FarmerDave

My socket must've been manufactured in the same production run. Had the same problem tonight. When I twisted the socket it seemed to have rotated enough that it was hitting the backside of the tabs. There was a "bump" in the rather smooth and free rotation which would indicate that a tug straight rearward should slide it right out. No such luck. After much wiggling, prying with hook tools, and more wiggling it finally broke free. Being as how I was in full wiggle mode when it let loose, I broke the glass bulb right off the base just as it released. Now I'm concerned that the bulb will be rattling around in the housing cuz I can't find it for the life of me. Too bad they're not magnetic. Maybe I could try a small hose on the vacuum. I'm fairly certain it cleared the socket flange and dropped into the housing. Took a small cable tie and swirled it around inside the socket hole and wasn't able to nudge anything that felt loose. My question is for anyone who has had their headlight housing removed. Is there anything mechanical in there that a glass bulb could interfere with if I just abandon it? Any moving parts that could be jammed if that bulb finds its way into bad position? Is the housing totally sealed, ie: no opening in the bottom for debris to fall out? Thanks to anyone who has been there and seen what I can't see.

I love the DRLs on the new Caddy CTS! I dont yet fully understand all this new LED stuff, Wiz, and how all the common lighting specifications interrelate, but I'm speculating that it's the color temp that makes the DRL sizzle in the daytime. Maybe its just the nature of LEDs. When coming at you, and you see them side by side, Dan's DTBLs actually appear to be much brighter than my (halogen) headlights. They're certainly much whiter. If you were to judge by that alone, you'd get the impression they'd be like one of the old military searchlights in their ability to reach out. But as for raw illuminating power, what gets reflected back that you can see from behind the wheel - they have absolutely none compared to the regular headlights! Even on 100% the DRLs barely light up a guardrail 15 ft in front of the car. I find this interesting.

BlackEdition, you are da man! I wish I were in your shoes. The "fabricate your own extender" light bulb went off in my head too, but it was after I had already made the connection into my factory wiring. Not a positive move for me now to untap just for the sake of not using a tap. The contact point is better protected now with the PosiTap left installed. The only thought I have on the 3 tab sockets you found is to wonder whether the right angled wire exit (path, direction, orientation - not sure of the correct terminology) will interfere with any part of the headlight housing when you go to twist it in. Being as how the tabs are sized and located so you can only insert the socket one way, it crosses my mind that one side or the other might not be insertable due to housing interference. Not saying you will have a problem here, but something to check on before you do any hardwiring. I'm probably just overthinking this.I see the ebay description says "left side and right side", so if theyre mirror-molded then one or the other should work in each housing. The tabs look the same, tho, on both sockets pictured. I'd be willing to bet that the headlight housings are molded with the tab slots oriented 180 deg rotated rather than there being both a left and right socket as different parts. Let us know whether this ever became a problem for you to use the right angled socket. Also, if you end up getting the decoder harness as a base for your fab, do you get the same screwy results as I did with the decoder in the circuit? Good luck!

