Sweet LED replacement lights...but look at the prices!

[Scottster]

I'd been noticing lately that the Ford Police cars around town had convereted to LED lights for both the front and rear stop/turn signals...and these things are eye catching!

 

To be sure, I had screwed around with those cheesy "LED replacement bulbs" before...they looked like crap. They were dim during the day, and all you saw at night were these little red dots...definetly didn't light up the whole tail light assembly at all. Now my Dad has a Caddy DTS, which has some of the coolest most eye-catching LED lighting on the road, so I guess I'm pretty discriminating when it comes to this stuff, and I regret waisting my money on those stupid bulbs (it was on my mom's old STS too...of all cars to bastardize! Sheesh! lol)

 

Anyway, I knew that Crown Vics had been offered with conventional bulbs since the beginning of time, so I figured these LED lights were direct replacements to the incandecent bulbs...just a much better itteration of the junk that I had fooled around with. So I went down to the Cop Shop to ask if I could talk to someone about what or where they sourced this stuff from...It took about 10 minutes of trying to explain myself and a 12 pack of krispy kreme (j/k) until the cop behind the desk had the faintest idea of what I was talking about...and then told me to get lost 'cause they couldn't help me. So instead of dealing with those meat heads, I just Googled it, and found what I was looking for in 2 seconds.

 

I was really stoked about teh whole idea of giving the GP some nice bright, fresh and "stock" looking LED brake lights, until I saw the prices! Wholy Crap! I could buy another car for what they want!

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd pass my findings on down the line to anyone who might have more cash to burn than me!

 

Here's the link...

 

http://www.swps.com/halo.html

 

BTW I'm not refering to the all the christmas-tree-pull-over-you've-been-bad-lightshow...just the simple old indicator lights...but they light up nice and bright like normal bulbs, but "crisper" if you know what I mean.

 

 

[Addicted to eaton]

500 bucks! holly shits!

[Crazy K]

damn!

[slick]

Quality product does cost money.

 

And quality LED's aren't cheap either. I have a crapload of quality red LED's just sitting around.

[Schurkey]

The town I live in has switched ALL the traffic lights over to multi-LED displays. The damned things are hazardous. They are so unbelievably bright that your eyes hurt from looking at them--especially when the colors change.

 

 

What a disaster.

[ns87]

the funny thing about the traffic lights is so many of them wind up burning out for some reason. My town has many a lights only partially lit up (defeating the purpose)

[rockfangd]

well i have to say that i saw the cadillac DTS with the Led lights and i was like damn i really like them but i almost made the mistake of buying those cheap replacements and i guess i am glad i didnt waste my time. I have yet to see a led stop light though

[Scottster]

the funny thing about the traffic lights is so many of them wind up burning out for some reason. My town has many a lights only partially lit up (defeating the purpose)

 

I think alot of the reason is the energy savings...LED light use next to nothing, compared to regular light bulbs. If you think of all the traffic lights in the world...then that's alot of electricity saved.

[GnatGoSplat]

Nice!

Yeah, I tried LED replacement bulbs before, even the expensive tower type. None were bright enough. The tower type did illuminate the entire housing, but the individual LEDs weren't bright enough. This looks like a very well designed version of the tower type, but using Luxeon emitters (or similar).

 

Something else I've been wanting to try as soon as I can get ahold of some, are the Sylvania Joule bulbs. They're designed for reflector-style housings. Granted, they aren't designed to directly replace incandescents, but I bet the results would be pretty good. Here's some info on the Joule: Linked

 

[Chancho]

awesome link, ive been thinking of designing something to replace the dim taillights in my lumina, but wow, for a replacement bulb 500 smackers.... i dunno now lol

[ns87]

the funny thing about the traffic lights is so many of them wind up burning out for some reason. My town has many a lights only partially lit up (defeating the purpose)

 

I think alot of the reason is the energy savings...LED light use next to nothing, compared to regular light bulbs. If you think of all the traffic lights in the world...then that's alot of electricity saved.

 

good point

[skalor]

the funny thing about the traffic lights is so many of them wind up burning out for some reason. My town has many a lights only partially lit up (defeating the purpose)

 

I think alot of the reason is the energy savings...LED light use next to nothing, compared to regular light bulbs. If you think of all the traffic lights in the world...then that's alot of electricity saved.

That efficiency means little energy loss to heat, which is not good for areas that snow. I've seen instances where they actually put heaters in the LED lights to melt the snow.

[Schudini]

Nice!

