Chicken Drumstick Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 As I'm quite the fan of LED torches and illumination in general. I thought I'd see how cheap and easy my X-Eng X-Lites could be upgraded to LED. Attempt 1: Found these claimed 6w quad MR16 LED bulbs on ebay. It looks a bit bigger than the 50w halogen. But fitted the X-Lite housing a treat. The LED can be had in a 'cool' 6000k or 'warm' 3000k tint. This is the 6000k variant. On first look it appears to be working fine. But as soon as night fell it was clear to see that the LED output was very sub par to the halogen... Led: Halogen: Back to the drawing board it seems... I have a claimed 9w and 12w MR16 bulbs on the way to try, although I think the 12w will be physically too long for the X-Lite. If none of these direct replacement LED bulbs can match or exceed the halogen, then a custom build might be the only way. Attempt 2: pending.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zardos Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Given that 12v 50w halogens are usually rated at 1200-1500 lumens the 340lm on the led ones will mean they will be less bright, try and match the lumen values not the power. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted November 2, 2016 Author Share Posted November 2, 2016 Easier said than done, unless you know of some high lumen MR16 LED bulbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I'm using one of these in a dive lamp im building lumens and seems to be. You might get it into an x-lite, but not with the lens. also you have to do your own current control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Holy thread revival etc... etc... @Chicken Drumstick did you ever make any progress with attempt 2? I found these on ebay which claim 15w / 620-700 lumens. Wondered if they might be any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Hmm. Just had a look at a custom LED (made in UK) I've got sat here next to my sofa and quoted 970 to 1040 lumens at 4000k. Not sure of it's current draw but could try and remember to wire it up tomorrow and see. Oh and that's a single LED about 8mm square. And as it's designed and manufactured in the UK it will meet its quoted output. Oh and they are not that expensive if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Do let us know how you get on, and where you bought it from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 10 minutes ago, daveturnbull said: Do let us know how you get on, and where you bought it from. Was that aimed at me? The LED is from Plessey but they're custom made for my father for some lights he makes, this particular one would be a bit annoying for a vehicle because it's got a forward voltage of 12.4V which means you'd realistically need a boost supply to drive it. It's just an LED on a PCB at the moment - I just happened to have one on the table next to me when I came across this thread. So integrating it into a X-lite would require some fabrication but perfectly doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Ah, nevermind then. I thought it was in MR16 format ready to drop in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 If there's demand I could look at integrating it into one and trying it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 LED technology has advanced quite a bit in the couple of years since this thread was started. There may well be better LEDs available now. That said, I was going to comment that the OP was comparing a 6000K cool white LED with a halogen, which is probably around 2500K. Comparing luminance different colour temperatures is not going to give a very fair result. I'd have tried the warm white LED vs the halogen. SImonr once wrote some good posts explaining how our night time perception of detail is affected by different colour temps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 On 1/30/2019 at 7:57 PM, daveturnbull said: Holy thread revival etc... etc... @Chicken Drumstick did you ever make any progress with attempt 2? I found these on ebay which claim 15w / 620-700 lumens. Wondered if they might be any good? Hi. Only just seen this. Apologies for the delayed reply. I did did have an attempt 2. But I didn’t really find anything that out performed the halogens. The halogens are also quite resistant to being dipped underwater such as when fording. The last set of MR16’s I actually pulled them apart and removed the driver board from the unit and remote mounted in a sealed box high up in the engine bay. My final idea was to actually build a custom MR16 using one of the led units I’d got. Using a better LED and driver. But I never finished the project. I might pick it up again next winter though. Less need for the lights during the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthdicky Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 Has anyone had any further luck with this? I've got 2 x-lites on the back of my 90 and I'm fed up with changing the bulbs which seem to fail regularly. They are useful to have back there, but I'd like a long-lasting replacement! Alternatively, any good source of cheap LED work lights? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted February 15, 2020 Share Posted February 15, 2020 I've fitted a pair of these on the back of the 110 as a set of high reversing lights and been quite impressed by them. Not the cheapest around but they've been on for a few months and survived being bounced around the Scottish Highlands in gales. More than can be said for the passenger wiper on the way south. I just got some 20mm box section, ran a slit through it and tapped a couple of threads, cheap gutter clamp because I didn't want to drill through the roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthdicky Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 Cheers Ed, had noticed those on that site and thought they looked about right. What’s the spread of light like? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted February 18, 2020 Share Posted February 18, 2020 Pretty impressive actually. I'll try and remember to get a photo this evening depending on what happens with puppies (due date was yesterday but nothing). In the absence of photos if I reverse into the tradesmans entrance (white wall one) at my place the pair of them will light up the entire driveway and lawns on either side comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthdicky Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Having had a look around, these look exactly the same at a quarter of the price so I've just ordered a pair. Hopefully they're just as good for £11! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/163598439182 Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Brackets look different and interesting the road pictures seem to show round ones... Anyway overdue but I had a good excuse (puppies being born last night) but here's a picture of mine, I've deliberately aimed them down a fair chunk because that's what I wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthdicky Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Yeah the picture doesn’t show the lens frosted like the FirstFour ones either but I thought it’s worth a chance as they’re listed as the flood beam ones. If they’re no good I can send them back or sell them on. I’m sure there are better ones out there but I don’t want to spend a huge amount on something that gets used very rarely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 14 hours ago, Ed Poore said: Brackets look different and interesting the road pictures seem to show round ones... Anyway overdue but I had a good excuse (puppies being born last night) but here's a picture of mine, I've deliberately aimed them down a fair chunk because that's what I wanted. Puppies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 2 hours ago, Gazzar said: Puppies! No that'd be a house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Wait till the puppies finish with it....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 So when do we get the obligatory puppy pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Brock Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 You cant beat puppy pictures..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 I was trying to keep the thread on topic but since you insist... Mum has a pic somewhere of the four alive generations of our dogs all in the same shot. Be a few weeks before they reach maximum cuteness (eyes are still closed and they're basically stimulated feeding and peeing machines at the moment). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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