Guest Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks Nick, So I think I am getting somewhere for decent E11 marked units, the only issue now is that the minimum order is 50 pairs, the lights look like they will be a maximum of £125 per pair landed in the UK but could be cheaper. I know that they are expensive compared to a a set of Wipac crystals and Nightbreakers but I think that it may well be worth it, anyway I can't beleive that I am doing this again but I am going to provisionally set up a group buy and see if we can get the numbers...... Thanks for all you your feedback. Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 So having watched and read this thread with interest...... How do a set of LED headlights shine further down the road than a good pair of Hella fitted with Xenonultima when the dip beam is controlled by legislation ? Is brighter better ? Not always Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Hi Jason, At that price i would be interested, but understand your reticence to do a group buy again. I assume the 2 price would be much higher? Also a point to note is that US headlight have a flat cutoff pattern, whereas eurpean have the dip down for the oncoming traffic. LHD euro mainland lights (E non 11) would not suit the RHD UK. I have fitted HID bulb kits to conventional light units before and would not do that again, too much beam spill and loss of pattern. Having said all of that, i'm still very keen to find an affordable and correctly patterned LED for my truck. ( I am in euroland so LHD Exx lights would work for me) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmgemini Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Head lights. Euro lights are assymetric. That means they lift up to the curb side depending on LH or RH drive. This type of light came out in the 1960's by Marechal. Until the all euro lights had a flat cut of. By euro forget UK who were still and did for many years use the BPF which moved the beam downwards to the left without a proper dip pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Mr Hobbit is nor trolling. ..imho He's been about in the LR world a long old time and knows a fair bit ....worth investigating his thoughts I'd say ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Who called the gnome hunter a troll. What have i missed.. Ive always thought these LED headlights to be all show and no go, but at this kind of price they are hard to ignore. I mean i could spend almost as much just making custom headlight harnesses with relays for standard headlights.. Would i be correct in assuming that LED headlights draw so little current that upgraded harnesses and relays are not required in order to protect headlight switch? If thats the case, then im seriously reconsidering LED's. I now sit and wait to be royally flamed by Nige......... I can almost hear him approaching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 LED lights are better than Halogen IMHO because: 1. They are much more efficient at converting electrical power to light. More light for the same Wattage, Less wasted as heat, 2.. Less current in the cables & switches gives improved reliability (and could remove the need for relays) 3. If good quality will outlast bulbs many times over. 4. If with a good colour spectrum and not too high colour temperature IMO they give a much clearer, higher contrast illumination. Maybe this one is subjective, or due to my older eyes, but it works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 LEDs still produce a lot of heat, but it's behind the emitter, rather than out the front. So good heasinking is very important. On high powered torch setups you can get LEDs hot enough to melt the solder holding the emitter to the board. And yes they are more efficient, but again high powered setups still use lots of power. The torch in my pocket now is quite mild, but still pulls just over 3amps of current. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertspark Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Main thing with LEDs is cooling they don't like heat buildup at all at it's what does them in hence not sure if the rear headlamp bowl is best removed and a screen installed within the wing for maximum free airflow cooling potential (Overthinking problem maybe) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 I can't cut n paste on here but having wasted yet more of my life browsing construction and use regs then talking to a nice chap from VOSA, this is the basic bit An 'E' mark can only be issued to a product that is a like for like replacement. LED Headlight mounts have the E mark as they are a like for like replacement for a headlight unit. Bit no LED bulb can be a like for like replacement so if 'E' marked it is fraudulent. So your mount and lens are fine it's the lighty bit. I've also been advised that an enormous number of Asian made products coming over to the EU have fraudulent CE/TUV and E marks Matey from VOSA said - "fit the blessed things, just don't have an accident where we get involved as we will prosecute and your insurance will be void so you will also get a criminal prosecution form the Police; also don't get pulled into a VOSA check site as we will use it for a prosecution because we need the money..." In reality they really aren't that much better than a decent conventional set up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 "Ooops"......que dragons den phrase lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Yer oot.