Yeah, I tried LED replacement bulbs before, even the expensive tower type. None were bright enough. The tower type did illuminate the entire housing, but the individual LEDs weren't bright enough. This looks like a very well designed version of the tower type, but using Luxeon emitters (or similar).

 

Something else I've been wanting to try as soon as I can get ahold of some, are the Sylvania Joule bulbs. They're designed for reflector-style housings. Granted, they aren't designed to directly replace incandescents, but I bet the results would be pretty good. Here's some info on the Joule: Linked

 

 

The Joule looks very interesting.

 

Other alternatives for lighting up the entire reflector would be using a "recoil" mounting arrangement. Pelican uses it in their LED flashlights. The LED is held away from the reflector but pointed toward the reflector, so it illuminates everything, but is not direct view. The difficulty is obviously mounting and making a small heatsink that will fit through the bulb hole.

[Schudini]

The Joule looks very interesting.

 

Other alternatives for lighting up the entire reflector would be using a "recoil" mounting arrangement. Pelican uses it in their LED flashlights. The LED is held away from the reflector but pointed toward the reflector, so it illuminates everything, but is not direct view. The difficulty is obviously mounting and making a small heatsink that will fit through the bulb hole.

 

Well forget that idea. Now that I know how the Joule works I'll just use that to make my own. I bet there would be a sweet market for them (especially since they are not for sale to aftermarket yet). hehe

 

[GnatGoSplat]

Well forget that idea. Now that I know how the Joule works I'll just use that to make my own. I bet there would be a sweet market for them (especially since they are not for sale to aftermarket yet). hehe

 

The Joule is p/n 6L9Z13B765AA, looks like about $30/each from http://www.tascafordparts.com.

Is it really worth the time and expense to make your own?

 

[maybe2fast]

http://www.autolumination.com/

[LuminaPower92]

i hate when they have the led traffic lights with those strobes that flash when red. talk about waking you up. and the school buses with the strobe on top. what the hell is that for, planes?

[Schudini]

The Joule is p/n 6L9Z13B765AA, looks like about $30/each from http://www.tascafordparts.com.

Is it really worth the time and expense to make your own?

 

 

Hmm. Didn't know they were available.

 

I wonder if they will fit in the 3157 standard hole.

 

Well, if it's $30 each and six brake lights for the GP, that is $180 minimum. Considering that the latest generation of high power LED's cost $2.67 each (not including shipping), and an adjustable multi-led constant current driver is $20, then yes I think it is worth it.

[GutlessSupreme]

The Joule is p/n 6L9Z13B765AA, looks like about $30/each from http://www.tascafordparts.com.

 

hey, locals! most annoying TV commercials ever.

 

anyway, $500 is a lot of dough for some lights. I'm pretty sure you could build your own for a mere fraction of that. I've been wanting to build some for a while for the STE but haven't really had time for the project. Plus I still can't decide whether or not to keep the STE tail lights or go to the normal crosshatched tails, so that's an issue

[Scottster]

The Joule is p/n 6L9Z13B765AA, looks like about $30/each from http://www.tascafordparts.com.

 

hey, locals! most annoying TV commercials ever.

 

anyway, $500 is a lot of dough for some lights. I'm pretty sure you could build your own for a mere fraction of that. I've been wanting to build some for a while for the STE but haven't really had time for the project. Plus I still can't decide whether or not to keep the STE tail lights or go to the normal crosshatched tails, so that's an issue

 

I really dig the red sweep of light across the back of the STE's (with those big 'hatched orange signals!) ...I'd keep that. The crosshatched red tails suit the coupes though IMO.

 

That would be pure hottness if you did the "red sweep" across the back in LED's. It would glow much more consistent, without the lightbulb "hotspots".

 

Maybe not this extreme, but certainly entertaining...

 

[GnatGoSplat]

The Joule is p/n 6L9Z13B765AA, looks like about $30/each from http://www.tascafordparts.com.

Is it really worth the time and expense to make your own?

 

 

Hmm. Didn't know they were available.

 

I wonder if they will fit in the 3157 standard hole.

 

Well, if it's $30 each and six brake lights for the GP, that is $180 minimum. Considering that the latest generation of high power LED's cost $2.67 each (not including shipping), and an adjustable multi-led constant current driver is $20, then yes I think it is worth it.

 

The Joules look really close to fitting a 3157 hole.

I can't tell if those Whelen bulbs are 3-sided or 4-sided, but if 3-sided, that's 7 high power LEDs each. At $2.67 each that's $18.69 per bulb. Then add in the cost of resistors, PC board material, labor/time to assemble them, and having to make a plastic diffuser for the top LED, I can imagine you could easily have more than $30 into each bulb you make.