dimmer than usual. Cracking, loss of part mounting position, melting of the lamp cap can be detected visually.

In order to replace the license plate light bulbs, you need to de-energize the car electrical system. The components do not require complex replacement: at breakage of one part, you can replace only it.

How to select license plate light

The construction of the license plate lights depends on the light sources used in it: most of all they are incandescent lamps, LED lamps or LED strip. The incandescent lamps are the cheapest, but notable for small light efficiency and shortest lifetime. The LEDs differ by the highest light intensity. In addition, they heat up less, efficiently consume energy and have a long lifetime. Another advantage of the LED lighting is stability to voltage variations in electric circuit. The disadvantage of the LED lights is their high cost.

The LED strip is an auxiliary source of license plate lighting. A few LEDs protected by silicon sheath are used in it. Due to this, the light sources are more resistant to destructive effect of moisture, dust and vibration.

High-quality license plate lights are produced by world renown manufacturers which have vast experience in automotive lighting technologies. Hella, Van Wezel, Tyc, Johns and others are amongst them.

Selecting the components, consider the lights fasteners: they should match the connectors in the luggage compartment. Use lamps only of the wattage allowed by the vehicle manufacturer.