I don't fancy going through endless LED bulbs to find the one with the correct light dispersion for my headlights, especially given the specs of most of them appear to be made up on the spot. As I say though, if consensus on specific recommendations builds from people more adventurous than me, I might dip my toes in the LED waters at that point...
H4 headlamps with LED bulbs
- Thread starter Jonathan Gleeson
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I don't fancy going through endless LED bulbs to find the one with the correct light dispersion for my headlights, especially given the specs of most of them appear to be made up on the spot. As I say though, if consensus on specific recommendations builds from people more adventurous than me, I might dip my toes in the LED waters at that point...
I've tried the Phillips and Twenty20 LEDs as well as a couple of 'white' halogen bulbs in the THQ lights. They have all been pretty disappointing. I'd go as far as to say, not as good as the OEM H7s that they replaced. I am going to have a go with some 100W halogens using a relayed loom to handle the extra draw, but I think that the best result will come from a H7 HID.
From what I've learnt some bulbs are better in projectors and some are better in reflectors.
I genuinely believe that you need some big wattage ones in there though, the twenty20 ones are 20watts which is nothing.
I can only find a couple of led bulbs in 50w each so it's quite rare!
I'm going to go 50w leds in the headlights and fogs, hopefully I'll be able to see then
Hid lamps undoubtedly are the most efficient light source but they also produce light over a wider part of the visible spectrum than the colour specific LED so typically of the total lumen output quoted from an Hid lamp possibly 30% of the output is below and above 6000K towards infra red and ultra violet, that's how you get that not so delightful all the colours of the rainbow scatter effect around the margin of the beam from an Hid source as it drives towards you.
@dubber36 have you tried a brighter LED lamp in your THQ lights, sadly it seems there's not really a correlation between price and performance with these more expensive brand name LED lamps, as the name implies according to ABD the Twenty20 lamp is 20 watts and similarly the Ultinon is 20 watts again, with the best will in the world a 20 watt LED isn't a fair comparison with either a 35 to 50 watt Hid or 100 watt halogen (it can be better than a 55 watt halogen) but a 50 watt LED probably is a better performer.
@RedUn no fogs here mate, poverty spec comfort model so I was driving by the light of a decaying Kipper... sorry, two decaying Kippers... got an acknowledgement from Novsight that some canbus devices are on their way, think they're coming from Hong Kong so might not be here tomorrow especially with it all kicking off over there!
Just a thought and these are the £63 LEDs I've bought, yep, the ones with the external driver box and bigarsedfan https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWW43WC/ref=twister_B07PZ6PX2M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@dubber36 have you tried a brighter LED lamp in your THQ lights, sadly it seems there's not really a correlation between price and performance with these more expensive brand name LED lamps, as the name implies according to ABD the Twenty20 lamp is 20 watts and similarly the Ultinon is 20 watts again, with the best will in the world a 20 watt LED isn't a fair comparison with either a 35 to 50 watt Hid or 100 watt halogen (it can be better than a 55 watt halogen) but a 50 watt LED probably is a better performer.
@RedUn no fogs here mate, poverty spec comfort model so I was driving by the light of a decaying Kipper... sorry, two decaying Kippers... got an acknowledgement from Novsight that some canbus devices are on their way, think they're coming from Hong Kong so might not be here tomorrow especially with it all kicking off over there!
Just a thought and these are the £63 LEDs I've bought, yep, the ones with the external driver box and bigarsedfan https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWW43WC/ref=twister_B07PZ6PX2M?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I've not tried brighter LEDs. They came from Travelin Lite with the Phillips bulbs. I thought they were poor, plus they suffered with flickering. Someone on the THQ thread posted impressive pictures of the Twenty20s, so I gave them a go, but for me, they were even worse and affected the DAB signal. I'd really like to find some LEDs that genuinely perform, but don't want to risk any more money being the Guinea pig.
I have decided to try a cheap HID kit next as previous experience of them in OEM projector headlights have been good. If they don't work, then I think we are all flogging a dead horse trying to get what we first hoped for from what turn out to be crap projectors.
I have decided to try a cheap HID kit next as previous experience of them in OEM projector headlights have been good. If they don't work, then I think we are all flogging a dead horse trying to get what we first hoped for from what turn out to be crap projectors.
