What do u think of these auto LED bulbs?

I bought one of those 1157 LED bulbs from ledtronics...ya know the ones that cost like $50 and have 24 LEDs (6 multi-directional).
Now I found these here on this webpage - the Type A bulbs - what do you guys think of them? Could they be any brighter? They look like spider / high flux LEDs. Maybe i'll order one up if they have a decent return policy.

Look like standard 5mm LEDs to me.

They look like some sort of surface mount LEDs mounted on a red circuit board, inside the bulb base. Are you looking at the right ones?

Hello NightShift,

It looks like the only come in Red and Amber. Make sure your lens is clear where you are replacing the bulb. A red bulb behind a red lens will be too dim.

I have seen a few LED replacement bulbs and they are fine directly on axis, but lack side spill. The Type C lamps are directly on axis, but I am not sure about the Type A lamps. It might be worth an email to them to ask about this.

The LED warning lights on police and utility vehicles have the LED's pointed in various directions to compensate for the lack of side spill. They work very well and are quite bright.

Tom

Just to be different, although I like the ever evolving LEDs in flashlights I hate to see them on the back of cars.

First it was those ugly new Cadillacs (sorry just mho...) and their brake/turn signals, now our school buses in NC are starting to get them.

What I don't like is that, when you are in traffic at dusk and your eyes are beginning to adapt, incandescents have a smooth transition that is easy on the eye, the LED based lights are SUDDENLY ON, and then SUDDENLY OFF, the effect is quite distracting and much harder on the eyes.

How about the manufacturers build a smoothing circuit to simulate the warm up of an incandescent...otherwise, personally speaking, I think they should be banned, along with HID headlights and those roof mounted LCD televisions which can also be very distracting.

But then hey, I'm only the paramedic that gets to clean up the mess after it all happens...

Contrary to what you say, SUDDENLY ON is actually better as it gives the people behind slightly more time to respond to the braking of the person in front. They have done studies on this; 100ms represents a not-insignificant number of feet. So, LEDs are actually safer. But, if you are following too closely and you don't have LEDs in *your* brake lights, then you might get rear-ended...

BMW and other high-end automakers are starting to put progressive LED brightness in their brake lights, so that they don't come on so bright under light/typical braking, but come on MUCH brighter during hard braking. This would be more appropriate than delaying the turn-on as you are suggesting.

I switched the brake lights in my MG to LEDs a few years ago because many old MGs get rear-ended because the people following usually follow too closely, and they aren't expecting the MG to be able to brake so quickly. The LEDs give me a little more margin from that idiot following too closely.

Scott

I would think distracting in a brake or turn signal would be a good thing, since this is what they are supposed to do. I suspect some of the headlights you think are HID are those blue tinted halogens. All headlights designs need to be improved. I suspect a multiple projector design could be much better. And I fully agree with the roof mounted LCDs, especially when playing porn.

Excellent link. I like the quote about being forcefully "subjected" to porn - as though they were in some Clockwork Orange style "treatment."

I find those LCDs distracting, but no more so than any of the other things on and near roads...

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Ocelot said:
BMW and other high-end automakers are starting to put progressive LED brightness in their brake lights, so that they don't come on so bright under light/typical braking, but come on MUCH brighter during hard braking. This would be more appropriate than delaying the turn-on as you are suggesting.

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I concur, the extra staccato of LED's is a good thing as far as warning lights go, with only the caveat that they can't be as distracting as emergency vehicle lighting (that's why the law in many states specifies flash rate for turn signals -- too fast is bad!)

I'd rather see a progressive "bar chart" like on a stereo or digital tach, so the brakes would "fill up" with light as the pressure increased. One bar for light braking, up to say six for ABS engaged. Progressive lights are subject to ambient lighting for their visibility, but a bar chart setup would always be full on.

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SilverFox said:Make sure your lens is clear where you are replacing the bulb. A red bulb behind a red lens will be too dim.

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A red lens is red because it lets only pass the red light. So when they have the same wavelength the red light can pass unharmed (except the usual losses).

Have a look at bicycle LED backlights (I know they are not so common in the US), some of them have clear lenses (very few), most of them have red lenses. There is no difference in brightness.

And, BTW, as Scott wrote, suddenly on is better in emergencies. People get dull with all the blinking lights around, so you have to raise the level (unfortunately).

Just because a lens and an led are both red doesn't mean they are the same color. The only way to easily assure peak transmission without knowing the actual wavelengths involved is to use clear lenses.

An 1157 consumes around 5watts at low power and around 20 watts durring brakeing.

Leds need all the help they can get. Probably best to use clear.

I wanted led tail lights for my car ages ago. I'm Still waiting for one that can realy do the job.

Lights on motor vehicles need to be DOT (department of transportation) approved, and to the best of my knowledge, these drop-ins aren't.

Has anyone seen the photos of the new audi (looks like a modified TT)? The headlamps are LED. In the Auto magazine picture it looked like around 20 LS in a rectangular pattern. Anyone know if they're 1W, 3W, etc.? Looks very interesting. I think it a 2005 model.

Do you mean the nuvolari?

http://www.audiworld.com/news/03/geneva/nuvolari/content.shtml

(see page 2 for the lightweight description of the LEDs)

It is just a concept car.

They mention 18 LEDs per "headlight." With 3-watt luxeons that works out to be 1440 lumens per unit and if they cherry-pick the bins, they could probably get over 2000 lumens which is about what a modern HID headlight does today. It isn't clear from the article how they handle focusing the beam patterns for hi/lo though.

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duffahtolla said:
Just because a lens and an led are both red doesn't mean they are the same color. The only way to easily assure peak transmission without knowing the actual wavelengths involved is to use clear lenses.

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Exactly, thats why I wrote:
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So when they have the same wavelength the red light can pass unharmed (except the usual losses).

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I want to express, that when you only have a red cover available, it is worth a try.

And for the Audi Nuvolari: Actually car HID put out too much light anyway and until LED front lights hit the market they will be even better. Maybe they used it only to make soething different.

completely off-topic (please beat me): When this car gets into production, I must be only available with manual gear shift, everything else would be a sacrilege in Nuvolari's commemoration. .-)

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hpcjerry said:
With 3-watt luxeons that works out to be 1440 lumens per unit and if they cherry-pick the bins, they could probably get over 2000 lumens which is about what a modern HID headlight does today.

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Sorry, your statement about HIDs for a modern day car is not correct. Modern day vehicles yield 3,000 to 3,200 lumens of light not 2,000 lumens. My custom set-up is yielding ~5,800 lumens of light.

LEDs have a long way to go before they can compare to HIDs for automotive headlights.

> My custom set-up is yielding ~5,800 lumens of light.

I hope that is just on bright.

There seems to be a lot of jerks out there who mod their headlamps ILLEGALY, and blind other drivers, just so they can brag about how much light they put out.

I've seen people nearly drive off the road when blinded by some of these mods.

Scott

Someone let me know when an Led upgrade kit comes available for a 6054 headlight (all in one) assembly for my 2003 F350 with high and low beams included. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
I'm seriously interested.

Sorry Pelu, I read your post too fast.

You may commence the beatings..

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