DIY LED Headlights

[winkosmosis]

I'd use a reflector and diffuser, or textured reflector, rather than have exposed bulbs which can cause eye damage.

[Christ]

I wish the sun had a reflector/diffuser... and most cars' headlights. But that's just a wish, and they're not really necessary, if you don't look directly into them... LOL.

[winkosmosis]

LED headlights are new and interesting so chances are someone will look at them directly

[Christ]

The Sun is old and boring... yet people still look at it directly too.. LOL.

I'm not saying that they shouldn't be covered, but I'm also not saying that people shouldn't just have enough common sense to look directly at a light designed to let you see in pitch black up to 300 feet in front of you... come on.. gimme a break.

I guess what I am saying is that if we make the world safe enough for all the stupid people, they'll never learn to not be stupid... The first couple of times you look into a light that bright, it's not going to hurt you, but you'll learn quickly that it bothers your eyes, and you won't do it anymore... If you're dumb enough to keep looking into it, well, think Darwinism. I'm a believer.

[Funny]

I agree with ChrisT, If people are stupid enough to get themselves into a situation and get hurt, it was meant to happen. Natural Selection has been stunted and people that should have never grown up to have kids are being protected and reproducing. Bring back Natural Selection - Get rid of OSHA .

[Funny]

Repost....

[captainslug]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

exposed bulbs which can cause eye damage.

Which would require exposure to a concentrated output of 1500+ lumens. Which isn't at all possible with LEDs.

[metroschultz]

Originally Posted by Funny

I agree with ChrisT, If people are stupid enough to get themselves into a situation and get hurt, it was meant to happen. Natural Selection has been stunted and people that should have never grown up to have kids are being protected and reproducing. Bring back Natural Selection - Get rid of OSHA .

And give me the bumper sticker

"Safety is for Sissies"

[I-S]

High Brightness LEDs can cause eye damage.

Also, they are not yet as efficient (ie lumens per watt) as HID systems. Further difficulties arise in the way that LEDs produce heat - they require heatsinks/fans on the back of the headlight (the fans using 5W or so of power), and because they don't radiate heat forward, the front glass of the headlight will need a heating system for cold weather. In other words, yet more efficiency losses. HID is currently the most efficient lighting system. Expect to see LEDs become very significant in main beam and DRLs, but for low-beam use they may take a long time to supplant HID. I work for a semiconductor company making driver chips for LEDs, and have some experience with them.

[oldpecan]

I think those Audi LED headlights are a $5,000 option. [edit: Wrong. they used to be a $5,000+ option on an Audi sports car, now, on a different model, they're standard. Captainslug's link is a little better for technical info

New all-LED headlamps are standard on Audi R8 V10 - AutoblogGreen ...]

slightly OT

what if daylight running lights were relocated to the front of the rear view mirrors?

Seems to me that that would make your car safer, e.g., more likely to be noticed by oncoming drivers, even when your car is following a vehicle.

And LED's would make nifty front-of-mirror DRL's.

Imagined rebuttal: It's illegal for a little car to mimic the light locations of say a Ford F-250 pickup truck.

Rebuttal to imagined rebuttal: You mean to say, it's written into law that my little 2,500 lb. car MUST remain UNSAFE? "Unsafe", as in: (relatively) unseen by other drivers?...even when this little DRL location change could make life safer for lightweight cars?

mods, feel free to re-locate this post for safety! or any other reasons!