Installing the Edge II DRL kit fixed my huperflash issue. I had previously installed Dan's 50W LED rear replacement bulbs and replaced both front turns with LED bulbs. I was getting normal flash with headlights off and hyperflash with headlights on. Evidently with the DRLs installed, the small increase in load on the turn circuit was enough to put me over that minimum resistance threshold and keep the BCM happy. I ended up not being able to use the extender harnesses that I had bought specifically for the purpose of tapping the Edge II turn trigger wires into. The extenders selling on ebay for the 3157 bulb application will not work for the base/socket tab layout of the Edge, at least on my '11 SE. This was something I never even checked until I was right there ready to button things up. Shame on me. I didnt see any different based harnesses listed on ebay, but did see some sockets that looked like they would work. Would have had to replace two-tabbed socket on the extender with correct three-tabbed socket. By the time I discovered my oversight I was so close to seeing the DRLs work that I went ahead and tapped into my factory wiring. BlackEdition, if you end up tapping into your front factory turn wiring, the PosiTap to use is the pink and red one. Part # EX-130RR. The factory wiring is a few guages smaller than the wire they use on the extenders (at least the ones I've seen) and to me it only makes sense to use a PosiTap with the smallest penetrator barb possible so as to do the least amount of damage to the wire. With the extenders I was gonna use, it seemed like the blue PosiTap (pictured above) fit best. This issue happened to be one I did see coming, so I bought an assortment pack of PosiTaps to cover all. Wizard, I respectfully disagree with you on one small point concerning the positaps. You said they do the same kind of damage to the wire insulation as the ScotchLoks and I'm thinking the damage to be not equivalent in two ways: With both tap types, there is interaction between the penetrator and the insulation, and interaction between the penetrator and the wire strand itself. First, on the insulation, the only analogy that comes to mind (and I admit, it's not a good one) would be the difference between ringing the bark around a tree vs drilling a hole in the tree. The metal blade of the ScotchLok has a very narrow slit in it. I'm guessing that upon a good healthy crimp with the pliers, probably 80-90 percent of the insulation is totally severed in one spot. This means that any future tensional forces exerted on that wire must be carried entirely by the wire strand without much benefit of support from the insulation. Second, concerning the wire strand, picture what happens in the crimping process as the relatively soft copper wire gets driven and compressed into the metal ScotchLok penetrator blade slot. Doesnt it seem likely that maybe a few strands of wire might be cut entirely by this sliding action, or at the very least that this action would create a "notch effect" stress raiser? We all know that things seem to break at notches - think concrete and glass. The Positap barb is very pointy and, I feel, will push its way thru the strand, or along side of it without creating this notch effect. The Positap also clamps the wire, insulation and all, in the immediate area surrounding the actual point of penetration preventing any wire flexure at the contact point. What I dont like about the Positaps is how they shoot off at a 90 degree angle to your main run of wiring. With the Scotchloks all your wires run in-line and they could be taped up or conduited for protection. The taps make that difficult. I totally agree with you, Wiz, that the best junction would be the solder & heat shrink type. But how many of us really WANT to do that? It's a pain! Just trying to defend my position, didnt want to labor the point.

This seems to have become the thread for DaytimeBrightLites Edge2 DRL install feedback so I'll enter my observations. I spent several weeks going over this install in my mind hoping for a revelation as to a better place to mount the control box because I really didnt want to use the fuse box lid. I went into this thinking it would be mounted near the core support above the drivers side headlight on a bracket screwed to the air filter box mount as per the one install video. When I sat the box there and laid all the wires out to assess length, I could see the battery wires would never reach. Then, I ran across another video showing the control box mounted to the domed top of the strut tower. This was described in the video as being a nice flat place out of the way. Well, on my Edge it was surely out of the way, but a nut on the end of the strut protruded thru the center hole making it far from a flat surface. Reports were coming in here on this thread that the passenger side yellow wire is too short, so with that in mind I started eyeballing the open area directly behind the battery under the wiper well. I went as far as to make a bracket that would mount onto the battery tray bolt located low between the fuse box and the battery. The bracket was perfect. It twisted up, angled back to the left and held the control box well hidden right where I wanted it. Problem was, that move inadvertently shortened the reach of the bundled wire that has to reach all the way down to plug into the drivers side DRL lens assembly. At that point, I probably could have just reversed the left and right bundled wires (keeping the respective yellow wires with each) and made it work, but would still have had to add on yellow wire at one end or the other and dimmer wire to boot. Anyway, reluctantly ended up mounting to fuse box lid with #8-32 button heads. With each of the four mounting screws I put 3 flat washers between the lid and the mounting ear on the control box as a spacer so that the four screws could be snugged down and would hold the unit by a clamping force. If you dont do this, it will have a tendency to bow the lid. My conclusion and recommendation: fuse box lid - not ideal, but it works. Use it. You will only have one wire to extend - the passenger side yellow trigger wire. I found a donor 14" or so long piece of yellow wire same gauge on an old fried out PC power supply laying in my garage. My biggest shock came when trying to use the turn signal extender harness that we all discussed using on the hyperflash thread. This option was, in my mind, ideal for the purpose of having a place other than the factory wiring to tap into, both for this install and to mount a load resistor to cure hyperflash, if needed. I guess I had assumed (and you know what they say about that) that any 3157 bulb would have a corresponding socket and a standard retainer tab configuration. To my dismay, this is not the case. The OEM Edge tab layout uses 3 tabs and the bulb extension harness uses two wide opposing tabs. I studied this a bit to determine if tab trimming was possible and to me it didnt appear to be. Also, the right angle wire exit at the base of the socket could interfere with the headlight housing if the tabs werent just right. I went back and checked ebay again thinking there might be a different extender harness that would work, but every picture I saw showed the same two-tab arrangement. Guys, listen up! If you are thinking about using the harness, check your tabs before you order. The harness idea would work if you were to go to the boneyard and scab an OEM turn signal bulb base and then do surgery to replace the base on the extension harness. But in an Edge the extenders won't work as China is currently supplying them to ebay sellers. At this point I was so close to seeing a finished product I went ahead and tapped into my factory wiring - something I wanted to avoid. I used PosiTaps for this and am pleased with how they work. FYI - the pink and gray PosiTap fits the OEM wiring the best. PosiLock part # EX-130RR. It's the smallest tap that will fit the wire and hopefully the small penetrator barb will do the least damage to the insulation. These units put out a light that behaves kinda weird. I watched my wife come down our road yesterday afternoon. The Edge2s glowed intensely even in the bright afternoon sunlight. Very eye-catching! Later on, in the dark of night, those same drls barely lit up my big white garage door from 10 ft. away. Not what I expected and NOT something you could ever drive with at night as a primary light source. Guess thats why they're DRLs and not NRLs. I'll sum up by addressing one recurring theme in this thread. Many have mentioned "losing" the courtesy light function. For those of us who never had the pipelight, we arent really losing anything. The same parking/marker/tail/interior array still lights upon opening a door, just not the drls, which for us, never did. Oh, almost forgot the best part. Installing this product alone (no resistors) cured my hyperflash issue! Turns work normally now with headlights ON or OFF. Kudos on a great product, Dan! Thanks!

