DIY LED Headlights
 

A few weeks ago, forum user captainslug posted great DIY instructions for LED headlights on his motorcycle. LED headlights will soon be catching on in the auto world because of their longevity and low power requirements, but they’re not quite there yet, probably because of the cost and the relatively low amount of lumens that [...]Related posts:

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A few products I didn't know about until after making my first one

OSRAM OSTAR - 200 to 450 lumen 38deg output, being used in in the headlights for the premium edition of the 2009 Cadillac Escalade

Lamina Atlas - Slightly cheaper than the Endor Rebel and it doesn't require a lens.

An array of ten 200-400 lumen LEDs might be suitable for a full size vehicle, but that would get kind of expensive considering they're roughly $20 each.
My lighting requirements were fairly minimal since I was installing the headlight on a moped that already had a fairly weak headlight.
Even the addition of LEDs to a traditional halogen headlight would be beneficial since the color of the LED light makes reading street signs noticeably easier.

Current hurdles of power density will eventually be overcome by the manufactures. Expect newer individual models capable of reaching 600 to 700 lumens within the next year or two.
A few manufacturers already offer PCB array units capable of 800+ lumens @ 23 watts.

I was thinking about using LED's with projector lenses for my low-beams... if I could get like 200-300 feet of blue-ish/white light (below 6000k, probably closer to 5200k, easier to make out shadows at distance) that would be sufficient for a headlight for me.

I think the biggest obstacle would be proper aiming of the beam that would be created by a projector housing vs an open beam housing, and whether to use an actual projector crystal or just make a piece that is concave on the light side and convex on the emission side.

The problem with this is that projector lights don't seem to have very good side views, due to the beam density created by the lens. Maybe a different idea is in order, for that reason alone.

Humm... I'd noticed this with the LED headlamp (I mean the light's on a headband) I use when biking. Anything reflective - street signs, road striping, cateye reflectors, etc - looks incredibly bright. I'd put it down to the fact that the light source was so close to my eye that I was getting near 100% of the light reflected directly back to me. But if you get the same when the LEDs are in a normal headlight, maybe it does have something to do with the color of the light. I think I remember reading that the actual LED is blue or even UV, and that excites various phospors to give a white spectrum. So maybe excess UV is exciting the reflectors?

One thing that I've seen skipped (not saying cptnslug did) is the reflector housing. Getting the light is easy, anyone can make an array of 20 LEDs outputting the 9007 spec of ~1500 lumens at 55 watts (low beam). Setting the pattern properly so its not creating glare for others or yourself... A friend and I created an eight LED array, but we had problems with adequate beam overlap/coverage and range. We didn't want hotspots in our beam pattern. It might have been the LEDs we were using just had poor light angles (can't remember specs). So far I haven't seen DIY setup that can match any of the 900x series light specs for pattern and light output without consuming pretty much the same amount of power.

I'm no light expert, I just spent the last hour reading about candle, ft-lum, lux, and certainly learned a bit. Given what my car/truck outputs with the 9007 bulbs, the area it covers on the ground ignoring reflectivity, I haven't seen a LED that can match the ft-lumens needed for driving. Not even sure what the 9007 spec is measuring or how.

I think I've brutally confuzed myself. hmm. I still want to create a LED headlight using (thinking outloud now) something in the 30W array with a culminator and projector lens. It's okay if I sound silly, I never took optical physics. Maybe I should.

Random: the Audi R8 is 100% LED now. not much detail about the headlights currently, expecting better news in the following month.

Details on that here: Audi Pioneers All LED headlamp with R8 model - worldcarfans

The low-beam is a set of 3 high-power LEDs angled into a projector lens. The high-beam is a set of 8 high-power LEDs in two reflectors.

Several LED projects i've seen end up creating a 'diffuser lens' by the simple expedient of running an ultra-fine sandpaper across the lens and making it slightly opaque. I've also seen similar done with a layer of 'frosted' lens tape.

What I don't know is how well that would work for headlights-would they still illuminate the road properly?

I love those LED lights in the Link-but are they legal in the US yet?

We also know that typical 3-5mm LEDs have the rounded head on them that creates a light focal point. This isn't very conducive to making a single beam of light when using multiple LEDs.

The fix to this is simple - make the top of the LED flat. This will project the light outward and forward, which will allow it to blend more easily with the output from the other LEDs.

Something to consider when making a prototype light, for anyone who will do it.

How about focusing the LEDs backward into a parabolic reflector.
Line them on the rim facing the center of the reflector and then use a focusing lens to put the light where you want it.?

I was thinking something like that initially, only using a complete sphere, with reflective coating inside, and only a HID-type lens for the light to come out of at the front, which would fit into a socket, and could easily be aimed/adjusted.

So, it would basically look like an eyeball - only reflective inside, and the HID lens would be the cornea. LOL. Dunno how that would work out though, and I'm not THAT concerned about it to try.

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

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.

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

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.

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 :D.

Repost....

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

And give me the bumper sticker

"Safety is for Sissies"

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.

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!

Hid is better than LEDS- correct?

Define "better"?

I am looking to go LED as I want to get rid of the alternator and water pump and one of the largest power pigs is the headlights at 110watts (55 each)

my lights output 1400 lumens. I am going to use a 20watt warm white LED with an output of 1900 lumens. (so after lens losses and REAL lumen output its probably 1200-1400 ie more than enough)

I am going to mount a 4inch by 6 inch by half in solid copper plate where the lights go now with 2 massive solid copper heatsinks mounted onto the backside and the LED mounted to the front.

thats more than enough copper to keep them cool. I make "slot" the front of the copper for both looks and to increase cooling even more !!

my only problem is HOW do I focus the stinking light? I have the copper and the sinks already. I have 2 different LED's on the way from china to test out.

