$14 L.E.D. Headlamps

[mans]

2 Car H7 6W SMD LED Bright White Head Light Bulbs Lamp | eBay

good, efficient, and cheap headlight bulb replacement?


I welcome all feedback. if anyone has tried these already, please let me know.

( someone has raised the issue of these possibly having an incorrect beam pattern which might blind other drivers. I don't see why this should be the case, they look like nice headlamp bulbs.
however since I havent tried them yet I can't say ,but if it turned out to be the case I have a solution:
It wont be a plug-in-swap as it will require some modding the rear of the reflector plate.
I'd have a piece of 3" diameter PVC plumbing pipe, and I'd cut a piece around 2-3 inches long and mount the led so it shines through the pipe. I now have a narrower then usual light beam,and I can control the width of the beam by shortening or lengthening the pipe.
now all we need is to have them pointing correctly downwards and no oncoming motorists will have a problem. -again, I welcome all feedback)

[Ryland]

Those LED's are for single beam headlights, so if your vehicle takes a single filament bulb that LED they should work fine.
Otherwise I'd be worried about them over heating, 6 watts of heat is not a lot but over time, in an enclosed space, they are going to get hot, the version that is sold on Amazon for $45 has a single review saying that they burned out after 10 days of use.

https://www.google.com/search?aq=2&o...w=1024&bih=475

shows some that have all three contacts, of course there is no saying how well they really work and a number of them require you to buy 29 or 32 of them at a time.

[mans]

the ones in my link can be bought one set at a time for $13.59

as to the cooling problem it can be solved for $1. here: DC 12V 2 Pin Brushless Cool Cooler Fan For VGA Graphics | eBay

the amount of power this fan takes is rediculously small at around .03 amps.
(the larger 60 mm fans take .04A and .48watts. this one is only 2/3 that size, so I guesstimate .03A. small enough to put anywhere!)

[Josh8loop]

These will most likely put out the equivalent light that a 20-25 watt light bulb would put out. Stock headlights on a car are around 55 watts. They might be ok for accent lights or backup lights etc, but not suitable for headlights. Don't let that stop you-they are really cheap and you can experiment.

[mans]

Originally Posted by Josh8loop

These will most likely put out the equivalent light that a 20-25 watt light bulb would put out. Stock headlights on a car are around 55 watts. They might be ok for accent lights or backup lights etc, but not suitable for headlights.

why is that?

doesn't 6w LED equal around 50w-60w incandescent?

I understood fluorescent was about 1/4 the wattage of the incandescent bulb, with led's using only 1/2 (or even less then 1/2) of the florescent. that would be about 1:9 or 1:10 so 6w led should give like 50w-60w equivalent.

am I making a mistake somewhere?

[Ryland]

That is very true that they are not going to be very bright, 400 lumins is about the best you can hope for if they can put out 70 lumins per watt, 40 lumins per watt is pretty common for cheap LED's but some of the better ones are getting up to the 70 lumin range, Car headlights tend to be closer to 800-1200 total lumin output.
I wouldn't want to introduce fresh air into a head light either, even with a decent air filter you are still going to get a fine dust building up on the inside of the reflector over time.

Even with that, they are still an impressive LED and cheap too, they would work great for other uses if they didn't have to hold up to being on for an hour or so at a time.

[mans]

Originally Posted by Ryland

That is very true that they are not going to be very bright, 400 lumins is about the best you can hope for if they can put out 70 lumins per watt, 40 lumins per watt is pretty common for cheap LED's but some of the better ones are getting up to the 70 lumin range, Car headlights tend to be closer to 800-1200 total lumin output.
I wouldn't want to introduce fresh air into a head light either, even with a decent air filter you are still going to get a fine dust building up on the inside of the reflector over time.

Even with that, they are still an impressive LED and cheap too, they would work great for other uses if they didn't have to hold up to being on for an hour or so at a time.

if thats the case perhaps u can put 2 in the fog lamp nacelles and 2 more in the headlights. total 4 bulbs and 24w instead of 110 w.

the 4 bulbs should swing it perhaps. may need to raise up the beam from the foglights a tiny bit, they are usually directed at the ground very steeply downward.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by mans

perhaps u can put 2 in the fog lamp nacelles and 2 more in the headlights. total 4 bulbs and 24w instead of 110 w.

You are better off running HID lamps. You can get em for about the cost of the 4 bulbs on Ebay, and they draw 70w total. Most importantly, they give off more light which should make for a safer trip as long as they are adjusted to not blind oncoming drivers.

[mcrews]

wow......
why dont we just go back to 4 ply tires..........
Headlamps are designed by computers SPECIFICLY for the hotsopt of the bulb that is in them. PERIOD.
so EVEN IF it had the same lumens, it would not 'work'. oh, you'll get light...with a glare pattern!

And dont take a picture of the front of you car and say 'see...lotsa light!"
take a picture of the light pattern on a dark road before and on a wall before. then com-are with you led.

or .........just do what you want.

I am amazed how many people are aba testing aero mods, but dont understand the science behind the lights. THe .0001% gain in mileage from the lower electrical pull is completely offset by 1. the illegal & 2. inferior light.

[mans]

Originally Posted by mcrews

THe .0001% gain in mileage from the lower electrical pull is completely offset by 1. the illegal & 2. inferior light.

when u are trying to lower your electrical load so you can run without an alternator then 24w total draw instead of 110w draw from your headlamps is a major accomplishment. (alternator delete= 8-10% increase in mileage)

converting a car to ALL led's is the first step.

disabling the alternator and putting a 100amp hour battery in your trunk is the second.

lowering your aero drag from .32 to .29 is the next. (very achievable)

then you hook up a relay on the brake pedal so your alternator will charge when you are on the brake to extend battery life a little (or will provide for a bit less on the overnight charging when back at home)

Doing just the alternator mods will raise fuel efficiency by like 8-10%. add the aero mods and your even higher, a total of 13-15% wouldn't surprise me.