Well I rec'd my "3157 LED Bulb Warning Error Free Canceler Canbus Decoder Adapter Kit" last Friday. Model Number: BTLC-C3157-B if you want to Google it. As the unofficial Guinea pig on this item, I can now report to those who might be interested. The decoder did nothing positive on my '11 Edge. Not saying they wont work on yours, but they didn't on mine and I cant believe there would be any difference in how your Edge is wired. Wizard must be right (again) in that a "decoder" applies to some kind of CAN bus situation. I had my suspicions too. I am a bit baffled by one importer's website where they did in fact use the word "resistor" in the description. I can only conclude there must be some additional circuitry in a decoder/canceller. Here's what happened with both decoders installed (front only): With headlights OFF: Left turn signal - both L&R bulbs flashed simultaneously at normal flash rate with the left bulb being almost imperceptably brighter than the right bulb. Right turn signal - both L&R bulbs flashed simultaneously at normal flash rate with the right bulb being almost imperceptably brighter than the left bulb. With headlights ON: Both sides steady ON, bright, and no change (no blink) when either turn signal activated. All the while the rears were performing normally. I changed polarity on the decoder as well as the bulb thru all four connection possibilities (two of which didnt work because the bulb itself was backwards) and had same results. Meanwhile, rec'd my Edge 2 DRLs. If we ever get some warm weather, I'll get that install underway. I plan on using the "bulb extenders" mentioned above to tap the DRLs into and can then add a resistor if necessary. Might just be wishful thinking, but maybe the extra load of the DRLs alone will cure the whole mess.

BlackEdition, you are right - theyre not that expensive and I'd be willing to give it a shot and be the guinea pig. I was kinda hoping Mr Wizard would jump in here and help differentiate between "resistors", "equalizers", and "decoders". I think we all know what a resistor is, and equalizer just seems like a fancy schmancy term for kinda does the same thing. Wizard's recommended Dual Load Equalizer device is basicly one box with two resistors in it (I think). But "decoder" sounds like it might perform an entirely different function. Maybe its just a case of the Chinese mis-translating the word, like they do so often in descriptions and instruction sheets. Id like to at least hear a little more before buying. Even tho this would be an ultra simple fix, I still dont expect that unit to fit behind the rear lens. That would mean using a resistor somewhere in-line anyway for the rears, or maybe looking into PJSocket's bulb extender option, which looks really low profile and fills the bill for easy undo. Hell, maybe Wizard's dual equalizer IS the simplest to cover all four corners with the least fuss.

