I need help designing custom fog-lamps for my car

[tankman1989]

Greetings,

I am pretty new to the "light fetish (J/K)" crowd but have always been fascinated with bright lights, flashlights etc.

I am interested in finding out if it is possible to make fog-lights/lamps for my car. I have an area which could easily house a light assembly that is rough;y 3"x14" (this is where the factory headlamps were until someone stole them). (I will probably use these also inconjunction with driving lights/high beams as my covers on my headlights are VERY scratched up and foggy)

If anyone is wondering my car is a 2000 VW GTI.

Anyway, I would love to make a custom setup here and I have seen A LOT of talent on this board. I was wondering if some of you could give me some ideas as to how to go about, what the brightest lights (LED preffered) are and if they can be powered with a 12-14.4v system.

I don't want this to be "done" for me, that is not what I am asking. I feel overwhelmed with there being so much info on this board and over time I will acclimate, but now I need some help.

So, I'm looking for brightness, distance (maybe extra lights focused on dispersal?). This will be wired on it's own circuit which can have as much current as needed at 12v! ( have wire down to 0 gauge from my stereo system from years past).

So, what do you say? Can anyone help out?

Much thanks in advance!

 

[-Virgil-]

Before you spend time/money playing with LEDs to make pretend fog lights, polish and recoat your headlamps so that they work.

I say "pretend fog lights" because there are stringent and intricate requirements for the design, construction, and performance of fog lights. You can get an idea of these requirements by reading ECE Regulation 19.

Furthermore, whether you buy them or build them, fog lamps should be turned off most of the time. They're not substitute headlights! They are for use in bad weather to help you see the edges of the road close to the car so you can grope your way along through foul weather at very low speeds. That's all they're for; that's all they can do (and many of them can't even do that). Leaving them on all the time doesn't improve seeing or safety.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Incandecents/HID do MUCH better cutting through fog than LED's do also.

BTW...Welcome to CPF!

 

[SFG2Lman]

although this will get moved, the LED i would suggest is the luminus devices CSM-360 its a quad-die LED that can put out 6000 lumens at 6.3amps, the most important part is that the forward voltage for the chip is between 12.8 and 13.6 volts. You will likely need some excellent heat sinking a a slight current regulator, but at least its starting in the correct range. data sheet for the LED is here

this is copied over from your original thread, if you want to go with LED that would be my choice, and yes there are stringent regulations on the angles and brightness etc, but that LED would make an excellent heart of the system if thats what you wanted, and you could even lower the amp drive and still have thousands of lumens and not have to worry as much about heat sinking...

 

[-Virgil-]

Incandecents/HID do MUCH better cutting through fog than LED's do also.

There's no factual basis for that statement.

 

[MichaelW]

So, you don't have anything in the spot for your headlights?

Are you planning on replacing them? [insurance claim?]

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=104 (the factory fog light is under the turn signal)
If you don't want DOT, but ECE
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1900

or you just want to put fog lights where they belong, near the ground.
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=205


I don't know if there was a caveat to not reduce the intercooler air flow.
VR6 or 1.8t? But the 1.8t was 'only' 150hp, not 180hp, so there is less load on the charge cooler.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

There's no factual basis for that statement.

Just my experiance..:shrug:
I've owned hundreds of lights and LED's seem to scatter the light while incandecents and HID seem to cut through it better.
Thats how it is percieved to my eyes anyway.

 

[MichaelW]

Incandecents/HID do MUCH better cutting through fog than LED's do also.

BTW...Welcome to CPF!

So you weren't normalizing the CCT?
Lets see we did, lets pick 3000K more or less.
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=4877
the SPD of LEDs is smoother than discharge lamps.
Maybe a taste test is in order.

Distribution is far more important for fog lights.
Cue Scheinwerfermann for the iso-lux diagrams.

 

[tankman1989]

So, you don't have anything in the spot for your headlights?

Are you planning on replacing them? [insurance claim?]

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=104 (the factory fog light is under the turn signal)
If you don't want DOT, but ECE
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1900

or you just want to put fog lights where they belong, near the ground.
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=205


I don't know if there was a caveat to not reduce the intercooler air flow.
VR6 or 1.8t? But the 1.8t was 'only' 150hp, not 180hp, so there is less load on the charge cooler.

I don't know if I am going to file an insurance claim, I hadn't even thought about that. That is a good idea!
As for headlights, they are there, but the guy before me buggered them up trying to polish with too low a grit abrasive. When I checked the price for a replacement set they were $1250 and I wasn't spending that.

BTW, it is a 2.8, so no problem with intercooler flow.

Thanks for the links. I'll check out both items. Maybe replace both headlights and fog lights.

 

[-Virgil-]

Hoogeeze, more far-east junk bulbs from Hella (which has never made bulbs -- they have always bought them and rebranded them. Long ago only from German makers...now mostly from China.)

Philips makes a really nice yellow D2R and D2S bulb. Part numbers are 85122YX and 85126YX. Tough to find in America but worth the effort.

The claim of "3000K" (or any other kelvin temperature) for a non-white light is bogus.

Distribution is far more important for fog lights

Correct. There is no kind of light that "cuts through fog" better than any other kind of light. The human eye interacts differently with different kinds of light, though. Some related info in Stern's piece on yellow fog lights.

Whoever thinks they're going to cobble up even slightly workable fog lights by ordering LED emitters out of a book and puttering on a workbench is delusional.

 

[-Virgil-]

When I checked the price for a replacement set they were $1250 and I wasn't spending that.

Huh? Not in this universe! Go check the links MichaelW posted. The original-design European-code headlights for your '00 have glass lenses that will never again go yellow.

 

[tankman1989]

Huh? Not in this universe! Go check the links MichaelW posted. The original-design European-code headlights for your '00 have glass lenses that will never again go yellow.

I checked the pricing a year ago and found the HID lighting priced at $1250, these may have been stock/OEM repacements, IDK. I just knew that I wasn't paying that.

 

[-Virgil-]

The factory optional European-code HIDs are indeed hideously expensive, but your 2000 model didn't come with HIDs.

 

[tankman1989]

The factory optional European-code HIDs are indeed hideously expensive, but your 2000 model didn't come with HIDs.

Yeah, I have this problem with cars. The parts that are supposed to be in them never are. I used to buy the parts for my 98 A6 and they would be all wrong. I found that in some parts it took 99's and in others 97 (none of which were 98's). As for the headlights, IDK. I really don't care anymore.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mds82]

i made some custom LED fog lights -

6 Cree MC-E's in a line, with a mirror on top of it to make sure no light goes forward.

They are quite bright but dont have the farthest throw. Lot and lots of side to side light.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

pix or you lie!

but really, I've often thought about that, just never got to experiement with mirror length and secondary lenses before mirroring

 

[mds82]

pix or you lie!

but really, I've often thought about that, just never got to experiement with mirror length and secondary lenses before mirroring

I ended up removing the bottom mirror because too much light was bouncing upwards.


http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3928603&postcount=41

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

Nice! what kind of beam pattern you achieve using straight mirrors? I got light to fold almost where I wanted it to, but it wasn't as briht as I would have liked at the cutoff.

edit: found the output pics, not everyone can say that something they homebrew'd turned out better than stock!