LED headlights???

[Ductape]

MJP, there is a shop about twenty five miles from me that stocks that style of LED bulb. What do you suppose postage to Poland costs?? I believe they are somewhere between ten and twenty dollars each. Sorry..... its been a couple months since i was there. Last time I was there i bought some 1156 style tail light bulbs to put in my Kubota, with all the diodes facing out. Its a commercial truck accessory shop and they have a great selection of lighting in stock.

At some point i'll take a pic of my LED tail lights..... i did have to modify the housing a little, but they look great and draw nearly no juice.

 

[ktm250rider]

You can get 6" recessed cans with LED light sources. LED cost is mainly attributed to the lumen output. Also, the higher the output, the higher the heat generated which must be delt with in order to maintain that ouput. Color temperature also affects cost.

 

[MJPetersen]

MJP, there is a shop about twenty five miles from me that stocks that style of LED bulb. What do you suppose postage to Poland costs??

That is what is so exciting is that the picture that I posted is from a POLISH electronics supplier. They have an internet shop and I can just order online and have it delivered to my house. Super easy--and less expensive than sending something to me. Although mailing something like a bulb or 2 would not be all that much. Thanks so much for your great kindness.

At some point i'll take a pic of my LED tail lights..... i did have to modify the housing a little, but they look great and draw nearly no juice.

Please do post a pic of your lights. I thnk that any way that we can save a few watts will help our tiny dynos cope with more lighting. This has become a very interesting topic for me.

Thanks for everyone posing interesting bits of info.

Mike

 

[mwb]

A few years ago I fixed a the back light on a Ford radio (car). The original incandecant bulb was impossible to find so I bought an LED to try. It was a spot which was no good so I took the LED to the bench grinder and reshaped the lense. After a quick polish it worked pretty good. I don't think you would want to try grinding all the LED's on that 14V fixture though.

I wonder why mfr's don't make 'unfocused' lenses? I know there are different angles available but why not a flood style? THis would work much better with existing lamp housings.

 

[bradv42]

Just to comment on this thread, I am an engineer who works for Truck-Lite whose products have been mentioned on this interesting thread. We have been building LED products since 1991. Some comments that I would like to make are as follows:
1. Be careful when you do retrofits changing from incandescent lamps to LEDs as many lamps have parabolic reflectors where the filaments are at the focal point , when you add an aftermarket "LED bulb" you may in fact make the light dimmer thus wasting your time and money.
2. If your tractor is equiped with a flasher for the given application, a retrofit "LED bulb" in a warning lamp may cause the flasher to not work. Many flashers are "fixed load" flashers and when you install the LED, its current draw is so much lower that it increases the duty cycle (flash rate) of the flasher.
3. Like any electronic product, LED Products are continuing to drop in cost as the technology matures we are seeing improvements in lumens (light) per watt (power). This means that if LED's were too expensive before, wait a few months and reprice them. We are one of the world's top users of LED's, our products are made in America as we have three factories in Pennsylvania and one in New York State.
4. Truck-Lite products are available through all NAPA stores as well as other distribution. We have LED work lamps with trapazoid, flood and spot beam lamps. Information can be found at www.truck-lite.com .
5. The lower current draw (1.2 amps) of the LED Work Lamps will work great for your compact utility tractor that generally has a small power source.
6. The fact that Truck-Lite uses a white color simular to the color temperature of the sun makes them able to improve your visibility. Wait until you see a well designed LED worklamp on a cold winter night, you will experience some wow factor. If you light them up beside the incandescent work lamps, the incandescent lamps will look yellow.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

 

[milkman]

Look around at this place Super Bright LEDs should be able to find a light and replace the bulb with one of these a lot cheaper than some of the others. I haven't tried these but sounds like they'd work.

 

[jimmer2880]

Brad,

thank you for the thorough post. That helps a lot.

 

[Ductape]

I picked up some 1156 style LED bulbs today for the headlights in my B3030. They are TRUX brand lights @ $24 each. A bit pricey, but all white LEDs are more than colored, since they aren't made in as great of a volume. I should note that amber or red were half as much, at $12 ea. I couple months ago, i replaced my tail light bulbs with LEDs. My goal is to free up available wattage for more worklights and/or any other electrics, and improve visability. The bulbs are very similar to the ones MJPetersen posted...... the diodes wrap around the light, with three facing forward.

 

[Ductape]

I took a pic with one LED, one incandescent...... the incandescent looks more yellow colored. Unfortunately, the right headlight shines right at the blower chute, so it was impossible to tell which bulb shone brighter on the inside of my overhead door.

 

[Farmerford]

Brad:

Thanks for the post. I mounted two Truck-Lite LED worklamps on my Kubota L4330 and I am very satisfied with them. I particularly like the sturdy metal housings.

All my vehicles save one have round headlights (71 MB, 77 Bronco, 86 CJ-7). Do you expect LED replacements to become available for them?

Thanks again.