LED CANbus | Philips (2023)

FAQs

Do LED lights need a CANbus? ›

Why do LED bulbs sometimes need a CANbus adapter? If your vehicle's lighting is not producing the wattage your vehicle expects, the canbus system will detect this, and interpret it as a fault - again triggering an error message.

1. Take out the LED bulb and replace it with the stock bulb, turn on the vehicle, and confirm if the error message is cleared. 2. Turn off the vehicle and re-install the LED bulbs (make sure it is the correct side of polarity or else the vehicle will record the error message again).

First things first—let's define the CANBUS term itself, which stands for Controller Area Network Bus. CANBUS LED bulbs work with your vehicle's advanced inner computer system. Vehicles that are CANBUS-compatible have a system that is equipped to respond correctly to these products.

CAN bus errors can occur for several reasons - faulty cables, noise, incorrect termination, malfunctioning CAN nodes etc. Identifying, classifying and resolving such CAN errors is key to ensuring the continued performance of the overall CAN system.

Notes: Flickering is caused by the Canbus electrical system. It pulses the power to the headlights to increase bulb life (for halogen bulbs). They stay energized just long enough so you never see the flicker. LED's can turn on and off so fast that you can usually see the flicker.

Checking Device CAN Port

Unplug the connector from the device. Measure resistance on the connector pins of the device between CAN HI and CAN LOW. The resulting resistance should be between 28k – 50k ohms. Measure resistance between CAN HI and GROUND.

Maximum Bus Speed

The maximum speed of a CAN bus, according to the standard, is 1 Mbit/second. Some CAN controllers will nevertheless handle higher speeds than 1Mbit/s and may be considered for special applications. Low-speed CAN (ISO 11898-3, see above) can go up to 125 kbit/s.

In fact, using CANbus bulbs on non-CANbus cars may sometimes cause issues like hyper flashing or flickering, since the built-in resistors may not be necessary. If you're not sure whether your car has a CANbus system or not, it's best to consult the vehicle's manual or contact the manufacturer for guidance.

Canned lights are just that, a “can” that houses the light bulb and is installed inside the ceiling. An LED recessed light (“canless”), on the other hand, does not have the can around the lightbulb. It is instead wired directly into the ceiling.

CAN LED bulbs be used in CAN lights? ›

In fact, most remodeling recessed lighting uses LED bulbs because of the ease of installation, as well as the energy efficiency. LED bulbs last much longer than other kinds of light bulbs. You won't have to change them as often once you make the switch.

In fact, using CANbus bulbs on non-CANbus cars may sometimes cause issues like hyper flashing or flickering, since the built-in resistors may not be necessary. If you're not sure whether your car has a CANbus system or not, it's best to consult the vehicle's manual or contact the manufacturer for guidance.