Halogen & LED Headlight Bulb Upgrades

[theatasigma]

Curious to hear if this would help reduce the "light & dark spots".

It would work towards it but it might not eliminate them completely. The problem is you are not using the reflector as efficiently as possible, LEDs only have a limited intensity over a small arc, so if you don't hit the reflector just right you are not going to get a good pattern. Today's lights are not designed for our type of projectors, they will work a bit better on an old style head light assembly, but until they can put enough diodes to get as close to a 360 degree arc of light (diodes spaced over 5-6 sides). You are going to get dark spots and have the output look out of focus. The good thing though is at least you can see better over the standard HIR bulbs and it will help you a bit more, I had the Xenon Depot lights and had them set at 3/9 facing, they worked well and threw out a good amount of light but they still suffered from not able to light up the sides of the road and they had a lot of dark spots. If it rained out I still had issues like I did with the HIR bulbs. Upgrading to an HID kit was a good choice (for me at least, YMMV), no dark spots, lights are focused and I can see in bad weather. Don't need to use my fog lights anymore unless it is crappy out and I can see the sides of the road. I think as time goes on LEDs will get better on the aftermarket but for now they are a limited solution at best.

[Shredzy]

So, if I purchase the BPS bulbs (which in now leaning towards), what's the deal with the CANBUS; is this another item I have to buy?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Spoke to a BPS rep today and was told that the Canbus modules need to be used.

 

Recommended using their G8 LED kit with the Canbus modules.

 

Anyone using their G8 kit?

[Aaron1085]

 

Spoke to a BPS rep today and was told that the Canbus modules need to be used.

 

Recommended using their G8 LED kit with the Canbus modules.

 

Anyone using their G8 kit?

So this kit comes with CANBUS?

 

Just got this in my email, anyone use or see these? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0145JQL9U/ref=pe_344980_190161570_em_1p_0_ti

[electroflier]

It would work towards it but it might not eliminate them completely. The problem is you are not using the reflector as efficiently as possible, LEDs only have a limited intensity over a small arc, so if you don't hit the reflector just right you are not going to get a good pattern. Today's lights are not designed for our type of projectors, they will work a bit better on an old style head light assembly, but until they can put enough diodes to get as close to a 360 degree arc of light (diodes spaced over 5-6 sides). You are going to get dark spots and have the output look out of focus. The good thing though is at least you can see better over the standard HIR bulbs and it will help you a bit more, I had the Xenon Depot lights and had them set at 3/9 facing, they worked well and threw out a good amount of light but they still suffered from not able to light up the sides of the road and they had a lot of dark spots. If it rained out I still had issues like I did with the HIR bulbs. Upgrading to an HID kit was a good choice (for me at least, YMMV), no dark spots, lights are focused and I can see in bad weather. Don't need to use my fog lights anymore unless it is crappy out and I can see the sides of the road. I think as time goes on LEDs will get better on the aftermarket but for now they are a limited solution at best.

Due to the geometry of a headlight system, an LED replacement for a halogen bulb will always be a bit of a compromise and a HID system will most likely always be "better". A HID's "filament" can be placed in the exact spot where the original halogen filament was. The light will be much brighter, but the beam pattern is more or less identical to the stock system.

 

Since the light source in an LED bulb can't be in the exact same spot as the filament, there will always be some disruption to the light pattern... just look at the vertical dark band on the headlight housing when an LED bulb is installed... When I had the COB style bulb with light closer to a 360 degree pattern, the beam pattern was very even with no light and dark spots. HOWEVER, distance suffered severely to the point of being dangerous. Solving one problem caused another more severe one. That's why I'm convinced that a COB-style bulb is not the solution.

 

In my mind, the appeal of some sort of LED bulb over HID is:

- essentially plug and play

- no rewiring required.

- becoming less expensive

- long bulb life (likely never need to change)

- brighter than halogen (usually)

 

The disadvantage of LED over HID is:

- hit and miss beam pattern and light/dark areas

- varying light output (lumens ranging from 2000-6000 ). Some LEDs are not much brighter than a stock 9012 bulb (around 1900 lumens IIRC)

- some may be difficult to adjust (3-9 o'clock position, etc)

 

Right now, I'm accepting the limitations of LEDs, especially in conjunction with my Rigid DOT fogs (BPS 4000 lumen+Ridid DOT fogs = good to great solution)

Edited April 15, 2016 by electroflier

[Shredzy]

So this kit comes with CANBUS?

 

Just got this in my email, anyone use or see these? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0145JQL9U/ref=pe_344980_190161570_em_1p_0_ti

Canbus modules are extra, about $20 for the pair was what they told me.