@dubber36 I think an Hid on the dip beam projector will probably be as good as you're going to get with your projectors as the LED equivalent is always going to be a two sided product with a chip on each side facing away from each other, giving a cardiod figure of 8 pattern compared to the point source omni directional radiation of the Hid capsule. With the beam controlling parts of the projector being so much more compact compared to the larger conventional reflector any non alignment is going to have a greater proportional effect on beam pattern and losses through light scatter.
Hold the press, I've finally fitted the Canbus decoder boxes that Novsight finally sent me after an aborted first attempt... anyway the additional boxes have stopped the pulsing flicker that appeared when the engine was running and the lamp out warning only rears its ugly head if you yank on the indicator stalk to flash your main beam, this I can easily put up with.
Ok these bad boys are not OEM LED headlights but then they're also not a £2,500 retro fit on a second hand van I bought that some other cheap skate had specced out... see, I don't deny being a cheapskate, just pointing out that I'm not the only cheapskate, just the second one... back to the lights and I've done a bit of phone video on a private road (it wasn't) to try and share this wonderful moment ie. the first time I've driven down a dark country road without puckering up slightly.
Hopefully we can share that moment if I've managed to get my head around all this technology...
Ok these bad boys are not OEM LED headlights but then they're also not a £2,500 retro fit on a second hand van I bought that some other cheap skate had specced out... see, I don't deny being a cheapskate, just pointing out that I'm not the only cheapskate, just the second one... back to the lights and I've done a bit of phone video on a private road (it wasn't) to try and share this wonderful moment ie. the first time I've driven down a dark country road without puckering up slightly.
Hopefully we can share that moment if I've managed to get my head around all this technology...
They'll definitely melt... it would be like crossing the beams in Ghost Busters... on the other hand you could go completely bonkers and put one of Rattys Morimoto Led projectors through the middle of the DRL eye socket!
Obviously have to rig that up to run from a normally open relay that would pick up the coil feed from the H4 main beam wire... or, I suppose more sensibly to run via the dip beam and give four lots of dipped LED goodness?
Final edit... and sadly the option to run both chips simultaneously has been taken away by the manufacturer, these toggle automatically between dip and main to save the lamp.
Obviously have to rig that up to run from a normally open relay that would pick up the coil feed from the H4 main beam wire... or, I suppose more sensibly to run via the dip beam and give four lots of dipped LED goodness?
Final edit... and sadly the option to run both chips simultaneously has been taken away by the manufacturer, these toggle automatically between dip and main to save the lamp.
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Interesting work @Stay Frosty Could you please confirm exactly which Novsight lamps these are? (there are a lot of links in this thread!)
Cheers.
Cheers.
I'm on my phone so if you look on Amazon, they're the £63.99 H4 lamps but you will need the decoder boxes as well so there'll be a bit of faffing there where you get them free of charge from Novsight but via Hong Kong... about a week in total.
Do count on having to mod the caps on the back of the headlight as these stick about about 25mm further than the original halogens because of the fan and heatsink... look at mine earlier in the thread as that's one way, in addition you'll need to file a notch about 8mm in diameter through the corner of the cap and bring out the H4 lamp connector and wires plus go back in with the actual lamp lead... the tighter the gap the better to maintain some sort of seal against crap ingress to the rear of the headlight shell.
Probably a mornings faffing about when you have the lamps and Canbus decoders to hand but worth the butchery!
Do count on having to mod the caps on the back of the headlight as these stick about about 25mm further than the original halogens because of the fan and heatsink... look at mine earlier in the thread as that's one way, in addition you'll need to file a notch about 8mm in diameter through the corner of the cap and bring out the H4 lamp connector and wires plus go back in with the actual lamp lead... the tighter the gap the better to maintain some sort of seal against crap ingress to the rear of the headlight shell.
Probably a mornings faffing about when you have the lamps and Canbus decoders to hand but worth the butchery!
Thanks.
Fans worry me.
It is always the mechanical items that fail in modern electronic devices and it's not the cleanest environment. I would rather have passive heatsinks but they would then be even larger.
@Dilbert if you watch the various Headlight Revolution videos on Youtube they cover fanless LED lamps in one episode in what they refer to as mini bulbs ie. fanless LED lamps, they're of the opinion that until the cooling side of things are man enough then light output is compromised to save the chips from cooking.
