LED Headlight Issues: Amperage and Fuses

[Chrysler kid]

Originally Posted by samwichse

What led bulbs are you using? Do you have a link?

I think he got them for $80 on eBay

Originally Posted by serialk11r

^^ I was wondering the same thing, I have never heard of plug n play LED headlamps. I know you can get "H4" bulbs that are an appropriate power rating to serve as fogs. Maybe these aren't that bright? That said, my old weaksauce OEM halogens + fogged up lenses barely provided much illumination at all.

I can not comment on their performance, the last I really heard about them is the light output was not as good as halogen, they did not seem to disperse light far enough to be considered an "upgrade" to lighting like hid kits were. The benefits of the bulb are that it does take less current to operate which if followed by the proper electrical system modifications can make an improvement to gas mileage by decreasing the alternators load (if you even run an alternator at that point)


It's good to hear that you fixed the problem. FYI bulb grease is dialetric grease you may need to replace the switch eventually though. I'm willing to bet the buzzing was just the switch grounding the power source because of poor contact inside

[OG VX]

Hey guys,
Re-installed the LED bulbs today, and they work flawlessly! Very happy that (so far) this issue seems to be resolved for me.

Perhaps the switch will need to be replaced at some point. However, I'm now very familiar with the 92-95 combination switches, so a future swap and/or re-build should be much easier at this point. I'm very glad that removal of the steering wheel is not required, as it is on other Honda's (Accords, specifically) from this era.

LED's I purchased are here

These are, indeed, a full plug-and-play "conversion".

They are very "new". I don't pretend to be an expert on LED headlight conversions by any means, but here is what info. I have to offer/share at this time:

1. Amperage used/required is lower than standard halogens

2. Output is slightly less than halogens. The difference is negligible though. The LED headlight bulbs that came out about a year ago on Ebay were low output units, and had output similar to DRL's. Once you start looking around, these units are easy to spot out. Once more info. comes out on these newer units, it will be more obvious that these new kits are suitable as stand-alone headlight bulbs. The key: look for the cooling fan unit at the back of the bulb. If it doesn't have this, it will not be a standalone headlight unit. . They kits with the fans are, of course, much more expensive than the DRL-type bulbs ($15 versus $80-100).

3. Output looks a lot "cooler"/modern than halogens

4. No projector is required. No need to "retro-fit" a projector, such as with xenons

5. Near instant turn on. No wait time for ballasts to fire, as with xenons

6. Wiring/Connections are simple. Not multiple connects as with ebay xenons. As a result, less potential connection issues. Blows Xentec connections/system away.

7. Military grade construction. So beautiful, they belong in a museum. Must see/hold to really appreciate. Pictures don't do these units justice. Thing of beauty, for real.

8. More expensive than (Ebay) HID's. Paid $80 versus $30 for a Xentec.

9. Prices appear to be rising, not lowering. So, hurry and get "on board" before this craze intensifies.

10. LED wattage ratings are lower than halogen, but equal higher. So, a 20W LED kit equals the output of a typical 55W halogen bulb. My kit ordered was 20W. However, this was discontinued, and a newer design that was a 30W set was sent to me. Now, same company offers 40W kits. I'd go for these, if I could.

11. Hi/Low, dual fitment bulb. One LED fires for low-beam. Flicking on high-beam activates the 2nd LED. The cutoff is also higher for the hi-beam. The design is very well engineered.

12. Color is a "cool white" w/ a hint of blue. About 5500K on the Kelvin scale. Think of a very pure, intense, Silverstar bulb. No glare, like a (non-focused/projected) xenon bulb.

13. Fans are built into the backside of the unit. These cool the xenons. Unsure at this point if they run all the time, or just intermittently when the bulbs reach a certain temperature.

14. My bulbs are "CREE-type" LED's. They are knockoffs, essentially, of the CREE bulbs. But, are supposed to be great quality.