 

The reviews on the bulbs in the link you posted seem to be mixed.

 

Would be interesting to read a review by someone who put them in a '14-'15 Sierra.

Edited April 15, 2016 by Shredzy

[Aaron1085]

Due to the geometry of a headlight system, an LED replacement for a halogen bulb will always be a bit of a compromise and a HID system will most likely always be "better". A HID's "filament" can be placed in the exact spot where the original halogen filament was. The light will be much brighter, but the beam pattern is more or less identical to the stock system.

 

Since the light source in an LED bulb can't be in the exact same spot as the filament, there will always be some disruption to the light pattern... just look at the vertical dark band on the headlight housing when an LED bulb is installed... When I had the COB style bulb with light closer to a 360 degree pattern, the beam pattern was very even with no light and dark spots. HOWEVER, distance suffered severely to the point of being dangerous. Solving one problem caused another more severe one. That's why I'm convinced that a COB-style bulb is not the solution.

 

In my mind, the appeal of some sort of LED bulb over HID is:

- essentially plug and play

- no rewiring required.

- becoming less expensive

- long bulb life (likely never need to change)

- brighter than halogen (usually)

 

The disadvantage of LED over HID is:

- hit and miss beam pattern and light/dark areas

- varying light output (lumens ranging from 2000-6000 ). Some LEDs are not much brighter than a stock 9012 bulb (around 1900 lumens IIRC)

- some may be difficult to adjust (3-9 o'clock position, etc)

 

Right now, I'm accepting the limitations of LEDs, especially in conjunction with my Rigid DOT fogs (BPS 4000 lumen+Ridid DOT fogs = good to great solution)

So you're running the BPS 4000 lumen bulbs not the 6500 lumen that others and I linked to?

[electroflier]

So you're running the BPS 4000 lumen bulbs not the 6500 lumen that others and I linked to?

 

That's right. The only real reason I did so was that the 4000 lumen bulbs are passively cooled (big heat sink with no fan). I didn't want a failure of a $2 fan frying my headlight

[theatasigma]

Right now, I'm accepting the limitations of LEDs, especially in conjunction with my Rigid DOT fogs (BPS 4000 lumen+Ridid DOT fogs = good to great solution)

You got a snap of your setup? That sounds like a decent setup.

[electroflier]

You got a snap of your setup? That sounds like a decent setup.

I'll try to get a picture. At this point, I'm so impressed with the fogs that I'd recommend them for any setup, halogen, LED, or HID. My truck didn't come with factory fogs so I can't say from personal experience how much an improvement they are but I sure went WOW! when I got them They completely fill in the light/dark pattern from the headlights.

[ripcard]

re: the Rigid DOT Fogs. Have you tried them against traffic? Do you get people flashing their lights because they're getting blinded?

 

I replaced my fog bulbs with XENON DEPOT LEDs and can only use them when it's really foggy or snowing. Standing in front of the truck about 50 ft away with them on at night, I can see why. They are too bright or the pattern is all wrong because you can't really look at the truck directly without squinting.

[electroflier]

The Rigid fogs are DOT approved so they are 100% street legal. Sharp cutoff and absolutely zero flashes from oncoming traffic.

 

Keep in mind that Rigid also sells fog lights that aren't DOT approved and are meant for off road only.

[Aaron1085]

We want to see your setup; my LED fog lights look cool but I wouldn't necessarily say they are an improvement over stock. Headlights are still stock and terrible.... I'd like to remedy that sooner than later.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone

[Shredzy]

 

That's right. The only real reason I did so was that the 4000 lumen bulbs are passively cooled (big heat sink with no fan). I didn't want a failure of a $2 fan frying my headlight

 

Wonder how much heat builds up within the headlight assembly with either design and how airtight is the assembly?

 

With not actually looking at the backside of my Sierra headlamps, is it really necessary to have the dust caps in place-what would be the negative results if left off?

 

Curious to what the failure rate is of the fans on these LED bulbs?

[electroflier]

That's a good question. I know that quite a bit of heat is generated since I almost burned myself on the heat sink after wanting to remove one bulb immediately after driving. I'd be concerned with driving without the dust shield in place since it's more likely that dust or water can get in to the housing and there's only a small o-ring stopping s9mething getting into the projector itself.

 

Thinking about it, there's probably enough heat dissipation behind the dust cap to protect things. Many electronics can reach 80 to 90 Celsius without problemsaying. That's too hot to handle with bare skin. My WAG is that the heat sink was 50 to 70 Celsius. If I remember I'll check temperature.

[Shredzy]

Maybe a modified dust cap with venting/filter material to help dissipate the heat but to keep it still protected.