LED Front Running Lights & Aux Brake/Tail Running Lights

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by PAFirefighter11, Mar 16, 2011.

  1. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    Hey all,

    Looking for a pair of BRIGHT, 4300-5000K LED's to mount on my front forks. Also, for the rear, looking for some bright LED's, in red, for aux running/parking lights. Not sure how/where to mount them though. I am thinking for the fronts to use the reflector bracket/bolt, but not sure for the rears. I want something similar to this for the front:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    And for the rear maybe something like this but MUCH more integrated, smaller, and aesthetically pleasing:

    [​IMG]



    But I will settle for this (License plate piece) if I have to:

    [​IMG]
     
  2. vwboomer

    vwboomer New Member

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    Did you find/mount lights?
    I mounted these 35w each spotlights. Still working on a switch solution .

    Mounting on the lower fork legs would produce a lot of distracting up/down movement I think.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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  4. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Maybe some of that clear Scotch tape they use on cardboard boxes would work until you can get something more substantial like hose clamps or wire ties.

    Don't drill into the forks. It really messes with the ride quality. ;)

    Technically, K=Degrees Kelvin and has zip to do with the intensity of any light source. What ya wanna look for is "lumens" .

    Ad dudes like to toss out big numbers so they can sell shit.
     
  5. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    I am a lighting whore. All 3 of my vehicles (VFR included) have HID's. And most of my prior's have been the recipient of an HID kit or retrofit. I have done true retrofits with HID projectors all the way down to a POS plug and play kit. Kelvin has a direct correlation to lumens output in automotive headlight applications. See below:

    Color Temp (K) - Lumens Output (lm):
    3000K (yellow) - 3200 lm
    4300K (OEM) - 3300 lm
    5000K - 3400 lm
    6000K - 2700 lm
    7000K - 2000 lm
    8000K - 1500 lm
    9000K - 1000 lm
    10000K - 600 lm

    Regular halogen headlamps typically produce between 700 to 2100 lm depending on the style (Regular, HIR, etc.).
     
  6. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Sorry there pard, somebody is BSing you. For details google up "degrees Kelvin" or "light temperature" Then do the same for "lumens" or "light output".

    This is a short version from the folks who build lights:

    What is Kelvin Temperature and what does each
     
  7. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    You're incorrect. A 4300K bulb will produce more lumens output than a 10000K bulb in the precise same housing. The link you quoted even states:
    which is precisely what I said. I've used light meters to measure output. I've been using HID lighting and messing with different lighting for over a decade, including comparisons between high wattage halogen, LED, and HID output in Jeep vehicles.

    They also state this:
     
  8. orion3814

    orion3814 New Member

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    yall must also know that this is all dependent on the voltage characteristics of the lights too the lumen/ value will change with current and voltage as well.. a 200 watt bulb will produce 99.2 more lumens than a 100 watt bulb in the same temperature range.. almost 2 times the light with a small amount of losses in the lumen values as the wattage increases..
     
  9. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    Ah halogen. I ran some 190/100 watt H4 bulbs in my '97 Wrangler TJ. Upgraded, 12 gauge wiring harness with dual relays, fused positive straight from the battery, etc. The stock wiring was only used to provide the signal to turn on/off the lights, as well as high/low. The voltage drop over the course of the stock 16-18 gauge wire is horrible - gotta love upgraded wiring!

    In regards to my lumens output ratings: I was purely stating my stats with the assumption that the precise same housings, wattage (35w in this case), ballasts, ignitors, wiring, etc., were used, with the only difference being the actual capsule producing the 4300K versus 10000K color output.
     
  10. Spike

    Spike New Member

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    What did you use for a mount on the lights?

     
  11. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Anybody got a handy-dandy coversion factor, nomograph or light sales dude that can convert Degrees Kelvin to lumens? The color temperature of light cannot be measured with a light meter nor can the operating temperature of the actual type of lamp unless somebody has one of those non-existant combination. Light./Color Temperature/ Pyrometer gadgets.
     
  12. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    So, you are saying that a 35 watt, 4300K HID capsule, hooked up to a ballast/ignitor, and placed in a housing, will not produce more light than a 10000K HID capsule in the same exact environment? Grab any decent light meter, measure the foot candles, and there you go - lumens output. You will SEE the difference both physically and on the meter.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Pliskin

    Pliskin New Member

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    I have a friend everyone calls Sparky, because he's so bright.

    Can you measure the lumens, watts, Kelvins, etc. of a spark? Could it be that after all these years of calling him Sparky in condescending tones, that he is, indeed, brighter than all of us?
     
  14. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Can you loan me all that stuff and that meter so I can say what you are saying I said? Still ain't seen any way to convert degrees Kelvin to lumens. Maybe you can enlighten everyone with some proof rather than tossing out BS red herrings like some middle school debator who ain't quite got the picture. Maybe the instruction manual on that meter you got off some site on the net might be worth a read or is it?

    Are all those lights on your rigs there for some purpose? Snipe hunting maybe? Bigfoot or Yeti tracking? A personal issue about daylight savings time? Some group where whoever has the biggest light wins? Damn, you may be one a them vampires what only goes out in the night.
     
  15. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    It seems you are thinking of the wrong Kelvin scale here. I'm discussing the Kelvin rating of the lighting spectrum, you seem to be thinking of the Kelvin temperature system in regards to physical hot and cold temps. This has no bearing on that.

    "All those lights on my rig"? I tested them for my company one at a time. I have 4 forward facing lights on my Wrangler. Not sure what you are talking about. For me, it's called hands on, personal experience. You seem to have none. Any evidence here of your knowledge on this topic? You have merely thrown arguments in from websites which go against what you said and corroborate what I have stated.
     
  16. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Maybe I was. Seems like I read somewhere that Lord Kelvin had a brother that they kept locked away in a dark room.

    I admit that I don't have all the lights on my vehicles that you do, but I kick some serious ass with my dozen or more strings of Christmas
    tree lights.

    Ebay has much better and more sophisicated light meters than the one you got off the net. That particular meter is what is called an incident meter and from a quick look measures lux and footcandles and is made mostly for residential and commercial light measurment. Minolta has some niftys as does Sekonic and even those old Honeywell one degree relective spot meters. Or, if as your inventory of aquistions indicates you can even use the reflective meter in that D2 you say you have and with a few hours reading the instruction manual there are even lens snoots that effectively changes a reflective meter in a metering type camera to a pretty accurate.

    incident meter.


    Are there any other things that have changed in physics of late that we should know about?
     
  17. vwboomer

    vwboomer New Member

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    The lights have a permanent mount, and a bracket that is held together with a #6 or so machine screw. I enlarged the hole on that mount and added spacers to the mirror mounting hole so that pressure would still hold the mirror in place. Needed a longer bolt and I used two from the passenger grab rails since my Givi bags came with new ones. Worked pretty well.

    The switch is one of these Brake Perch Switch, Single
    It would not fit on the bar due to the large stock switchgear, so I added spacers. I'll have to road test it to see how comfortable it is....kind of a stretch I think. I'll get a couple pics of the setup when i'm done changin oil.
     
  18. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    Keep typing! It's not like I've been a photographer for 20 years and have several light meters in my collection. Speaking of fifth grade, your impeccable grammar and spelling are thoroughly amusing me! :cool: Please, do continue!
     
  19. Spike

    Spike New Member

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    So the braket you used, was this something that came with the lights, or did you outsource it?


     
  20. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Is there a light meter collector website I can take a look at somewhere? How many light meters do you have? Are they big ones? Might there be information there about the whereabouts of the missing Kelvin?



    I think if you checked, Grade five is still grammar school.
     
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