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justin_mercier
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vettedog72 said:
2 years of continuously being lit is more than many people would have some of these on in several lifetimes of a car.
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Anyone using an LED light like this
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2 years of continuously being lit is more than many people would have some of these on in several lifetimes of a car.
Folks, I was surfing the Triumph forum and saw this thread on LED taillights. When someone mentioned Litezupp lights, I knew that I could provide some information. My running mate, tr3bGeorge, is in the same Triumph club with Jim Thompson, co-founder of Litezupp. So, George has the taillights, AND LOVES THEM. (He has the "90-degree" lights in his car, as Litezupp makes them for all types of mounts.) He said that the first night he came home, pulled into his garage, and put on the brakes, he burnt the paint off the house across the street. I told him about your post, so he went to Jim yesterday, and asked for the "numbers" on the Litezupp lights.
He is not trying to sell you anything, but wanted you to hear it from the horse's mouth. He doesn't understand the techie talk, but you guys will. This is what Jim sent him. (He mentioned to Jim the cruise control problem, which is now fixed.) Bottom line, you get about double (George says that it is more than that) the light for 1/6 the amps, and less heat.
Good Luck,
Phil
George,
We are addressing the cruise control problem this morning. Very few Triumphs have cruise controls and the early version of our LED Lights were not tested for the problem. The problem only occurs with the 57 style bulbs. We use the same LED's for Running and Braking with different resistors to change the current making them brighter or dimmer. The latest PC Boards for the 57 style product have a couple of diodes added which prevent the current from going for the running circuit back into the braking circuit and vise versa. We will be sending Bud the latest version of the product today and I believe that will solve his problem..
The tungsten bulbs power: 2 amps X 12 volts = 24 watts per bulb
The LiteZupp Bulbs power: 0.3 amps x 12 volts = 3.6 watts per bulb
The actual light output is dependent on the type and condition of the plastic that the light is passing through. From observation it appears that the LED's are around 50% brighter but we do not have any actual measurements to back that up. We have chosen to use very expensive, high current LED's in our product. I have noted in the Forums that some people believe that all LED's are the same. That is not true. Most of the LED lights I see at Auto Supply Stores use very cheap LED's that only operate at around 0.02 amps. In order to make those LED's appear bright, the light is focused into a very narrow spot and therefore the whole lens is not illuminated.
The number of photons generated in an LED is proportional to the current. The more current the more photons. Any bulb design is a balance between max photons and acceptable heat generation. Too much heat will shorten the life of the LED's. We incorporate a billet aluminum housing which acts as a heat sink in our lamp design. This enables us to operate at the LED's at higher currents for more light without shorting the life to the lamp.
I hope the above helps.
Jim
He is not trying to sell you anything, but wanted you to hear it from the horse's mouth. He doesn't understand the techie talk, but you guys will. This is what Jim sent him. (He mentioned to Jim the cruise control problem, which is now fixed.) Bottom line, you get about double (George says that it is more than that) the light for 1/6 the amps, and less heat.
Good Luck,
Phil
George,
We are addressing the cruise control problem this morning. Very few Triumphs have cruise controls and the early version of our LED Lights were not tested for the problem. The problem only occurs with the 57 style bulbs. We use the same LED's for Running and Braking with different resistors to change the current making them brighter or dimmer. The latest PC Boards for the 57 style product have a couple of diodes added which prevent the current from going for the running circuit back into the braking circuit and vise versa. We will be sending Bud the latest version of the product today and I believe that will solve his problem..
The tungsten bulbs power: 2 amps X 12 volts = 24 watts per bulb
The LiteZupp Bulbs power: 0.3 amps x 12 volts = 3.6 watts per bulb
The actual light output is dependent on the type and condition of the plastic that the light is passing through. From observation it appears that the LED's are around 50% brighter but we do not have any actual measurements to back that up. We have chosen to use very expensive, high current LED's in our product. I have noted in the Forums that some people believe that all LED's are the same. That is not true. Most of the LED lights I see at Auto Supply Stores use very cheap LED's that only operate at around 0.02 amps. In order to make those LED's appear bright, the light is focused into a very narrow spot and therefore the whole lens is not illuminated.
