LED Headlight bulbs
Discussion
I wasn't sure where to put this as the subject isn't in In-Car Electronics
and apparently not in the Technical sector.
Recently, i've been asking questions about a set of Hella quad headlights that I
have for my Astra. The link to the thread is below.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The gist in there concerns mynew-to-me lights and their seemingly rusty reflectors.
In fact, the 'rust' is the light units'rust-coloured clearcoat showing where the
silvering has gone away.
The conclusion was that the dip units had gone home (the mains are prefect)
because the H7 bulbs run hot and this affected the dips first because they're on
far longer in normal use.
The second conclusion was that high running temps can trash the silvering over time.
This was verified, not in so many words, by Hella.
My choice now is to buy replacement dip units at £69 the pair, inc P&P or have my exiting units
resilvered at a cost of at least £75 - if I can get the lenses off. If I can't, the cost goes into the mid £200 area.
The first course is the obvious one but the notion set me thinking. We all know that
halogen bulbs run very hot because they must to work properly. LED bulbs run cooler
and trawling around the web brought several examples in which the light output hardly differs.
My question, simply, is this: does using LED headlight bulbs mean the silvering won't be toasted?
In addition,can anybody offer a recommendation for particular bulbs? eBay and Amazon are awash
with LEDs, mostly from the Far East but are they any good or are there Western equivalents that
are streets ahead?
The outcome of this should be interesting.
and apparently not in the Technical sector.
Recently, i've been asking questions about a set of Hella quad headlights that I
have for my Astra. The link to the thread is below.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
The gist in there concerns mynew-to-me lights and their seemingly rusty reflectors.
In fact, the 'rust' is the light units'rust-coloured clearcoat showing where the
silvering has gone away.
The conclusion was that the dip units had gone home (the mains are prefect)
because the H7 bulbs run hot and this affected the dips first because they're on
far longer in normal use.
The second conclusion was that high running temps can trash the silvering over time.
This was verified, not in so many words, by Hella.
My choice now is to buy replacement dip units at £69 the pair, inc P&P or have my exiting units
resilvered at a cost of at least £75 - if I can get the lenses off. If I can't, the cost goes into the mid £200 area.
The first course is the obvious one but the notion set me thinking. We all know that
halogen bulbs run very hot because they must to work properly. LED bulbs run cooler
and trawling around the web brought several examples in which the light output hardly differs.
My question, simply, is this: does using LED headlight bulbs mean the silvering won't be toasted?
In addition,can anybody offer a recommendation for particular bulbs? eBay and Amazon are awash
with LEDs, mostly from the Far East but are they any good or are there Western equivalents that
are streets ahead?
The outcome of this should be interesting.
The Li-ion King said:
I have bought said LED bulbs (H15) for my Transit Connect work van, no issues with MOT, but it is a minefield with so many sellers on ebay...
I think with lower temperatures than traditional halogen, they should be okay
Thanks, LK! My lights (dip and beam) use single filament H7 halogens, plus a pair eachI think with lower temperatures than traditional halogen, they should be okay
of standard sidelamp and indicator bulbs, though the last must be orange - or I could tint the lenses
with lacquer.
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