LED Headlight

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If your Commando has the normal positive earth electrical system then it probably won't work.
 
You can wire it straight back to the battery through a relay,then use your existing wiring to switch the relay, remember the current flow is reverse to normal and fit an in line 2 amp fuse.
 
L.A.B. said:
If your Commando has the normal positive earth electrical system then it probably won't work.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean LAB, the 'common' side of the lamp would be on the negative side. So some relays would needed to be added to switch the positive side of the lamp for high/low beam.
Possibly more trouble than its' worth.
 
There is nothing in the product spec that suggests that any pin on that lamp is connected to the body (or parts that might connecct to chassis). Personaly, I would buy one and check all the pins to the mountings of the lamp with an ohm-meter to see if there is a connection. If there isn't simply swap the H4 connector wiring around to make sure the polarity is correct for the lamp.
 
FWIW many of the cheap Asian LED and HID H4 retrofit bulbs have very poor low beam cutoff so you are blinding oncoming drivers and they are illegal many places to boot...no idea if that is the case for the bulb shown though. Phillips makes a properly engineered H4 LED retrofit bulb but they are sold in pairs and are quite expensive. So far as polarity goes it would be possible to wire a bridge rectifier inline (actually you would need two), that way the bulb would see the correct polarity no matter what, this is how "non-polarized" LED's are made. This does cause a small voltage drop but that might have little to no effect on the LED brightness.
I'm planning to try the Phillips H4 bulbs eventually but am waiting for the price to drop...

LED Headlight


LED Headlight
 
bluto said:
FWIW many of the cheap Asian LED and HID H4 retrofit bulbs have very poor low beam cutoff so you are blinding oncoming drivers and they are illegal many places to boot...no idea if that is the case for the bulb shown though. Phillips makes a properly engineered H4 LED retrofit bulb but they are sold in pairs and are quite expensive. So far as polarity goes it would be possible to wire a bridge rectifier inline (actually you would need two), that way the bulb would see the correct polarity no matter what, this is how "non-polarized" LED's are made. This does cause a small voltage drop but that might have little to no effect on the LED brightness.
I'm planning to try the Phillips H4 bulbs eventually but am waiting for the price to drop...

LED Headlight


LED Headlight
Click to expand...

Doesn't the reflector determine where the light goes and not the bulb? If you're just changing the bulb then the cutoff should be the same?
 
I have one of those LED lights with the metal gauze at the back so no cooling fan. It also has a small driver box all of which fit inside the normal headlight shell though I did cut of the triple spade terminal that normally connects to the bulb connection as it was a little bulky. It run on positive earth and is very bright much better than the Ozram top of the range bulb that was powered by relays straight from the battery.
 
Alot of the newer LED bulbs are not polarity sensitive. I bought one of these, http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Power-All- ... Sw-jhUFAqI and it works fine on my + ground bike.

Works great, decent pattern. Disclaimer: I live in a state where it's required to have your headlight on, and I seriously doubt I'll ever ride my bike hard at night, so i don't care what the beam patter is, i just wanted something that didn't have a huge voltage draw on my system
 
I got LEDs for the gauge lights and pilot light, but the H4s I got from China did not work, despite assurances in pidgin English that they would. They refunded the price and let me keep the bulbs, so no big deal. Also ordered positive-ground 1157- substitute taillight bulbs from a place in England that specializes in +ground hardware and THEY were also incorrect. They ALSO let me keep the bulbs and are supposed to be shipping the correct bulbs as I type this. Still looking for the H4-type LED in + ground. They are out there, but not cheap. Most have a cooling fan in the base and I'm not sure there's room in a Cdo headlight shell.
 
swooshdave said:
Doesn't the reflector determine where the light goes and not the bulb? If you're just changing the bulb then the cutoff should be the same?
Click to expand...

Not with H4 bulbs, the metal cup you can see near the upper filament provides the characteristic sharp low beam cutoff of the H4.
(FWIW these bulbs are supposed to be excellent, have not tried them personally yet though)

LED Headlight
 
Do any of you using LED bulbs worry about melting wires inside your headlamp shell from the greater heat these LED bulbs generate?? My headlight shell is a rat's nest of wires. I have the lighting switch, 2 beam indicator lights, and an ameter mounted in my headlight shell. That makes for a lot of wiring inside the shell. I'd love a brighter headlight, but I also don't want to melt any wiring...

I see there's LED bulbs with and without fans. That tells me things get hot... I don't ride much at night, but a simple bulb swap without any modifying to have a brighter headlight that has a lower amperage draw would be a good thing, so long as I don't burn up my wires... comments about heat build up?? thanks.
 
I tried a cheap LED bulb with three LEDs, in a wipe quatoptic reflector. The beam was all over the place mainly on the roadside signs, but not good directly in front. Looking at the front of the bike, it appeared that only half the reflector was doing anything. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
 
Do any of you using LED bulbs worry about melting wires inside your headlamp shell from the greater heat these LED bulbs generate??
Click to expand...

The heat generated is less than a halogen H4, for less watts you get the same lumens eg light output, the fan is to cool the PCB inside the bulb so they can increase the output, you can disconnect the fan but the light output decreases as does the amperage draw. The heat coming from the fan is not a lot at all and I have one fitted inside a 5 3/4 headlamp shell and the shell does not get warm unlike the H4 bulb fitted before. Once they have the aiming sorted on dip going LED is a no brainer and makes the 3 phase upgrade redundant.
 
L.E.D bulbs are great ,just rode with + earth bulb from Drumnadrochit to Ullapool ,couldn't have done it without it. I also have one in my 750 hopper no problems on possi Earth it has heat dissipation strips in the shell.

Jg

Must thank PeteV for the link.
 
o0norton0o said:
Do any of you using LED bulbs worry about melting wires inside your headlamp shell from the greater heat these LED bulbs generate?? My headlight shell is a rat's nest of wires. I have the lighting switch, 2 beam indicator lights, and an ameter mounted in my headlight shell. That makes for a lot of wiring inside the shell. I'd love a brighter headlight, but I also don't want to melt any wiring...

I see there's LED bulbs with and without fans. That tells me things get hot... I don't ride much at night, but a simple bulb swap without any modifying to have a brighter headlight that has a lower amperage draw would be a good thing, so long as I don't burn up my wires... comments about heat build up?? thanks.
Click to expand...

This is what I was worried about. I got one without the floppy cooling fans , one with a heat sink that I could put right up to the rear of my headlight shell.

I then wired all the wiring in the headlight shell to one side, and put thick leather rawhide over the cluster and taped it up.

All wiring is at least 30mm away from the heat sink and has a 5mm leather cover, just in case. Many miles, no hassle, no signs of burnt leather
 
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