Thinking of upgrading your vehicle’s brake lights, turn signals or parking lights and replacing them with LED bulbs? If the answer is yes, then the first thing to find out is to know the type of plug in your car.
Generally, there are two basic types of bulb holders that exist on any car, namely SRCK and standard. The main difference between a standard type and SRCK is the position of the contacts on the ground. Although both plugs look alike, there is a significant difference in the location of the ground contacts.
The identification of the plug type is extremely crucial for the correct operation of the entire configuration. Each type supports only one distinctive type of LED bulb. For example, if a normal standard LED bulb is inserted into a SRCK type, the LEDs will not work properly. In addition, the LEDs can also blow the fuse that protects the lighting circuit. The only way to find out what type of plug has been installed in your car is to test it properly.
Read below to discover the different ways to test the type of bulb holder that is provided on your car.
- Turn on the lights and connect the test light to the 12 volt positive on the battery.
- Once the battery is connected, probe the contacts in the different sections of the socket.
- As the tester lights up, the ground connection of the plug is indicated.
- Each opening has two distinctive ground terminals that must be separately identified.
- Ground connections, on all standard plug types, are always on the opposite side. If the earth is indicated on the opposite sides, the bulb holder of your car is of the standard type.
- However, if the ground terminals are indicated on the same side and are connected, then the plug is of the SRCK type.
There is no set of rules that can reason the type of openings installed on a car. The only way to find out is to test it in the way mentioned above. Once you have found the type of bulb opening installed in your car, you can easily purchase the complete Non-Polar SRCK/Normal Compatible LED bulbs to illuminate your car, both in terms of appearance and utility. If you buy the LED bulbs without knowing about the types of bulb holders, you might end up damaging your entire car lighting setup as the protection fuse might blow.