Regarding the amount of farting about to make these lamps fit in the standard H4 headlight the £63.99 bill definitely spurred me on, however these are no OEM LED headlight option beater but realistically today for the first time ever I was actually casting a shadow onto the verge of the lower left corner of the car in front and it was barely dusk.
I wouldn't worry about fans packing up on the LEDs as mechanical failure is a reccurring theme with Transporters in general and part of the joy/pain of ownership.
These lamps https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWW43WC/ref=emc_b_5_t?th=1
Regarding the amount of farting about to make these lamps fit in the standard H4 headlight the £63.99 bill definitely spurred me on, however these are no OEM LED headlight option beater but realistically today for the first time ever I was actually casting a shadow onto the verge of the lower left corner of the car in front and it was barely dusk.
I wouldn't worry about fans packing up on the LEDs as mechanical failure is a reccurring theme with Transporters in general and part of the joy/pain of ownership.
These lamps https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWW43WC/ref=emc_b_5_t?th=1
nbqqit
New Member
hi Stay Frosty.
do these decoders look the same as the ones you had come from Hong Kong.
they are fron the same seller that do the bulbs .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GGWW...olid=15KTR02RCSFP9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
do these decoders look the same as the ones you had come from Hong Kong.
they are fron the same seller that do the bulbs .
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GGWW...olid=15KTR02RCSFP9&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
They look identical but when you order the lamps at the £63.99 they send you just the lamps and drivers but then go the extra mile with a follow up email to say they'll send decoders free of charge if you have Canbus issues which they did for mine.
I'm not connected with these lamp suppliers in any way just some Herbert who took a punt and got a result for a change!
I'm not connected with these lamp suppliers in any way just some Herbert who took a punt and got a result for a change!
So im going to order in the GTR Ultra gen 2 LED for my H4 tomorrow, as im not waiting for the RHD version of the MLED 2.0 to be released in 6-12 months
H4/9003: GTR Lighting Ultra 2
LED Headlight Bulbs - GTR Lighting Ultra 2 *NEW* - Headlight Revolution
As for the review, i believe it is an independent review, they sell other high end LED bulbs.
So the question im asking for those that have fitted CANbus modules when fitting the LED Bulbs, is i'm guessing that the connectors were H4??? and you fitted them inside the rear of the headlight
GTR Lighting PWM Interface Module (H4 Style Connectors)
Cheers,
Bryn
H4/9003: GTR Lighting Ultra 2
LED Headlight Bulbs - GTR Lighting Ultra 2 *NEW* - Headlight Revolution
As for the review, i believe it is an independent review, they sell other high end LED bulbs.
So the question im asking for those that have fitted CANbus modules when fitting the LED Bulbs, is i'm guessing that the connectors were H4??? and you fitted them inside the rear of the headlight
GTR Lighting PWM Interface Module (H4 Style Connectors)
Cheers,
Bryn
No mate, neither the Canbus decoder box or the LED driver box will fit in the void between the rear of the reflector and the inside surface of the rear of the headlight enclosure, don't forget that reflector has to be able to move too.
On my H4 I've now got extra "lumps" grafted onto the back of the lamp access caps plus a notch on the inside corner to allow for the original H4 lamp holder to exit the enclosure and the new lamp lead to go back inside.
You're right that these leads are all plug and play with standard H4 three pin male or female plugs on the ends, they are plug and play but mine are the Novsight products.
On my H4 I've now got extra "lumps" grafted onto the back of the lamp access caps plus a notch on the inside corner to allow for the original H4 lamp holder to exit the enclosure and the new lamp lead to go back inside.
You're right that these leads are all plug and play with standard H4 three pin male or female plugs on the ends, they are plug and play but mine are the Novsight products.
Thanks Frosty,
I assumed it was plug and play, but just wanted to check, i've just ordered them from the states, so i should see them in a week or so.
What did you use to pack out the caps?
i'll be pulling the headlights out, along with the grill and bumper, as i have to clean out the radiator from our last trip.
So it'll be easier working on it, when its sitting on the work bench
I assumed it was plug and play, but just wanted to check, i've just ordered them from the states, so i should see them in a week or so.
What did you use to pack out the caps?
i'll be pulling the headlights out, along with the grill and bumper, as i have to clean out the radiator from our last trip.
So it'll be easier working on it, when its sitting on the work bench
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