15. Shipment time took about 10 days from China. Seller was very professional and was a great communicator.

So far, highly endorse them. A great way to get an upgraded look w/o having to (1) get a high-intensity halogen bulb with a low life ; or (2) Xenon "upgrade" that is temperamental at best, and looks terrible unless appropriate projectors are retrofitted.

Hope this helps!

[serialk11r]

Nice! I've been skeptical about LEDs since I've seen a lot of people say their replacement bulbs aren't anywhere near as bright.

I was thinking, you know those mini bulbs that turn on at the first click of the stalk? Parking lights or whatever? Mine are burned out, so if these LEDs are a little weaker than OEM bulbs, and then I add in a set of LED parking lights, that should be a pretty good amount of total light output. At least not any worse than the pathetic OEM lights.

BTW, I don't see any fans on those. Are those heatsinks good enough for 20W heat dissipation? They look a little small to me...maybe adding a mini computer fan would be a good call.

[2000mc]

Any chance of a beam shot comparing halogen to led? Reason I'm still running halogens vs hids is that most kits will have poor cutoff, and light scattering due to putting a hid into a halogen housing

[freebeard]

Given a good test shot (OEM vs LED/H-4 vs a proper HID projector), I'd get these. Or maybe anyway. My fenders are probably too shallow for projectors.

[serialk11r]

Mini-bump, I just bought some of the highest powered version 168 bulbs off Ebay (these except without the projector lens https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...wer/1701/4011/) to use as parking lights. They claim 350 lumens and 3W, which I can believe based on the size of the metal housing and the claimed current levels (lower current LEDs are more efficient). If that's correct, I'll get a whopping 1/3 of a standard HB2 low beam's brightness from the parking lights alone! Combined with DRLs (the main headlights at lower voltage) I might have as much light as a full standard HB2 halogen!

I also have my finger on the trigger for one of the LED kits with a nice fat heatsink for the headlights when they go out, which may not be anytime soon. Someone on Spyderchat posted a picture of the 50W/bulb versions and it is staggeringly bright compared to a Sylvania Silverstar, so I think a 30W will do nicely. Beam cutoff is messy compared to stock but when taller tires go on the rear, my car will be raked forward by more than 1 degree from stock.

[NeilBlanchard]

I have some 20W (low beam) H4 bulbs that are brighter than typical 55W halogen bulbs. The issue is that the heat sink makes it very hard to install the wire retaining clips. I will have to cut away the sides of the plastic housing so that my fingers can fit in to put the clip in place.

The "neck" of the bulb needs to be longer, or the housing has to have a lot of free space around it. I won't buy a bulb that has a fan on it, as this puts the longevity of the bulb onto the longevity of that tiny little fan.

[freebeard]

I got a set of LEDs based on a mention here that I can't find now. They came in a box instead of the blisterpack, with no brand name; the part number is 2HL-H4W-1800LM. They were $55.

If I had seen the pic posted beforehand I might not have gotten them, because the hi/lo cutoff is as shown. The headlights are not high enough off the road to be strictly legal (21"). I cranked them down a few degrees so the hot spot is about 10-20' ahead of the car. The high beam does add light higher up. I saved the halogens, so if one of the fans goes out I'll go back to those.

There was a link to taillight bulbs here I can't find (1165, 1167(?)). I think that next I would do the backup lights, one's out already anyway.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

I have some 20W (low beam) H4 bulbs that are brighter than typical 55W halogen bulbs. The issue is that the heat sink makes it very hard to install the wire retaining clips. I will have to cut away the sides of the plastic housing so that my fingers can fit in to put the clip in place.

The "neck" of the bulb needs to be longer, or the housing has to have a lot of free space around it. I won't buy a bulb that has a fan on it, as this puts the longevity of the bulb onto the longevity of that tiny little fan.

Crap, I didn't think of that...the clips are hard enough to install without a heatsink in the way.

[freebeard]

One problem I didn't mention is the Hella H-4 has a rubber boot over the bulb that I didn't reinstall since it would block the fan's airflow. Beetles w/o the sloped glass cover ('67 and later) have an air gap between the headlight ring and the reflector assembly. The buckets fill up with water and dirt.