TR2/3/3A LED headlight question

[GTP1960]

I replaced my headlights with LEDs.

They have a small cooling fan on the back.
my question is:
Do I need to make some vent holes in the bell housing?

not to crazy about that idea.

question #2:

i got these headlight gaskets from TRF, but they look nothing like the ones on there now.
I'm wondering how they are fitted?

Thanks!

 

[charleyf]

These gaskets go just inside of the chrome outer rim.
Charley

 

[Geo Hahn]

I made no mods to accommodate the fan on the LEDs headlamps I use (mine are H4s). Does seem odd to hear your headlamps 'running'.

Yeah, if you were looking for the gasket that is between the bucket and the body - that ain't it.

 

[TR3driver]

I couldn't figure out how to make those gaskets fit either, so I just left them out. Might actually be a Good Thing, leaving them out should allow more air to circulate around the back of the bucket.

Ditto on no holes for the fans. The reduced cooling might possibly shorten the life of the LEDs, but it seems unlikely to me. My longest stretch with them on has been about 4 hours, and they still work fine, (but it wasn't terribly hot outside at the time, maybe 80F).

I love to drive my TR, but realistically I only spend 200-300 hours per year behind the wheel (probably less now that I don't commute to work in it). And even that is more than most people drive. That means the LED rated lifetime (30,000 hours for mine) would last somewhere between 100 and 150 years. In spite of all the advances in modern medicine, I really don't expect to live that long!

 

[GTP1960]

I couldn't figure out how to make those gaskets fit either, so I just left them out. Might actually be a Good Thing, leaving them out should allow more air to circulate around the back of the bucket.

Ditto on no holes for the fans. The reduced cooling might possibly shorten the life of the LEDs, but it seems unlikely to me. My longest stretch with them on has been about 4 hours, and they still work fine, (but it wasn't terribly hot outside at the time, maybe 80F).

I love to drive my TR, but realistically I only spend 200-300 hours per year behind the wheel (probably less now that I don't commute to work in it). And even that is more than most people drive. That means the LED rated lifetime (30,000 hours for mine) would last somewhere between 100 and 150 years. In spite of all the advances in modern medicine, I really don't expect to live that long!

i left those gaskets off too. I never drive in the rain or even if it's wet out, anyway.

i do like to drive (daytime) with my light on though.
i believe that LEDs can last 30,000 hours......unless you turn them on.
(that's been my experience around the house anyway)

Thx. Fellas.

 

[GTP1960]

Hey Geo, have you always had that E-type?
got any pics posted?

 

[TR3driver]

i believe that LEDs can last 30,000 hours......unless you turn them on.
(that's been my experience around the house anyway)

Guess I've been lucky. I've only started using them for lighting a few years back, but no failures yet. And I have a clock radio with a LED display that has been lit for some 30,000 hours and is still going. (Not necessarily the individual segments, but the colon between hours and minutes has been on more or less continuously since 1979 or so.)

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if the ballasts have shorter lives. I just got through replacing a fluorescent ballast that died long before it's time (replaced with LEDs naturally). And I've got a number of fluorescent floor lamps waiting for me to convert to LED because their ballasts are bad.
Turns out the really cheap fluorescent fixture I put in the crawl space above my lathe had a starter inside that burned out. Eventually I'll replace it with LED, but I had an NORS starter in the drawer ... and I do hate throwing away things that still work.

 

[Geo Hahn]

Hey Geo, have you always had that E-type?

We got it in 2012.

...got any pics posted?

Ever ask a Grandmother if she has any photos of the grandkids?

I could bore for England with all the pics I have. I'll limit myself to one from last fall's tour of the California coast:

I'll always be a 'Triumph' guy but I certainly enjoy this other Coventry car.

[/Hijack mode off]

 

[GTP1960]

She's a beauty.
i think the E-type is timeless sports car elegance.


i see you've got your well-traveled suitcase on the back.

 

[GTP1960]

[QUOTE[Guess I've been lucky. I've only started using them for lighting a few years back, but no failures yet]/QUOTE]

After thinking about mine; I realized the LEDs that have given me trouble are all on dimmer switches. Maybe they don't like that.

 

[martx-5]

After thinking about mine; I realized the LEDs that have given me trouble are all on dimmer switches. Maybe they don't like that.

Some LEDs are made to work with dimmers, others not. You have to check the specs. I have several LEDs in the house on dimmers that have been working for years. I have two more four foot fluorescent fixtures in my basement to change over to LED, and my whole house will be LED. I started changing over about six years ago and have only lost one bulb, and I got that one from our electric company that was running a special on them to get people to switch over.

 

[TR3driver]

There are also special dimmers for use with LEDs. The "dimmable" LEDs I have say its important.