The Great Quest for Headlights

[Chris G]

Thanks for sharing Etyrnus, I've just ordered these too. Can someone share a pic with explanation of the where the heat shrink should be placed? I read inside the headlight but I'm just wondering what this looks like thanks. Also what do they look like as DRL? Its the same bulb right?

These cars don't have a DRL. And the parking light, when on, is amber. The heat shrink is tucked behind the visible portion of the headlight (from the outside) but inside of a 'door' that is on the back of the headlight. If you pop your hood and have a look I bet it'll make a lot more sense that my crappy description haha.

 

[jproy12]

These cars don't have a DRL. And the parking light, when on, is amber.

Not totally true, Canadian Fiesta's have DRL... But was told that it shouldn't matter with the DRL

 

[D1JL]

The Canadian cars have DRLs just like the '11-'12 US cars did.
Those cars use a relay supplying a lower voltage to the high beams.

US cars (new platforms) are no longer supplied with DRLs as they have been proved to cause more accidents.




Dave

 

[mYsTiCfAc3]

how in the world having low power visibilty lights cause accidents ?

Please shed light on my canadian brain !

and I think DRL are on low beams with less power only when e-brake is off

 

[D1JL]

Of course I can not be sure of Canadian cars but I do think they are the same as the US cars.

I owned a 2011 Fiesta SES with DRLs.
They WERE wired to the high beams.

Now the how they cause accidents.

This feature was carried over from motorcycles but when motorcycle headlights were made to be on when the engine, tail lights were included.
When this feature was added to cars they forgot one important thing and that was to include the tail light.

Many people start driving when it is dark and because they see the light beams in front, they forget to turn on there headlights therefore no tail lights.
This has been the cause of many rear end collisions.

My thought would be just turn on the tail lights as well.
I guess it is harder to get bureaucrats to think in other than black and white.



Dave

 

[mYsTiCfAc3]

aaaah its not a car problem, its a stupid driver problem

I see so many of those on the road it's unbelieveable. The fact that nowadays clusters are always lit up doesnt help people remember to turn on night lights ( even though all other commands are dark: radio, steering,etc.) but then again that's why they invented auto on

 

[D1JL]

Auto on is a good answer.
Unfortunally it is not mandatory to be installed or be used.
I still think adding tail lights to the DRLs is a better solution.




Dave

 

[RAAMaudio]

Great idea, I am installing 38mm very bright DRL's in the high beam position and have to wire them up to work the way I want them to, I will look at a way to make the tail lights part of the circuit but only on when the fronts are on. I will likely have a switch on the dash to turn them off as needed.

-----------------

"I guess it is harder to get bureaucrats to think in other than black and white."

I'm not so sure they can even do that!

 

[crankin]

I am curious how those Xenon/Phillips leds will perform with the Canadian DRL systems. Currently the Canadian systems drl is controlled by the BCM which pulses the low beam lights as drl. There are no relays in place, everything is computer controlled. However the highbeams are controlled via relays. It is my understanding that leds also do not like intermittent power. I am going to wait until we have some more Canadian cars running these.

 

[CanadianGuy]

If the voltage is simply a PWM (pulse width modulation) this should also dim the LED. That is how LED dimmers work (well how I design them). But I will let yous know.

 

[crankin]

If the voltage is simply a PWM (pulse width modulation) this should also dim the LED. That is how LED dimmers work (well how I design them). But I will let yous know.

I await your install. I believe they are PWM but don't own a ocsiliscope and haven't been able to find much on our car in regards to to the drl system other than what I have learned poking and proding. I did send xenondepot an e-mail enquiring about the drl issue.

Something else of concern would be how well they disappate heat enclosed with the weave enclosed inside the headlight.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Canadian Guy,
Design us a reasonable price PWM controller for our seat heaters, please!

If you know of one that will work that is not to costly at least let us know buddy

Thanks!
Rick

 

[CanadianGuy]

Canadian Guy,
Design us a reasonable price PWM controller for our seat heaters, please!

If you know of one that will work that is not to costly at least let us know buddy

Thanks!
Rick

Lol i was actually thinking of that . Once i get my hand on my car i will see what i can do. Should not be too difficult. Real problem i making the control look ok. Thinking something in the arm rest that can tap the harness /plug of the seat. To be fair it should be much easier than leds as you leave the element on/off longer say seconds or more compared to micro seconds for leds.

 

[crankin]

I await your install. I believe they are PWM but don't own a ocsiliscope and haven't been able to find much on our car in regards to to the drl system other than what I have learned poking and proding. I did send xenondepot an e-mail enquiring about the drl issue.

Something else of concern would be how well they disappate heat enclosed with the weave enclosed inside the headlight.

Don't get me wrong I am all for better lighting and am pretty happy with the H9 upgrade. But I pulled this from an led site. Most other cars headlights are open to the back,

Should LEDs be used in enclosed fixtures?
Not if they are completely enclosed. In order for an LED to function correctly, they must be in a non-enclosed fixture to allow for heat to dissipate from the heat sink. Otherwise, they can overheat and may fail early.

If others could please keep us updated on how reliably they function.

 

[RAAMaudio]

That would be great!
I have searched a bit, Mouser, other wholesalers, etc and not found just what we need unless I overlooked something.

I found some nice units I am ordering for the LEDs in my trailer, tiny, quality, good price but I would have to use a relay and switching one on and off that much is not such a great idea.

You could have a very very viable product if you wanted to sell them, set up a US seller so you can ship in quantity to them to distribute, you take car of CA and other locations.....

 

[CanadianGuy]

Don't get me wrong I am all for better lighting and am pretty happy with the H9 upgrade. But I pulled this from an led site. Most other cars headlights are open to the back,

Should LEDs be used in enclosed fixtures?
Not if they are completely enclosed. In order for an LED to function correctly, they must be in a non-enclosed fixture to allow for heat to dissipate from the heat sink. Otherwise, they can overheat and may fail early.

If others could please keep us updated on how reliably they function.

The bulbs are water and dust proof. Could leave the access port open for air circulation if concerned. But considering the housing is designed to dissipate the halogen heat @ 55 watts a lower wattage bulb should fare much better.
[MENTION=636]RAAMaudio[/MENTION] you are tempting me to cut into my beauty sleep. Give me some time and new thread.

 

[crankin]

The bulbs are water and dust proof. Could leave the access port open for air circulation if concerned. But considering the housing is designed to dissipate the halogen heat @ 55 watts a lower wattage bulb should fare much better.
[MENTION=636]RAAMaudio[/MENTION] you are tempting me to cut into my beauty sleep. Give me some time and new thread.

Running without dustcovers would be a deal breaker for me, there are are other funtioning lights inside. Although the headlights may disappate some heat. Halogens function differently and by nature run at high temperatures where a led will become unreliable, flicker and or fail prematurely at high temperatures.

Time will tell and if they stand up I will be in for a set.

 

[Etyrnus]

On the .org forum, the one who found these lights and got us onto them posted a pic of the temps taken with a infrared thermometer. Not sure how long the headlights had been on for that pic however. I've driven for about an hour at night with no issues. Do have to consider the amount of space in the headlight casing to dissipate heat, and there are instructions included with the headlights showing how to spread the heat sink ribbons.

 

[FistSt215]

And for comparison, Sylvania Xtravision vs the LEDs

Thanks for the post . That's def bright compare to stock and the above pic

 

[zxtost]

Canadian guy did you get your LEDs? Just wondering about the DRL still.