LED vs HALOGEN

Welcome to the forum! There are both drop in halogen and LED replacement bulbs made. The halogen focuses better than the LED but neither are perfect.


With a generator I would go with LEDs as they draw much less current than halogens. They are also brighter than the drop in halogens. I run LEDs and like them.
 
ryanheacox said:
Welcome to the forum! There are both drop in halogen and LED replacement bulbs made. The halogen focuses better than the LED but neither are perfect.


With a generator I would go with LEDs as they draw much less current than halogens. They are also brighter than the drop in halogens. I run LEDs and like them.
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X2, have LED on 6 v generator.
 
I have no trouble with halogen and generator, for me it's about how far the lights project a beam, light the road and signs, tonight I will do more midnight testing, --- almost 20 years of halogen use, dig out my old regular bulbs for a baseline
I reduced the charge rate when I installed the halogen bulbs replacing the 50cp regular bulbs
 
The smaller lights on any car may benefit from LED replacements due to less current draw but headlamps are a different story. Most LED lamp assemblies have clusters of LEDS which don't radiate light in the same way that the original incandescent bulbs did. This makes any current type of LED lamp ineffective for projection for distance of beam. They might be bright but they won't reach out there for distance like a bulb that was designed to be in an adjustable reflector. While a halogen bulb can be made to work well for distance to some degree, an LED still can't.
 
My opinion/experience
Logo LEDs are an alternative, just have to understand and accept the risks. They illuminate much better than the 50 CP bulbs, but LEDs do not focus/pattern properly.


When comparing the 50 CP to LEDs, I found the difference astounding at how much further down the road I could see with the LEDs, on both low and high beams.
 
:oIf you are into the focussing thing, it is best to get your reflectors resilvered and use original bulbs (in my opinion) But, if you just want bright lights that cannot be totally focussed as originals and want to keep the current drain down, then LED's are the way to go. There is a company in england that had some that you had to know what polarity you wanted as they sold 6v, 12v and both pos and neg ground. And, I will share what I did and after it was done, I do not reccomend what I did. I installed 6 volt sealed beam adapters, and halogen sealed beams (which also do not focus right but are very bright) The downside is the current drain, and with a 3 brush generator, I was having to crank up the Amps for night driving, which during the day kind of was boiling the battery unless I drove with my headlights on. So I replaced the gen with a 6 volt alternator, and solve the boiling the battery issue. Had I had it to do all over again, I would have got my reflectors re-silverd and bought the 6v Pos ground LED's from England and been done with it!
 
Pro Better battery life.
Cons Depends on what model you buy and how you fit it.
And more sensitive to voltage spikes.
 
I didn't know they are sensitive to voltage spikes.The bulbs I bought from England don't care if you have 6 or 12 volts put to them.They are also not polarity sensitive.Those are the BA15-D part numbers.My two cents are,I bought a set to try out.I am a cheap SOB,and I am ordering four more sets.I have five sets of halogens from the Little British Car Company,and while I really like them,I am giving them to some friends now.Somebody has built the better mousetrap.
 
Keith True said:
I didn't know they are sensitive to voltage spikes.The bulbs I bought from England don't care if you have 6 or 12 volts put to them.They are also not polarity sensitive.Those are the BA15-D part numbers.My two cents are,I bought a set to try out.I am a cheap SOB,and I am ordering four more sets.I have five sets of halogens from the Little British Car Company,and while I really like them,I am giving them to some friends now.Somebody has built the better mousetrap.
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You are correct, just more misinformation Keith. LEDs are not sensitive to voltage spike. Most that I have experienced with operate between 5 volts up to 24 volts, -and anything in-between..
 
What is a surprise to me is that they are not polarity sensitive.I thought the very nature of a diode was to be one-way.From what I see most misinformation comes down the guy on the street from higher up.I was at a little seminar for chainsaw dealers a few years ago,and the rep was there giving a talk.He was telling us to shake our saws when they sat for more than 20 minutes.I thought it was to mix the synthetic oil they wanted us to use,but it wasn't.He said the new oils mix fine with alcohol,but the alcohol started it's phase separation in minutes.We couldn't believe a factory rep could be so ignorant of fact,and was out there preaching it.
 
Keith True said:
What is a surprise to me is that they are not polarity sensitive.I thought the very nature of a diode was to be one-way.
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True, the LED is a diode that happens to emit light and requires correct polarity. A bridge rectifier (AC/DC converter) can be inserted in series to change it to the correct direction. It also requires a current limiter in series to prevent burning out the led. What surprises me is the things can operate at only 5V, since all the series components cause a significant voltage drop across them. But I assume the manufacturers know what they're talking about.
 
From what I have seen, the reported problems focusing LED headlights only applies to the rather poor US ones. I have seen the cut offs achieved by the Australian made ones and I have no issue with them what so ever.
 
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Synchro909 said:
From what I have seen, the reported problems focusing LED headlights only applies to the rather poor US ones. I have seen the cut offs achieved by the Australian made ones and I have no issue with them what so ever.
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Please provide a link to the good Australian ones you use.


Thanks
 
I wonder how these would perform on a T with mag lights. The lights are powered by the magneto, from 5 to (maybe) 30 volts. Has anybody tried this yet?
 
30 Closed Cab PU said:
Please provide a link to the good Australian ones you use.


Thanks
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Here you go!
http://www.classicandvintagebulbs.com/

He is at Hershey each year and says that his best sales people are people who have already bought them! I'm also running his red LEDs in my stop lights. Don't look directly into them when they are lit, is all I can say.

While they cost us a few dollars (what good stuff come cheap?), the exchange rate will mean you pay wayyy less.
 
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