I just don't know how to do that. Suggestions?

HID is just not efficient enough for me. while they are 35watt at the bulb they are 48watt at the battery (driver losses are pretty high) ie only 6 watts less than the halogens. sure you get more light but I do not CARE about more light I want lower power.

I wish someone made a true 15watt (22-24 at the battery) hid system which would put out about the same lumens as a halogen.

So far ever emitter I have gotten is no where near focused enough. "way wide" flood style. at least compared to a car headlight.

I did find some hemispherical lenses an oval one and a "ridged" one thats supposed to give a more "square" like resulting pattern (ie more head light like)

we shall see.

So is my cars headlights LED or HID ready already? I went to a website and there headlights on their example car looked identical to these.. They came with the car so IDK anything bout them..

Attachment 8587

Sorry the picture isn't the best. I just cropped it.

there is no LED ready. they don't make LED yet. there are a few OEM's doing led's on very high end cars and there are 1 or 2 mill app led lights aftermarket for trucks and rv's but VERY expensive.

To help with the voltage drop from the battery to the head lights you should try doing this Headlamp Harness Upgrade

We ran into problems on our semi trucks with LED tail-lights - they don't put out enough heat to melt the snow off, and the trucks were getting ticketed for not having working tail lights when they drove through snow storms. Eventually had to go back to incandescent lights because of this.

Easy solution for the problem on headlights though - wipers. Wouldn't add any power draw to the vehicle unless it was raining, and I believe some countries already require them for HID headlamps.

Here is a solution for the trucks. ever see the old war time vehicles or "old style" cars that have the shades over the lights kind of like the shades over STOP LIGHTS?

install them. ALSO here is an odd but effective solution. WAX THEM. a quick coat of wax before the storm hits will make them slippery enough to be less able to "hold" snow.

also wipers would also work well on tail lights :-) but at that point the added cost of the wipers and their maintenance might exceed the cost savings of the LED.

Another solution might be to use glass or crystal lenses and use the lenses as the heatsink for the LED's

LED's actually make a pretty decent amount of heat but its not directed at the "lens" like a regular bulb. so embed the LED in the lens so they "heat up" the lens.

Insulate the entire light housing except the lens, add 20 watt moisture activated heat coils around the lights. As snow builds up, the coils get turned on and melt it.

If the drivers were stopping for periodic safety checks, the tail light things would not have been as bad. Several of the companies I've worked for identified a lack of periodic safety checks via Independent Witness and data gathering systems.

Incandescent brake bulbs are seldom on, and don't generally develop enough heat to thoroughly melt snow build up, either.

I found this while i was looking up some info on the truck LED's - Truck-lite designed these for use in Iraq, and they meet DOT requirements for headlights. Looking at the power requirements, their real selling point is the 10,000 hours of bulb life

World's First 7" LED DOT Headlamp Released -- World’s First 7” Round LED Headlamp Shows Bright Possibilities for Commercial Applications

They draw 57.6 watts each on high beam (115.2 watts total), and 32 watts each on low beam (64 watts total). Bolt in replacement for Par 56, H6014 and H6024.


Posted the reply to the truck tail-lights at http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post257223 -- Didn't want to hijack this thread

...interesting, but I didn't see any price listed. One or two arms & legs?

Two arms and one leg?

MSRP $1,499.99 for a pair or $749.99 each

Found them online for $649.99 per pair here

TruckLite’s 7” LED Headlight - Trucklite Military LED Lamps

They had to do the sealed beam style because US DOT (NHTSA) won't allow changing the light source style in a composite lamp assembly. I believe they do allow changing the light source in a sealed beam assembly, since the lens, reflector, and lightsource are all the same unit.

...can't use them on any of our current cars, but was remembering how I switched the yellow fog lamps on my 70 Cuda out for 12VDC "aircraft landing" lamps which could blister paint at 50 feet (ha,ha). Only really used them on divided highways at night cause they were REALLY BRIGHT.

Here are some LED aircraft landing lights for $189.95, from Aircraft Spruce Co. Perhaps we could use one high power light, and run fiber-optics out to the front of the car for the headlights. Like some of those decorative light displays do.
SUNLITE LANDING LIGHTS
The SUNLite is a wing-mounted LED (Light Emitting Diode) landing light with a built-in wig wag mode in addition to its standard operation as a landing/taxi light. The AeroSUNLite is a very intense light source that uses 4 high power LEDs to produce up to 800 lumens of light using 12 watts of power.

...hey CFECO, what's that yellow vehicle in your avatar? Looks almost like a trike.

It is the latest "iteration" of my former "Auto X-Prize" car, which died on the vine due to funding "issues". As I explained to Neil, I also lost my shop to work in, as well as the AutoCad I was designing on. For lack of CAD, I went to PhotoShop to get a reasonable facsimile beyond paper drafting. It actually has*, four wheels, four seats, and is a propane fueled hybrid.



*..."has", as in what it will have, if and when completed?

...got a larger image to show us (me)? Looks interesting, including the mini-door...and YELLOW is always an "eye catcher" color.

I do not know how right now, to get the full size up here. I'll try but if not I will get back tomorrow!...the file was too large? Fix it Sat.

Let's see if this gets to the photo?