The number of photons generated in an LED is proportional to the current. The more current the more photons. Any bulb design is a balance between max photons and acceptable heat generation. Too much heat will shorten the life of the LED's. We incorporate a billet aluminum housing which acts as a heat sink in our lamp design. This enables us to operate at the LED's at higher currents for more light without shorting the life to the lamp.
I hope the above helps.
Jim
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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FWIW, I was just reading an article in EE Times, talking about how LED prices are dropping rapidly. They mentioned high power LEDs for under $1 (which of course would be in large wholesale quantity and not mounted to a heat sink) today, while they were $5 a few years ago.SkinnedKnuckles said:
No doubt it will take some time for those reductions to show up in low volume products like the retrofit bulbs for our cars, but I see a 200 lumen (pretty darn bright) flashlight on eBay for $4, so they are starting to filter down to the consumer level.
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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That is true, and it's also several times the life of any incandescent automotive bulb.justin_mercier said:
However, it seems short to me for an LED unless there is some other problem. Cree rates their high power LEDs at 70% output after 50,000 hours, which is over 5 years of continuous operation.
Um, the bulbs that I was using are generic off the shelf cheapo's. I'm quite happy with their lifespan.
These are what I am using
https://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi...ispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/1156-x30.htm#photost
far from the quality of a Cree,
but they do what I need them to do without much cost.
These are what I am using
https://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi...ispPage&Page2Disp=/specs/1156-x30.htm#photost
far from the quality of a Cree,
but they do what I need them to do without much cost.
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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Ah, my mistake, Steve. I didn't follow your link before, and assumed you were using some of the LED replacements for household (120v) bulbs that have recently appeared on the market.71MKIV said:
But it says right on your linked page that lifetime is "up to 10,000 hours", which is just a bit over 1 year of continuous operation.
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I bought a couple of these from Amazon.com and passed them on to a colleague with a British car repair shop for evaluation. He used them for one of his Tech sessions and was not very excited about the result.
For my TR6 I have purchased a set of LED lights that are mounted on boards and are comparable with light set ups on modern cars. Many comments have been made about thier effectiveness.
Paul
For my TR6 I have purchased a set of LED lights that are mounted on boards and are comparable with light set ups on modern cars. Many comments have been made about thier effectiveness.
Paul
trrdster2000
Luke Skywalker
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mikecyc72usa
Jedi Trainee
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Surprised no one mentioned that LED brake lights go on quicker than incandescent bulbs by a fraction of a second, which translates to something like 15ft at 30mph. If the guy behind you has an extra 15ft to slow down, that could mean a big difference in damage at 30mph. Do the math, and the faster you are going, the better warning following drivers will have. Not a bad side benefit.
Silverghost
Yoda
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DNK said:What I am looking for then, ...is a brake light that can read my mind and go on BEFORE I touch the pedal.
I have those.....just Google "wife"!!
HerronScott
Darth Vader
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Silverghost said:DNK said:What I am looking for then, ...is a brake light that can read my mind and go on BEFORE I touch the pedal.
I have those.....just Google "wife"!!
Hey I've got one of those too! She's usually already grabbed the arm rest on the door by the time I've hit the brake.
Scott
TR3driver
Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
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I find that difficult to believe, in spite of what some studies have claimed. There are some buses running around here with both incandescent and LED brake lights; the LEDs do light faster but the difference is miniscule. You can't even see that they come on first, except as a faint relative motion between the lights. It might be .05 seconds, but I just don't believe it's 0.34 seconds (which is roughly how long it takes to go 15 ft @ 30 mph).mikecyc72usa said:
Of course, part of that is when do you consider a light to be "on". If it was totally off and now it's 1/3 of full brilliance, is that "on" or "off"?
Still, even a few feet would help, sometimes. Just two feet likely would have prevented my old whiplash injury.
mikecyc72usa
Jedi Trainee
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According to my friend in my Triumph club who's an electrical engineer (and his company does nothing but light bulbs, LEDs, etc for all kinds of applications) it's all about resistance, etc. On a Triumph, there is so little distance of wire to cover compared to a bus that the LEDs will light faster. I was going on vague memory of a study I read, it may have been 5 feet, but 15 stuck in my head. You are right, though, at what point is "on" measured? Can make a big difference.