Jump to content

Labcraft LED Scenelite (SI6)


Happyoldgit

Recommended Posts

I have not used this particular brand name, but do have high brightness LED lights setup in and under my Landy.

Heck my whole house is all LED lighting these days anyway.

But what I find is that the light does not scatter well enough to give a good visual on everything.

For EG: If you point the light on the oil filler cap you will see it perfectly,, But you will struggle to see anything else.

Hope this helps.

Phil....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

£75 :o

I agree with the above comment about "scatter". The lights aren't actually brighter than halogen lights either, I think that is misleading advertising. They appear brighter because of the colour, but I'm sure that's been discussed before.

We have been installing LED lights for emergency lighting in buildings and whilst the pen-pushers are insisting on them because of cost (lower energy - hmm, and less maintenance, well, yes, but only for 5 years) I personally think they have their sums wrong (or have been "sold" them very well at least).

The light is blinding when you look at it (nice!) but gives hardly anything on the floor. Also we have to install more of them for a given area, by which time they can actually be using more energy than the standard tubes :blink:

Also, at that price, you're not likely to carry a spare, so when/if it does go you're gonna be without it for the rest of the night/week/trip. You can't pop into a filling station to get a replacement bulb...

Sorry, not answering your question really. I should change my signature to "anti-LED" :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A couple of people have mentioned 'scatter' as a reason for LED lights not being as clear as incandescent types.

High efficiency white LED's make a white colour by mixing together narrow band red, green & blue light. If the balance is correct, it looks white to your eyes. Sunlight or incandescent light is made up of a mix of many different colours (the colours of the rainbow). Although the LED light looks white and very bright, your eye / brain use the other colours in sun / incandescent light to aid focusing and depth perception - to get more meaning out of the scene you are looking at. You can notice this if you illuminate something with blue light - your eyes struggle to focus correctly.

What this means in practice is that the LED light needs to be much brighter to fill in the perceptual gaps left by the missing colour components.

There are lower efficiency LEDs which fill in more of the colour components and improve the colour rendering and depth perception - but are nowhere near as efficient in terms of brightness per watt. Many of the LED low voltage Halogen replacement bulbs as well as high end torches use these.

I tried driving using a big LED Bar light with a few hundred individual LED's. It was incredibly bright - but focusing on the scene was difficult and it was actually pretty difficult to drive without the headlights on as well. I found it made my eyes hurt. They were from an Australian company who were looking for a UK distributor. They were expensive and although it was very 'bling' (makes your LR look like a flying saucer!) - they were just not as good as Halogens in real-world applications. I declined the offer!

I've tried 4 x 9w LED MR16 bulbs in my X-Lites (at £20 each) and although the depth perception and focus were pretty good - they were not as bright as the Halogens. LED lights will get there eventually - but I don't think they are there yet! I think a 25w MR16 would be about as bright as a 50w halogen.

Si

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To get a higher quality/intensity light output, the LED manufacturing process costs more money, hence the reason you'll notice items like Scene lights (from any manufacturer), Work lamps, spot lamps and rear fog/reverse lamps always cost a chunk more money than their regular LED lamp counterparts. Compare the cost of a Perei NAS/Wolf tail lamp with a Perei Fog Lamp! :o

A cheap strip of £2.99 LEDs from Maplins doesn't have to meet XYZ light displacement criteria laid down by EU/US/Kazakhstan Dept of Meddling Interference that a vehicle lamp does. A good quality LED lamp, irrespective of whether it's as good as a Halogen bulb, costs more money than a regular LED lamp. End of.

If there is serious interest in a group buy I can get hold of the Labcraft Scene Lights from a couple of my suppliers.

FWIW, We've just supplied a bunch of kit to our local Mountain Rescue teams new LR 110. All of the electrical work was carried out by West Yorks Police vehicle workshop and the 110 has come back from the Police workshop covered in Labcraft scenelites!

Kev

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To get a higher quality/intensity light output, the LED manufacturing process costs more money, hence the reason you'll notice items like Scene lights (from any manufacturer), Work lamps, spot lamps and rear fog/reverse lamps always cost a chunk more money than their regular LED lamp counterparts.

Not always....

http://www.mobilecentre.co.uk/led-rear-lighting-70mm-diameter-oem-replacement-c-36_70_190.html

The 70mm reverse lamp is the same price as all the other rear lamps. ;)

The Lab Craft one is more designed to fit a budget - not performance. But for the money, are not bad.

If people on here do want one - I'd speak to Tim at www.mobilecentre.co.uk - as he can supply the identical one as above at a slightly cheaper price.

However...

If people aren't fussed about colour - and could put up with a yellow bodied lamp, rather than black.

Based on a group by of a mimimum of 5.

I can can do the same lamp, but with a yellow body for £62.50 + vat (including UK delivery)

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My new utility does not have the small windows either side of the rear door. I want a reasonably priced surface mount scene light to mount on the panel beside the back door. In the past on other vehicles I've just bolted a halogen worklamp of some description or other but this time I'm trying to move with the times a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yes.

Any good?

currently looking for something similar and waterproof to illuminate my recently purchased husky winch.

Now your 'yes' response would seem to indicate that you have some experience of these lamps in real life however your subsequent comment about wanting one to illuminate your winch appears to indicate otherwise.

Which is it - or was the brief and totally unhelpful 'yes' an attempt at humour?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy