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That's what I do to survive. :wink:
permanent solution to dim commando headlight
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concours
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" Th hi-beam seems to be pointing too low, but I blame part of that on my reflector..as its actually a vintage british automoble conversion. "
I can't see how the LED's could possibly emulate the tungsten filament that lights 270 degrees of the reflector, and is focused/diffused by the flutes in the lens.
I can't see how the LED's could possibly emulate the tungsten filament that lights 270 degrees of the reflector, and is focused/diffused by the flutes in the lens.
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Maybe LED can't shine out form the same angle as filiment but the ease of heart and sole mentioned on the dark work commutes is not lost on me so LED still appears better than filament even if wrong reflector installed. Might just aim headlight up a tad for the LED hi beam.
Nater_Potater
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I will order this item for sure at this price I could buy China even adding a new city every day...issues. :|
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Nater_Potater said:
That is going to be even brighter than the one I installed
Nater_Potater
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Here we go with the new LED. It arrived Monday and I almost missed dinner, having so much fun and anticipation so as to lose my appetite.
I'm not going to bother with a shot of the bare bulb illuminated, as I don't know what it'd do to my camera. I know what it does to my retinas!
Each yellow dot is a 10 watt COB LED. The upper two operate as low, then all three for main beam. This unit is non-polarity sensitive, so okay with positive earth. I had previously wired the old girl with headlamp relays, 3-prong plug, and Hella H4 reflector, so this was literally a plug-and-play. All testing was done with an antiquated battery charger (rather than using the engine's alternator) so as to have a "stable" charging source, and not introduce any extra heat to the headlamp shell during the temp testing.
First things first: current draw. The H4 in 55/100 watts drew 6.15 amps! That's wa-a-a-y more than I would have thought a 55 watt bulb should draw. Doing the math (with the line voltage running at 12.25 volts), I show it to be more like 75 watts! That could be part of the "problem" with my charging system.
The LED? 1.40 amps at 13.6 volts! Daddy like!
Not to be side-tracked by such triviality, I moved onto temp rise. With the need of its own cooling fan, the concern has been how hot an un-vented headlamp shell will get. The current 55 watt (75 watt?) H4 bulb raises the temp from ambient 26' to 56'. After ten minutes, the shell was hot enough that I couldn't rest my hand on it. I was kind of surprized how hot it gets without the breeze from forward motion present.
Remember the movie "Caddy Shack"? "Don't mind this; doctor's orders..."
The new LED raised the temp on the thermometer almost exactly the same amount as the H4, BUT the shell was much cooler. Why? The thermometer was parked directly behind the cooling fan, as that's the only place I could wiggle it into. Based on the greatly reduced shell temp, the LED must not produce nearly as much heat as the H4.
So, onto the nitty-gritty: here's the stock low beam pattern
Followed by the LED
While it appears in these images that the H4 is producing more light, I would submit that that's partially a function of my camera, as it seems to be optimized to accentuate "warmer" tones. With the LED shifted more towards the blue end of the spectrum (~6000K), the camera doesn't register as high as the halogen with its more yellow light (~3200K). And, as noted earlier, the H4 was operating more like a 75 watt bulb. A cruise around town and along the river last night shows plenty of light; definitely much more than the stock candle. That, and the voltage monitor that you can see in the first image stayed green at anything above 1500 rpm. Win-win!!!
I didn't bother with a shot of the high beam, as it merely adds to the existing pattern by throwing an accentuated center pattern that's slightly higher for straight-on penetration. 'Quite effective, as it doesn't drop the light off the sides the way a conventional beam does.
Now, it comes down to longevity. As we're rapidly approaching zero hour as far as the weather's concerned, this may bleed out into next Spring. Hopefully, I can give you an update in a couple of weeks if the weather holds.
Nathan
I'm not going to bother with a shot of the bare bulb illuminated, as I don't know what it'd do to my camera. I know what it does to my retinas!
Each yellow dot is a 10 watt COB LED. The upper two operate as low, then all three for main beam. This unit is non-polarity sensitive, so okay with positive earth. I had previously wired the old girl with headlamp relays, 3-prong plug, and Hella H4 reflector, so this was literally a plug-and-play. All testing was done with an antiquated battery charger (rather than using the engine's alternator) so as to have a "stable" charging source, and not introduce any extra heat to the headlamp shell during the temp testing.
First things first: current draw. The H4 in 55/100 watts drew 6.15 amps! That's wa-a-a-y more than I would have thought a 55 watt bulb should draw. Doing the math (with the line voltage running at 12.25 volts), I show it to be more like 75 watts! That could be part of the "problem" with my charging system.
The LED? 1.40 amps at 13.6 volts! Daddy like!
Not to be side-tracked by such triviality, I moved onto temp rise. With the need of its own cooling fan, the concern has been how hot an un-vented headlamp shell will get. The current 55 watt (75 watt?) H4 bulb raises the temp from ambient 26' to 56'. After ten minutes, the shell was hot enough that I couldn't rest my hand on it. I was kind of surprized how hot it gets without the breeze from forward motion present.
Remember the movie "Caddy Shack"? "Don't mind this; doctor's orders..."
The new LED raised the temp on the thermometer almost exactly the same amount as the H4, BUT the shell was much cooler. Why? The thermometer was parked directly behind the cooling fan, as that's the only place I could wiggle it into. Based on the greatly reduced shell temp, the LED must not produce nearly as much heat as the H4.
So, onto the nitty-gritty: here's the stock low beam pattern
Followed by the LED
While it appears in these images that the H4 is producing more light, I would submit that that's partially a function of my camera, as it seems to be optimized to accentuate "warmer" tones. With the LED shifted more towards the blue end of the spectrum (~6000K), the camera doesn't register as high as the halogen with its more yellow light (~3200K). And, as noted earlier, the H4 was operating more like a 75 watt bulb. A cruise around town and along the river last night shows plenty of light; definitely much more than the stock candle. That, and the voltage monitor that you can see in the first image stayed green at anything above 1500 rpm. Win-win!!!
I didn't bother with a shot of the high beam, as it merely adds to the existing pattern by throwing an accentuated center pattern that's slightly higher for straight-on penetration. 'Quite effective, as it doesn't drop the light off the sides the way a conventional beam does.
Now, it comes down to longevity. As we're rapidly approaching zero hour as far as the weather's concerned, this may bleed out into next Spring. Hopefully, I can give you an update in a couple of weeks if the weather holds.
Nathan
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So I need to buy an H4 reflector to use this thing.
Where's everybody getting theirs?
Mark
Where's everybody getting theirs?
Mark
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www.busdepot.commschmitz57 said:
Nater_Potater
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Mine came from http://www.ebay.com/itm/271607986488, and it shows he has more than 10 for sale as of this posting at $20 USD + $11.39 shipping. What got me so excited about this one was the fact that it incorporates a pilot lamp. Okay, so it doesn't take much to get me excited... The rim was slightly thinner than the stock unit which forces the need for a slight "massage" to the "W" clips.mschmitz57 said:
Here's the reflector in question with the new LED lamp installed:
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Where should I look for a good quality looking reflector to retrofit my original 75'?
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beware of cheap h4 light units... Some are crap.
I have used Hella and Wagner with 55-6- h4 lamps. they are ok, but not good enough now for older eyes. I have fitted a GE Nighthawk LED lamp unit and it is very bright and very expensive. It is a lot better than your std h4 unit as mentioned above. I don't know of any other good h4 light units but there may be some around.
Dereck
I have used Hella and Wagner with 55-6- h4 lamps. they are ok, but not good enough now for older eyes. I have fitted a GE Nighthawk LED lamp unit and it is very bright and very expensive. It is a lot better than your std h4 unit as mentioned above. I don't know of any other good h4 light units but there may be some around.
Dereck
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hobot said:
I am really glad to have this thread as a reference for the very same project I had planned for late Fall. The only difference between my LED kit and this one is that my objective is to have a daytime running light that consumes even lower wattage, since I have no interest in night riding anymore. I got an 1800 Lumen 15 watt LED that requires no external driver unit (it's kinda cramped inside my Mk3 headlight shell). The low wattage will also be better for the Shorai Li-Fe battery I plan to use.
Thanks!
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Yes the sharp pointy LED white brightness gets my attention easier from cages using them as running ligths and same with cycle, more so maybe than the less pressing warm soft filament lamp. Thank goodness we survived to point we can pick and choose riding times, most the time, but have had too a handful of time this year and still gives me the creeps reflecting on what missed me I didn't see. Ssatisfying hear others new fangled success.
In spring this year 3 off road set up new BMW's stopped in village, all had factory headlights but bristled in add on fog and driving and pencil beam LED's that made them look like cross between UFO close encounters and Mod's decorated Vespa scooters, like almost $1000 extra lighting available.