Has anyone ever tried this item? Seems like sizewise might be a lot to digest behind the rear lens, but the front should be no problem. Description says it works on Ford Edge. (and Blinker Fluid free!) Or is a "decoder" different in function and not what we want? Just when I feel like Im learning all this new tech stuff, somebody throws a curve ball in there. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-3157-LED-Bulbs-Warning-Error-Free-Canceler-Canbus-Decoder-Adapters-Kit-/321341156538?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ad16cecba&vxp=mtr

I'm still searching for the drain plug so I can get rid of my stock stuff first.

Wow! What a detailed and thorough outline of a corrective course of action. Thank you, Wiz. I dont know about BlackEdition, but as for me, I feel much better mentally prepared to accept the load resistor solution after hearing how you handled it. Very helpful. Seems as if these resistors must not put out the qty. of heat that some forum posters warn about. Hell, if theyre mounted with ds sticky tape as opposed to needing mounted with heat sinking in mind, how hot could they get? I appreciate the insight on the PosiLocks. I have never used them myself, but have seen some of the videos at their website. One shows the wire after the connector has been undone and removed. True, the insulation was still pierced as it would have to be with any method of tap, but I still think the wire might retain more of its structural integrity by just being peirced by a small point rather than being completely cut straight across by the Scotch lock blade. Small point, I realize, but for the few connectors that would be necessary, the extra cost would sure be worth it to me. Thanks again!

I am new to this forum and would like to add my two cents worth. Like BlackEdition, I just installed my amber front turn lights that I got from Dan at DaytimeBrightLights. I thought everything was OK and that somehow I had dodged the hyperflash bullet until I turned on the headlights. When those are on the signal lights go into hyper mode just like BlackEdition's. So add me to the list of the 10% I guess. The light Dan sells, I would guess to be one of the canbus lights, but to actually Google that bulb and learn more about it is damn near impossible. There just werent any identifying numbers on the card anywhere. I plan on contacting him soon and will verify this. I wouldnt imagine Dan has deliberately misled us on this, as he seems very knowledgeable and wanting to please his customers. Does make me wonder why he would expose himself to a possible 10% return request situation tho. I agree with those here who have stated that the canbus light should solve the hyperflash problem, but now we have at least two cases where it hasnt. On the topic of hyperflash and the canbus solution, the thorough, but easily understandable explanation I've found online is this one: http://ledchoice.eu/en/making-led-bulbs-can-bus-friendly.html What I dont understand is why it's repeated so much that typically only expensive foreign cars use the canbus system and why fooling non-canbus vehicles with a canbus light is a big no-no. The "bulb out" error/warning in the Ford Edge is to hyperflash. Maybe technically the car doesnt have a true bonafide canbus circuitry, but the warning is tripped by the same mechanism - low resistance in the circuit. If the issue is the extra heat created by having that resistor internal to the bulb, I would ask this question: "Have you felt how hot your old stock incandescents get lately?" I swapped my brake lights out soon after they had been on awhile and darn near burned myself grabbing them. The plastic sockets are brown and burnt looking! Like BlackEdition (BE), I really, really dont want to resort to the load resistor. I can understand his reasons, but mine are different. I simply dont want to disrupt the integrity of new wiring in my vehicle by "tapping" into it. Dan and I had this conversation by email awhile back about the tap that he and many others use for this purpose - the one with the little slotted metal plate that you squeeze on with pliers. Only my opinion here, but I believe clipping into a wire using this type of tap opens one up to a variety of failures that can happen down the road including wire fractures, corrosion, etc. I have found a different type of tap that seems less intrusive on the wiring. You can check it out here and decide if it's for you. http://www.posi-lock.com/posiplug.html Perhaps this will make the job of installing load resistors more palateable for those who feel as I do. In reading TheWizard's post above, he seerms like he's been thru this. Please, Wizard, elaborate a little. Could you offer some suggestions as to specifically what locations, wiring junctures, etc. make good mounting areas for the load resistors when searching for that "minimalist" installation. I welcome suggestions. It would have to be in somewhat close proximity to where the turn signal wiring runs, wouldnt it? Has anyone tried the other solution for the hyperflash dilemma - the flasher relay that is made for use with LEDs? I think I read somewhere that the Edge '11 and newer doesn't use the relay and the flash function is performed by the BCM, but I havent been able to verify this and I havent gotten a chance yet to slide under the dash and really look around for a relay. Thanks all!