Grote LED Sealed Beam 4x6"?
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Amazon has it for $139, or the Truck-Lite unit for $134. And, they have the Grote low/high beam in the same size for the same price (the one you asked about is only a low beam). I haven't extensively tested these, but from what I've seen they're not bad; there are certainly a lot of much worse lamps on the market. Conceptually it's similar to the JW Speaker Model 8800. That does not mean it's as good as the JW Speaker (which is a really very good lamp).
I got excited to see a 4x6 LED in low/high until I saw the specs of effective lumens 910 lows, 1150 highs. Not sure if they would put out any more usable light on the road then my Hella E-codes? It's hard getting good lighting in my older Chevy truck with a single 4x6 per side.
Alaric Darconville
Flashlight Enthusiast
"Effective lumens" isn't the measure we really want to look at (yes, it describes the amount of light in the beam) but it doesn't describe the distribution of light within the beam. Don't get stuck on those measurements-- JW Speaker has 4x6" high/low headlamps with 755lm and 645lm effective lumens, respectively.
Alaric's right about the limitations of comparing based on effective lumens, but the answer to your question is not just yes, but HELL yes. A Hella H4 headlamp's low beam contains about 325 lumens.
Yes, there's a lot more to a headlight then lumens, it also needs good distribution, as has been said. I wasn't aware a Hella e-code low only output 325 lumens. They are way brighter and with a better pattern then the factory plastic sealed beams that came stock on the vehicle. If the Hella ecodes only output 325, I wonder how much the stock sealed beams output? Do you know where I can find information about the lumen output of these Hella 4x6 high/low ecodes?
About the same amount, around 300 to 325 lumens on low beam and on high beam alike (assuming we're talking about any brand of H4656 high/low sealed beam). The high beam from the H4 lamp in that same size contains about 650 lumens. All assuming a standard 60/55w H4 bulb and all lamps powered at 13.5 volts.
No, they're not. Not on low beam, anyway. It's the same amount of light, just distributed differently. And the pattern isn't "better", it's just different. Neither lamp gives adequate light, it's just that the H4 "feels" like a better light because of the relatively bright foreground.
From my experience, the Hella ecode with H4 provided much better lighting then the stop plastic sealed beams that came with the truck. I left the one stock sealed beam in on one side and put the Hella eccode on the other side. I then went down a narrow pitch black country road and stopped in the center of the road. The Hella had a wider pattern and and broadcast further down the road. I tried aiming adjustments and nothing improved the sealed beam when compared to the ecode. So for me, if I can see further, wider with increased light output on the road, to my eyes, they are way brighter. I even changed to the other sealed beam with the same results. Maybe the sealed beams that came stock on my truck were subpar, they were less than 1 year old when i performed the experiment.
Do you know where I can find information about the lumen output of these Hella 4x6 high/low ecodes or sealed beam headlight?
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Alaric Darconville
Flashlight Enthusiast
Subjective.
Still subjective.
And then you started tampering with settings at random, bringing the aim way off.
"To your eyes", again, subjective. The thing is, it can be easier for a bad lamp to provide a better subjective experience for the user than a good lamp, because of how our eyes and brains work.
Maybe. Without instrumented tests we don't know. What we do know is we can't effectively judge how good or bad a lamp is when using it, we can only say what we prefer or what we feel comfortable driving with. And sometimes we prefer the worse lamp.
You might have liked it better (subjective opinion/feeling), but it was not better lighting (objective/measurable performance).
The H4 lamp provides more and wider lighting close to the car (foreground light) but gives much shorter seeing disance -- the opposite of what you felt like you saw.
That information has already been provided right here in this thread, so why are you asking two and three times, in bigger fonts? Stop that, please.
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I wish my truck had either 5x7 or quad 4x6 since there are many more options, but with single 4x6 per side the choices are very limited. I'm trying to find some real world reviews for the Grote high/low LED 4x6 .
In my testing, I could see trees and road surface further down the road with the ecodes then the plastic factory sealed beams. So for me, the ecodes are safer than the stock sealed beams since I can see better, both wider and further, no matter what it says on paper. We accurately aimed them at the dealer where my brother works to make sure the aim was correct since the lighting was so weak.
I asked 2 times not 3 and I asked a 2nd time because I thought maybe you missed it the 1st time I asked since you didn't provide a source, sorry. I simply asked where I could find information about lumens for 4x6 headlights so I can learn more about lighting but you already provided it and seems like you don't want to share your resources. I will stop asking and search for additional information on my own. Thanks for the information you provided.
Yes, the options are very limited for 165 x 100mm rectangular high/low beam lamps. That's an unfortunate fact.
When you say "real world reviews", what do you mean? What is it that you're looking for?
No matter what you felt like you could see with the two different lamp types, peering down the road is not "testing". Facts are facts whether we like them or not, and you get to see farther down the road with peak intensity of 25,600 candela at [1.5D, 3R] (low beam sealed beam) than you do with peak intensity of 11,500 candela at [2D, 3.5R] (low beam H4). There is just no getting around this no matter how much anyone might wishfully think otherwise. The H4 lamps have more spread light closer to the car, so you can see more stuff in that area, but that's not the same thing as further down the road.
Sorry, no. It just doesn't work this way. The real world exists in terms described by objective measurement (what you are mocking as "what it says on paper") -- not in terms described by what you think you could see.
You asked once and got the answer, so it's not clear why you thought your question was missed. The answer doesn't change no matter how many times you ask, so there's no point in asking again.
We have been through this before, Pungo. I have access to information that is not released for publication. I share what I can, in the interest of furthering knowledge about lighting (and refuting silly claims based on guesses, opinions, assumptions, and perceptions) but we all have to be adults about respecting those limits; I am not about to release proprietary information because some kid on the internet stamps his foot and demands it.
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I have never asked you to share resources for your information in the past, so we haven't been through this before. If you simple said up front that it is proprietary information which you can't share to the public, I would have said thanks for the info you provided and dropped it at that. Calling me some kid on the internet stamping his feet, far from it. I professionally asked where I could find some additional information on 4x6 lighting, not knowing what you had is top secret (jk...). Reading through many of the threads here, sure there's plenty of people asking about illegal lighting and such, but there's also good conversations too, though it's seems many times you're involved in confrontational discussions. I know you need to moderate the board, and do a good job with it curbing illegal discussions so it is appreciated.
Back on topic... For now, I'll be keeping my Cibie 4x6 headlights since they work well for my application on the dark curvy country roads I drive. I'll continue to look for reviews on the Grote LED 4x6 high/low. There's so much more options for a quad 4x6 setup where there are separate headlamps for the highs and lows.