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Found this : Under ECE regulations, H4 bulbs must emit between 1350 and 1650 lumens at 13.2v Given they appear to be 2000 lumens for the LED ones, I would be sceptical about the legality, but as the troll slayer says, fit em if you want Osram 'Nightbreaker' spec their output at 1650 Lumens, so right at the top of the scale, and have a different temperature, one that I actually don't like, I might add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Given the price difference, I'll try a set of these mythical Osram Nightbreakers before going any further. (Is it just me or does that sound like nocturnal flatulence?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I've got the Osram Nightbreakers in my P38, and the difference to normal bulbs is massive! It's really quite amazing, especially on high beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honitonhobbit Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I measure the diffference between just the Osram WIndbreakers and running the relay feeds (with standard cheap bulbs from Halfrauds) and it was quite a suprise. Running relasy is worth every penny. Adding the Windbreakers is worth the cost. All in all I spent less than 30 quid on everything I needed to do the job. The heat has not had an issue - it's a few degrees higher using the infared heat gun doofa. The 200 Tdi Disco has worse standard lighting than a tired 1965 Series 2 88" running a dodgy generator and wiring scourced from old household stock. From standard headlight bowls I now have equal visual range to a set of LED headlamps - and I don't get the sudden LED cut off either. I also run a set of 8" Rally Giants with 55w bulbs as a back up (for Night Nav events) - a tenner off the 'bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Found this : Under ECE regulations, H4 bulbs must emit between 1350 and 1650 lumens at 13.2v Given they appear to be 2000 lumens for the LED ones, I would be sceptical about the legality, but as the troll slayer says, fit em if you want Osram 'Nightbreaker' spec their output at 1650 Lumens, so right at the top of the scale, and have a different temperature, one that I actually don't like, I might add Not sure what the ECE reg is, or if it actually applies to the UK. As I'm sure not all stock 55w halogens make 1350 lumens and they certainly aren't illegal. BTW - you can't just measure lumens like exhaust gases. You need an integrated sphere and some standards to work too. And there will be a massive difference between OTF (out the front) lumens vs the naked bulb/Led. But in either case, the only way to measure lumens would be to place the unit, ie.e the entire headlight into an integrated sphere. You cannot do it fixed to the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Given the price difference, I'll try a set of these mythical Osram Nightbreakers before going any further. (Is it just me or does that sound like nocturnal flatulence?) I bought a set last week to put in my Impreza. Actually quite impressed with them. A little too blue on high beam for my tastes, but much much brighter than stock halogens and even high wattage ones. Have run 90/130's in the past in other vehicles for other uses and I'd say these are just a bright, whiter light on dip with equal or better beam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertspark Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 There is a difference between lamp lumen output and fitting lumen output. As the fittings rely on reflectors and lenses, quite a bit of the lamp lumen output is lost in the process, hence one reason which aides LEDs as they are more of a directional light source and not omni-directional as a traditional lamp is. lux is the important factor, lux is basically the lumen output divided by the steradians (the directional / projected area onto the surface of a sphere ..... basically what Chicken Drumstick was eluding to). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 That's EEC regs, they even typo'd it on the original information(!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwilliams Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 No, ECE is correct. Basically, because the car business is global, the rules are also global and the EU adopts them without modification. ECE is short for UN ECE which standards for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which is, in effect, the body which publishes automotive design related Regulations on behalf of the EU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GW8IZR Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 just a thought with these lamps, if you buy a pair from China but break one in 12 months time - its been my experience that its hard to get like for like replacements - so you may need to budget for swapping a pair if you break one. If you stick to things like Wipacs there is a better chance of buying just one unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcock Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 just a thought with these lamps, if you buy a pair from China but break one in 12 months time - its been my experience that its hard to get like for like replacements - so you may need to budget for swapping a pair if you break one. If you stick to things like Wipacs there is a better chance of buying just one unit. One of my concerns with them, at least with Wipacs you can get them almost anywhere at a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just keep the good one and wait till someone else from the group buy breaks one and sell them yours or buy theirs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcock Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Just keep the good one and wait till someone else from the group buy breaks one and sell them yours or buy theirs. Or buy a few sets and corner the market with replacements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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.