Peel must have two layers of lights one in the big fairing but another more compact LED light bar type that can stay mounted behind fairing so just wing nut off a few fasteners to be naked as J bird yet head lighted well enough.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... oke+lights
For rally camps i"ve got the LEDs that light up patterns in spinning spokes.
In spring this year 3 off road set up new BMW's stopped in village, all had factory headlights but bristled in add on fog and driving and pencil beam LED's that made them look like cross between UFO close encounters and Mod's decorated Vespa scooters, like almost $1000 extra lighting available.
Peel must have two layers of lights one in the big fairing but another more compact LED light bar type that can stay mounted behind fairing so just wing nut off a few fasteners to be naked as J bird yet head lighted well enough.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... oke+lights
For rally camps i"ve got the LEDs that light up patterns in spinning spokes.
Nater_Potater
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I ordered a pair of these little puppies that I'd hoped to attach one to the triple clamp directly beneath the headlamp to use as a daytime running light. http://www.ebay.com/itm/171378073381?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT They draw six watts each. However, with the success of the H4-style LED, and drawing only 20 watts on low, why bother with this extra light bar now? The LED in the headlamp is very eye-catching, even during the daylight.contours said:
My original plan was to wire the light bar to the pilot light. Who knows; I may still do it this winter.
Nathan
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Ta.
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Hi I ordered one from http://www.ebay.com/itm/111352030430?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
It arrived and I fitted to new H4 lens( as my old 1 was running globes), my worry now is blinding oncoming traffic. The light is bright enough to film in the park at night which will be done next leave!
Peter.
It arrived and I fitted to new H4 lens( as my old 1 was running globes), my worry now is blinding oncoming traffic. The light is bright enough to film in the park at night which will be done next leave!
Peter.
Many moons ago. I had access to a shed load of Cibie H4 headlamp reflectors from trucks. I had dedicated main beam only, ditto dip only and combined dip/main.
The Cibies were great on the motorway but as soon as you heeled over for a bend you could see the beam was optimised for the straight up position.
Back in the day, Cibie made a big thing about the purity of their optical quality glass and superior, highly, accurate lens as the reasons for the improvements they achieved. Claims which seemed to be met in my experience.
Fitted to the old Guzzi they certainly did send more, whiter, light down the road compared to the original (??) and the total rubbish versions from the local discount car places. They were the only real way of improving the "night time riding experience" back then. "Rally" bulbs with a draw of 100/80 were available but were very expensive and very short lived, especially on a bike.
The improved light output persuaded me to indulge in a "Z" Beam Cibie which was a dedicated bike specific reflector. At the time Halogen was the THE thing (I remember as an apprentice, retro fitting Quartz Iode (as we called them then) bulbs to expensive cars, because the owners hadn't known not to touch the globes).
From another source, I came across the David Stern site and he does at least have Cibie units in again, but not the bike specific Z beam. (As far as I know, Cibie stopped making these years ago).
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/prod ... ducts.html
If the improvement in lighting quality is maintained to similar standard as it was back in the old days, then these may be worth a punt, along with the whiter/bluer light and lower current draw of LED's.
The Cibies were great on the motorway but as soon as you heeled over for a bend you could see the beam was optimised for the straight up position.
Back in the day, Cibie made a big thing about the purity of their optical quality glass and superior, highly, accurate lens as the reasons for the improvements they achieved. Claims which seemed to be met in my experience.
Fitted to the old Guzzi they certainly did send more, whiter, light down the road compared to the original (??) and the total rubbish versions from the local discount car places. They were the only real way of improving the "night time riding experience" back then. "Rally" bulbs with a draw of 100/80 were available but were very expensive and very short lived, especially on a bike.
The improved light output persuaded me to indulge in a "Z" Beam Cibie which was a dedicated bike specific reflector. At the time Halogen was the THE thing (I remember as an apprentice, retro fitting Quartz Iode (as we called them then) bulbs to expensive cars, because the owners hadn't known not to touch the globes).
From another source, I came across the David Stern site and he does at least have Cibie units in again, but not the bike specific Z beam. (As far as I know, Cibie stopped making these years ago).
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/prod ... ducts.html
If the improvement in lighting quality is maintained to similar standard as it was back in the old days, then these may be worth a punt, along with the whiter/bluer light and lower current draw of LED's.
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