Anyone uses Ebay LED headlight bulbs

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I did some searches and there are 120-led bulbs available that give roughly 10W of power that should (in theory) be equivalent of 60W incandescent and say 40-50W halogen.
Anyone experimented with those?
 
Same problems as what you'll see with the turn signal or brake lamp replacements -- optics are all wrong in a reflector or projector assembly. Both rely on a filament being extremely tiny, whereas those [censored] LEDs have a very vague focal point. The housing won't effectively throw the resulting light, and you'll put out a lot of glare.
 
I would also find 10W highly suspect. LEDs need cooling, and there's no way they can get adequate sinking, in that form factor, for that amount of power. It either won't deliver the output, or it will and it will roast. Any true engineered LED application will use a current-regulated controller to get best brightness, without overcooking due to thermal runaway and fluctuations in vehicle voltage.

google "led driver" and see what comes up. there's a lot for diy, plus accent lighting. they all run "drivers."
 
They probably throw off a ton of glare. Not sure they're even legal either. Which means you maybe cited for it. Probably cheap chinese junk.
 
I use them in a JEEP that I run on trails,I use HID setup on my daily drivers where I can. They ARE not DOT compliant in my application or state, BUT I wanted to experiment so I threw them in a 93 ZJ. I have E-code "reflector" housings (glass) with the LED 900? replacement bulbs. I got CHEAP CHEAP ones form EBAY and another pair from DDM tunning (IIRC) the cheaper pair were actually impressive but advertised as 5000K when in reality they are probably closer 8000K (disgustingly purplish) anything beyond 5500-6000K you are loosing usable lumen's of lighting output, the better ones were 6000K and seem dead on (a bit whiter than high noon sunlight).

The above posts mention heat sink's and using in a reflector or projector housing.....these are kinda old school problems.
The bulbs I have, have a heat sink core that the bulbs mount over. The diodes themselves are a specific viewing angle and directed in a manner that utilizes your reflector housing design, actually pushing the lighting back into the reflector and allowing the reflector to divert the light forward.

All that being said I would be willing to bet they are not DOT compliant in your vehicle or state. IMO I would move on to something like an E-CODE upgrade, HIR's or a true HID setup, HID'sare second to none IMO.

From inside my 04 WJ I can see (what seems like) two football fields away, but yet when standing in front of the JEEP you can stare directly at the light and almost have to double check if its turned on !

HID's have gotten a bad name with allot of people, Due to people that half [censored] there lights and just add an HID bulb and ballast kit to there OE light housings, doing this is VERY dangerous for other drivers. Than you have the guy who goes to AAP and buys "APC" BLUE TINTED bulbs and thinks he has "brighter better lights" .
 
I was curious, so I checked the 'bay. Sure enough, there are some Cree based LED bulbs for H4 applications that are 25 watts. They look impressively built and are rated at 1800 lumens on high beam and 1100 on low beam. About the same as a 80/100W H4 halogen.

They typically go for $70-100 so these are not something I want to experiment on, until I actually see them in use.

I am very much in favor of the new generation of shielded HID kits. They are very capable of providing proper downward illumination and sharp cutoff, without blinding oncoming drivers. AND robust high beams.


HID:


Big-Xenon-HID-Bulb-H4-H-L-8867.jpg


LED:

676496538_098.jpg
 
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Originally Posted By: Cujet
I am very much in favor of the new generation of shielded HID kits. They are very capable of providing proper downward illumination and sharp cutoff, without blinding oncoming drivers. AND robust high beams.


As you know, cut-off is just one factor of an effective lamp system. It's often given much more weight than it deserves, often cited as the go/no-go gauge of a cheap retrofit someone does. Beam spread and proper distribution within the beam are much more critical, both to others' safety AND to your own. Having too much foreground light is as objectively dangerous (though it may be subjectively "awesome") as not having enough foreground light.
 
Originally Posted By: Scooby
I've delivered some fire apparatus that had the LED replacement sealed beam units. IMPRESSIVE is an understatement!!


Excellent use of the technology (as long as it's from a quality manufacturer). As long as the entire lamp system (including reflector and source) are designed holistically, it can yield outstanding results. HID technology is really just a stepping stone from halogen to LED and beyond. Many premium lamp systems now (and even those found in more pedestrian vehicles like Accords and Corollas) use LED technology; the industry is quickly moving in that direction.
 
Originally Posted By: wsar10
I use them in a JEEP that I run on trails,I use HID setup on my daily drivers where I can. They ARE not DOT compliant in my application or state, BUT I wanted to experiment so I threw them in a 93 ZJ. I have E-code "reflector" housings (glass) with the LED 900? replacement bulbs. I got CHEAP CHEAP ones form EBAY and another pair from DDM tunning (IIRC) the cheaper pair were actually impressive but advertised as 5000K when in reality they are probably closer 8000K (disgustingly purplish) anything beyond 5500-6000K you are loosing usable lumen's of lighting output, the better ones were 6000K and seem dead on (a bit whiter than high noon sunlight).

The above posts mention heat sink's and using in a reflector or projector housing.....these are kinda old school problems.
The bulbs I have, have a heat sink core that the bulbs mount over. The diodes themselves are a specific viewing angle and directed in a manner that utilizes your reflector housing design, actually pushing the lighting back into the reflector and allowing the reflector to divert the light forward.

All that being said I would be willing to bet they are not DOT compliant in your vehicle or state. IMO I would move on to something like an E-CODE upgrade, HIR's or a true HID setup, HID'sare second to none IMO.

From inside my 04 WJ I can see (what seems like) two football fields away, but yet when standing in front of the JEEP you can stare directly at the light and almost have to double check if its turned on !

HID's have gotten a bad name with allot of people, Due to people that half [censored] there lights and just add an HID bulb and ballast kit to there OE light housings, doing this is VERY dangerous for other drivers. Than you have the guy who goes to AAP and buys "APC" BLUE TINTED bulbs and thinks he has "brighter better lights" .


I'm always skeptical--- my instinct is to echo hokie's light distribution as an area of "yea, but..." that probably still applies, BUT--- based on what you are saying, that sounds much better to me than how HID conversions started. Much more promising.

I too agree that HID is just a stepping stone. Very excited to see where LED can go. Heck the warm white cree lamps sold at home depot, to me, give off better light than the best CFL, and arguably more pleasant than some incandescents.

Unfortunately, there's still a bunch of [censored] out there. sitting in front of me is an "1800 lumen" LED flashlight. per the spec for the LED itself, it can't push more than maybe 600 as it melts down. it looks, mm, maybe 50% brighter than the 150lumen one sitting beside it. We'll see the same gimmicks with LEDs as we did and do with HID.
 
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I've been seeing some Harley's around with LED headlights. Interestingly, they almost look like they are "off" when oncoming during the day. Yet, they seem to illuminate very well.
 
If those Harleys are using the Harley-branded Daymaker unit, they are indeed excellent headlamps. To my knowledge, Harley contracts with JW Speaker for those assemblies and Speaker makes top-shelf stuff.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
If those Harleys are using the Harley-branded Daymaker unit, they are indeed excellent headlamps. To my knowledge, Harley contracts with JW Speaker for those assemblies and Speaker makes top-shelf stuff.


Ah ha! That makes sense. The ones I see look similar, so it's likely to be as you say. I'm impressed.
 
I have bought several led bulbs for headlights that fit 9005/9006 bulbs. I have tried both cree 35w and up to 120 smd's. This was in a 2004 Silverado with stock headlight housing. They look bright but not enough light output.
I was lucky to see with a beam over 30ft. They work great for a drl. I use them in my high beam and put my hid in the low beam.
 
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