LED Headlight

[jonathan150cc]

Originally Posted by Christ

Kinda hard to fit 120 LED lights and 450ish mirrors into a common headlight housing, I'd think.

Well I know it would be rather difficult for the everyday Joe but this seems like a good principle that I would think wouldn't be too hard for a manufacturer to copy. Doesn't have to be actual mirrors either. Just some super reflective plastic coating.

Then, the maker could market an actual "Eco-bright" headlight (something that these new Sylvanias are not) due to a low power draw and long life expectancy. They could be sold at a premium...Instead of using lots of small ones they could use just a couple of the super powerful singles.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by jonathan150cc

Well I know it would be rather difficult for the everyday Joe but this seems like a good principle that I would think wouldn't be too hard for a manufacturer to copy. Doesn't have to be actual mirrors either. Just some super reflective plastic coating.

Then, the maker could market an actual "Eco-bright" headlight (something that these new Sylvanias are not) due to a low power draw and long life expectancy. They could be sold at a premium...Instead of using lots of small ones they could use just a couple of the super powerful singles.

And you can bet they would be - negating the potential fiscal benefits of buying them.

[jonathan150cc]

Yeah, but that hasn't stopped home LED lighting from reaching the shelves. I mean, why on Earth would I spend $40 for a single LED light bulb that uses 11 wats of juice when I get 2 CFLs for $5 and they use 13 watts?

It would take many years for the power savings to ever pay off but people obviously are buying them or they wouldn't be supermarket shelves...

[Christ]

Originally Posted by jonathan150cc

Yeah, but that hasn't stopped home LED lighting from reaching the shelves. I mean, why on Earth would I spend $40 for a single LED light bulb that uses 11 wats of juice when I get 2 CFLs for $5 and they use 13 watts?

It would take many years for the power savings to ever pay off but people obviously are buying them or they wouldn't be supermarket shelves...

You have extreme faith in people knowing the difference between efficiency and novelty, sir.

How many people do you think buy them out of impulse solely? How about the ones that are looking for any excuse to show how "green" they are? (I use green in this case in quotes to emphasize that they're only pretending, and in reality, know nothing of the lifestyle which they tout.)

Frankly, if people had a little more fiscal sense, things like this wouldn't be an issue to begin with.

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by Christ

Kinda hard to fit 120 LED lights and 450ish mirrors into a common headlight housing, I'd think.

Wagonman76 -

I say go for it. I'll consider it on my next vehicle, since Cara is no longer an option for modding (totaled, being picked up at some point when I get my insurance check).

After some more thought, I'm fairly certain you're correct about the reflector pattern of the light housings. I'd want to be sure to mount the LED's on a reflective (mylar?) surface, though, because the diffuser lens will partially reflect light back toward the mounting plate. Best to salvage every photon we can, yea?

I'm interested to see your results here. I assume you'll be doing this with a spare square light? (From one of your GM vehicles.)

PC board would be so handy because of the premade aligned holes, plus the copper on the back to anchor them well in solder. Maybe if I painted the LED side of the PC board bright white? Of course there isn't going to be much space between the LEDs anyway.

I would be doing this on the 6000 wagon. I already have an extra set of identical headlights from my old 6000 wagon that I removed when I put the plow on, and will probably never use them again.

I'm thinking that the +/- 20 degrees light angle on the LEDs would keep the beam from being super directional. If it's too much, then hopefully squaring off the LEDs, combined with the diffusion of the headlight lens, would make a good beam. If the beam is now too straight I could dress a stone dremel wheel as a concave tip that is +/- 10 degrees or whatever, and hit each LED tip with that using a slow drill.

[jonathan150cc]

I think we're knocking on the same door but at a different house.

I agree with you. People would purchase it, no matter if it made fiscal sense or not. That's all I'm suggesting. My only argument is that the energy savings would be more significant for the consumption conscious driver while also being a, I think, sounds principle as to how to get LEDs into headlights.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by jonathan150cc

I think we're knocking on the same door but at a different house.

I agree with you. People would purchase it, no matter if it made fiscal sense or not. That's all I'm suggesting. My only argument is that the energy savings would be more significant for the consumption conscious driver while also being a, I think, sounds principle as to how to get LEDs into headlights.

No, we have the same point, but in different words.

Just messin with ya. I know what you're saying, and we are indeed in agreement. I do have a gripe with "new technology" being priced out of even it's own advantage, though.

There are companies selling solar installations around here that the TTP is like 20 years... but the TTL is only 15.

Wagonman76 -

The mylar suggestion was just to paste it onto whatever you're going to mount the LED's on. I don't think mylar is conductive, but you may want to check for that. With the limited space between diodes, it's probably only going to be a few lumens lost to light absorption anyway, but I suppose if you're going to build it, you should build it the best you can, eh?

Up to you entirely, just a suggestion to keep all those lumens facing forward.

I look forward to your experiment/results!

[Nerys]

mylar is MOST DEFINITELY conductive. big time :-) but not a big deal. Just use a board where the holes are the same size as the LED HEAD. mylar the front and push the LED's i n from behind. Now no contact between the mylar and the led posts. would take a hell of a lot of soldering though. Wow :-)

aim might be less a problem than you think. I am thinking go with projector head lamps (fewer led's so you would have to use a QUAD arrangement of headlamps) and simply "adjust" the projector till you get the beam spread you want. (in theory)

[Christ]

Something I wonder about is depth of the lights compared to the diffuser. I don't think that the diodes can be touching, but they shouldn't be too far away, either. Since the diffuser is effectively a lens, there is an optimum depth of light source where the beam will converge at a specific distance.

I feel like we need to give thought to lamp depth, shape, and diffusion angle (in the case of LED's, because they're narrow-band diffusers, but can be made wider/more narrow)

[wagonman76]

That's something I'll have to play with. I'll probably just build the LED board, cut open a headlight case, and hold it outside at different depths in the case to get a rough idea. See how it compares with the headlights of my other cars. Then make an adjustable bracket to mount the LED board to the back of the case. Then when done I can aim each LED board so the brights and dims line up correctly to each other on a wall 25 feet away. Then there should be no more adjustment needed to the LED boards. I would think most of the light should go directly forward, since with incandescents you shine them on a wall to aim them and they do make distinct lit areas.

I think if we get something close it should be fine. There is quite a difference in headlight visibility between different vehicles.