tim hunt Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 October's Club Triumph RBRR involved two overnight drives, much of the time on unlit roads. I was very impressed with the headlights on Alan Chatterton's Stag estate; he told me he had fitted NightEye LED bulbs to replace conventional halogens and thoroughly recommended them. He had carefully adjusted the lights before the Run and despite the outstanding illumination on dipped beam he told me that no oncoming driver had flashed him and no one on the Run he had been driving behind reported any issue. He was so pleased that he subsequently bought another pair of these bulbs for his Discovery 4. I bought a pair of NightEye H4 bulbs on Ebay for the princely sum of £19.89 delivered. (See www.novsights.com). They came in a very good protective packaging and appeared well made and of good quality. They were easy to fit, although the cooling fins project further into the headlamp bowl than the spade connectors on a normal H4 bulb and the extra wiring takes up more space so it took a little while to position it so that my Valeo (Cibie) units located correctly. Before changing the bubs I carefully marked the position of the dipped beam cut off on my garage door with the existing Philips Racing Vision halogen bulbs. I fitted the LED bulbs and noted that the beam cut off EXACTLY matched the previous one. The LED light sources are so small that they can be positioned to mimic the filaments on a halogen bulb, avoiding the glare problems with some designs of LED bulb. I will not have the chance to try these bubs on the road for a while as the car is laid up while I attend to some other jobs but from what I have seen I am sure they will transform my night driving experience. The light given is dramatically brighter than from the already uprated Halogens and very white (6,500 deg K). The bubs are rated at only 25W each, a real benefit since I am still running with a dynamo. I was amazed to see that when I switched them on my ammeter needle hardly moved! I am really looking forward to giving these bulbs a serious work out on Club Triumph's 28/29 April all-nighter planned for Drive it Day. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hamish Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Great write up Tim. H Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steves_TR6 Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 This is a great thread! i’m very happy with the nightbreakers but at £20 might experiment with these leds steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisR-4A Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Hi Bob, I am expecting some Night breaker lasers in my stocking next week (Currently £16.10 a, pair on Amazon) and was interested in your demo on dip beams as here in Essex there is always traffic even on the country roads and 95% of my night driving, which is not that often is on dip beams. To this end I have my dips adjusted as high as possible without causing dazzle, still OK for mot. It looks like most of the advantage of the leds is greater range on high beam whereas on dip the range is reduced for both and the centre of the led looks no brighter than the night breaker, but has a wider spread. Do you agree? As a first upgrade the Night breaker Lazers look like a no brainer, if Jan stays dry I will be trying them out soon. Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeThomas Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Agree, great and really helpful plus informative post by Tim Hunt. You got a huge 'like' from me as well Tim. Going to save the text of that post to my TR file. Best wishes, Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Hi Tim, have you got a direct link to your ebay item. I've had a look and found there there are too many to choose from but none have the same LED array (1 x 3 LED) as your picture. Plenty of 2 x 3 led array. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 9 minutes ago, RogerH said: Hi Tim, have you got a direct link to your ebay item. I've had a look and found there there are too many to choose from but none have the same LED array (1 x 3 LED) as your picture. Plenty of 2 x 3 led array. Roger Try this Roger https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nighteye-72W-9000LM-LED-Headlight-Lamp-Bulbs-Replace-Halogen-White-Fan-Canbus/273016025350?hash=item3f9105f106:m:mz-37yUI-fbUo1T_mZQ6qNg:rk:6:pf:0 Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Having looked at the link above, I don't think these will be as good as the sort which mimics the halogen filaments with 4 sets of tiny LEDS in 2 rows, both sides, with the front rows shielded to stop illuminating the lower half of the reflector. Bob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 1 hour ago, ChrisR-4A said: Hi Bob, I am expecting some Night breaker lasers in my stocking next week (Currently £16.10 a, pair on Amazon) and was interested in your demo on dip beams as here in Essex there is always traffic even on the country roads and 95% of my night driving, which is not that often is on dip beams. To this end I have my dips adjusted as high as possible without causing dazzle, still OK for mot. It looks like most of the advantage of the leds is greater range on high beam whereas on dip the range is reduced for both and the centre of the led looks no brighter than the night breaker, but has a wider spread. Do you agree? As a first upgrade the Night breaker Lazers look like a no brainer, if Jan stays dry I will be trying them out soon. Chris My experience is that these led bulbs are brighter than Halogen in both dip, & full beam. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 (edited) On Tim's photo and Stuart's link are H7 bulbs to see. On H4 bulbs the front part of the LEDs must be shielded for the low beam. The rear part must be not shielded for the high beam Ciao Marco Edited December 20, 2018 by Z320 Words missing, posted during lunch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 19 minutes ago, Z320 said: On Tim's photo and Stuart's link are H7 bulbs to see. On H4 bulbs the front part of the LEDs must be shielded for the low The rear part must be not shielded Ciao Marco Quite correct Ciao Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 If you use the drop down menu on that page it goes to H4 type. The generic link is H7 Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim hunt Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Sorry Roger but I haven't a clue how to post a link. If you look on the www.novsights.com website and then click on 'headlight' under 'categories' and then scroll down to page 5 then my bulbs are the third item on row 5 and you will be able to read the full specification and construction details. The number of different bulbs available from this company is simply mind blowing. If you do a search on 'NOVSIGHT 8000LM 50W H4 LED CAR HEADLIGHT' you will find purchase possibilities if interested. I apologise, as has been pointed out the illustration that accompanied my previous post does not show the H4 bulbs I actually fitted, although the overall appearance is similar the LED chips are differently arranged. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveB66 Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Hi I fitted LEDs throughout to my TR6 last winter bought from Classic Car LEDs who do complete sets for many classic cars, including several triumphs. I have been very pleased with the LED headlights so much so that I shelved a plan to fit driving lamps for this years RBRR. However with the increased brightness you do need to be careful with the initial setting up, don't do as I did and forget that two up and a full boot will cause the dipped headlights to dazzle oncoming drivers, necessitating roadside adjustment! Dave Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Hi Tim, thanks for the clarification. Found the bulbs and ordered a pair. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rogerguzzi Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Hello All If they get that hot they need a fan for cooling how does the heat get out of the headlamp shell? and would it not be worse if the shells were plastic? Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted December 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 The cheaper ones tend to have small fans to pull the heat away, the more expensive ones just have a large, efficient finned heatsink behind the reflector. Bob. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim hunt Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Glad you found them Roger. Looks like you will be in a position to report back on their performance on the road sooner than I. As for Rogerguzzi's point one big advantage of LED lights is that they are far more efficient than incandescent filament bulbs, converting a larger proportion of the electrical energy input into light and producing correspondingly far less heat. You may as well ask how the considerable heat produced by a conventional headlight bulb can escape but this doesn't seem to be a problem with glass or polycarbonate lenses. The later designs of LED headlight bulb have dispensed with cooling fans and dissipate heat through fins on a metallic base, typically highly thermally conductive aluminium. Heat will also readily be conducted through a thin metal headlamp bowl and radiated from the dark coloured exterior surface into a relatively cool area exposed to air flow through the radiator grille. LED bulbs draw a much lower current than conventional ones so the coulomb heating effect in the wiring will be correspondingly lower.. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim hunt Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Looks like our posts crossed in the ether Bob! Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted December 21, 2018 Report Share Posted December 21, 2018 Sorry me, I checked both refectors, H4 bulbs and position bulbs. They are all marked "E11", that meens they are checked and registered at the UK for the UK and international market. There must be a reason for this - also at the UK. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
signalredshaker Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 The fitting of LED headlight bulbs was previously frowned upon for legal reasons- has the position changed? Also, if these bulbs use less juice does that mean we can dispense with the relays that are presently recommended for TR headlight circuitry? It seems so. Overall, these seem a really good idea as my H4 Cibie units are, when compared with my everyday car's LED headlights, somewhat rubbish even with "improved +40% etc" bulbs fitted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lebro Posted December 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 (edited) The legal situation for our cars is that all bulbs except headlamp & indicators are exempt. The remaining two are supposed to comply with a minimum wattage figure, which the LED versions cannot, however this is only because at the time of writing LED bulbs did not exist. I choose to interpret the spirit of the regs as meaning "Equivalent Wattage" which the LED type certainly comply with. It's up to you how you interpret the regs. Bob. P.S. Yes you could dispense with the relays because A) they draw less current, & B ) they run off a range of supply voltages (normally 9 to 24V so will not be affected by any voltage drop. Edited December 22, 2018 by Lebro Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ianc Posted December 22, 2018 Report Share Posted December 22, 2018 If relays have been installed in the correct places, the ignition switch and dip switch will be relieved of the heavier loading. So, even if LED bulbs are to be used, I would advise sticking with relays if they have been used. Ian Cornish Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tim hunt Posted December 23, 2018 Report Share Posted December 23, 2018 +1 Ian. No point in removing relays, after all any reduction in current through the original switches can only be a good thing. Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Z320 Posted December 23, 2018 Report Share Posted December 23, 2018 (edited) -1 for relays, worked lovely for 51 years without, and with the LED bulbs there is a hughe reduction of the current. To the H4 LED bulbs: they are not allowed at Germany and I'm very sorry about that. So I'm thinking of using them only while driving on my own ground Ciao Marco Edited December 23, 2018 by Z320 H4 added Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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