replacing headlight bulbs with LEDS

[ctgoldwing]

I wonder if anyone here has done it and what were the results. My 'new to me' L3800 has really weak brightness headlights. I found a vendor on ebay that is selling replacement LED bulbs. Supposedly 25w. If they are they should be waaay brighter than the stock ones. I ordered a pair to try but curious what others have found.

If these aren't enough I'm going to find a way to put a light bar up front.

 

[nybirdman]

If you have a loader;it will block the factory lights or any replacement.Go with a light bar.

 

[Tinhack]

I replaced all the incandescent lamps (except the dash) on my GMC truck with LEDs. I don't do much night driving any more but when I do, it's like daylight. :laughing:

I can't find LEDs for my new tractor lights. I hooked them to a battery and they are BRIGHT. The bulbs say 80W/80W but the glass and filaments on one is mounted to the base at an angle. On top of that, the connection wires look like 22-20 gauge wire. I'm not sure about that claimed 80 Watts. It's an odd looking P15D type bulb but the indexing in the light is backwards--The bulb has a half-moon cutout instead of a tab. Leave it to the Chinese to miss a standard. I may end up modifying some standard bulbs. All the rest of my new lights are LEDs. I just don't have the tractor running yet to try them out.

Oh yeah, what matters most about LEDs is not wattage. It's Lumens (amount of light) and Color Temperature (apparent brightness). A 5000Ln LED with 5000Ct will make any incandescent lamp look like a candle.

 

[ctgoldwing]

. . .

Oh yeah, what matters most about LEDs is not wattage. It's Lumens (amount of light) and Color Temperature (apparent brightness). A 5000Ln LED with 5000Ct will make any incandescent lamp look like a candle.

Yes I agree 100% Tinhack. The problem is I don't have a lumen meter but I can measure amps & voltage. The rear work lights that I bought were advertised at 40w each. They actually measured 20.2w with 12.6v applied (about 1.6 amp).


They are plenty bright enough for me. You should be able to get 3 to 4x the lumen output for the same wattage (LED to incandescent). At the very least these will give more light output at probably lower power consumption - even tho they say 25w. I'll measure their power consumption when I get them and I'll bet they aren't really 25w.

The loader I'm sure won't become invisible because the change bulbs That said I am already looking for places to mount the light bar - probably the hood.

 

[Dataway]

I replaced all the bulbs in my BX2200 with LED. Not so much for more light but for less drain on the electrical system as I also have bar lights, wiper, heater motor and electric chute rotator to run in the winter.

For the headlights and tail lights I used standard LED conversion bulbs. The headlights went from useless to almost useful. Still get 80% of the light from the LED light bar on the ROPS.

 

[Roadworthy]

I purchased a light bar on eBay. It was advertised as 240 watts. I started setting up to power it with twenty amps (12 X20 = 240). Imagine my surprise when my ammeter told me the draw was five amps. That's more like sixty watts. So the 240 watt number must be related eo incandescent equivalency. In any case, it IS bright. I put it on my ROPS so it shines over and around the loader.

 

[grsthegreat]

I cant stand it when people put super bright headlights on their cars and trucks. It totally destroys a persons night vision for the oncoming cars. I really dont know how its legal.

 

[Bavarian]

I cant stand it when people put super bright headlights on their cars and trucks. It totally destroys a persons night vision for the oncoming cars. I really dont know how its legal.

The problem here is, many people never heard about proper aim. The higher, the better, they think. Every light is useless if it's just pointed up in the sky. There is nothing to reflect it back and you don't even see the light.
For on road vehicles, there is a standard for where the light has to touch the ground to avoid blinding. At least there is in the books but not much in reality.

 

[Tinhack]

I cant stand it when people put super bright headlights on their cars and trucks. It totally destroys a persons night vision for the oncoming cars. I really dont know how its legal.

Buy a newer car. They're all LEDs now days. Have been for 7-8 years, at least. Except for maybe the throw-away cars.

Mine are aimed properly even though my truck has a lift kit. They were checked during the last annual State Inspection. I just love it when people flash me thinking I have my hi beams on. I give a quick flash back then they turn on their high beams. I return the favor and melt their windshield. :licking:

 

[5030]

I cant stand it when people put super bright headlights on their cars and trucks. It totally destroys a persons night vision for the oncoming cars. I really dont know how its legal.

it's not. If anyone bothers to read the instructions that come with them. it specifically states, 'for off road use only' but who reads today anyway.....

I suspect it's up to a law enforcement officers discretion, so if you get stopped for say a tail light out, the officer can also write you for illegal lighting. Now on a tractor, don't believe that applies.

 

[5030]

Buy a newer car. They're all LEDs now days. Have been for 7-8 years, at least. Except for maybe the throw-away cars.

Mine are aimed properly even though my truck has a lift kit. They were checked during the last annual State Inspection. I just love it when people flash me thinking I have my hi beams on. I give a quick flash back then they turn on their high beams. I return the favor and melt their windshield. :licking:

What you are telling us is...you are a typical inconsiderate dickweed.

 

[5030]

Back to reality....

I replaced the weak headlight bulbs on both my Kubota's with LED's. Big difference in light output and... If you run your FEL in the correct position (lowered enough so the cross brace isn't in the headlights beam), they work quite well with lower current draw. I've replaced all the filament bulbs on both my Kubota's with LED bulbs

 

[grsthegreat]

I replaced my upper cab halogens with LEDS years ago. Great output. But i dont drive my tractor off of the property.

 

[grsthegreat]

What you are telling us is...you are a typical inconsiderate dickweed.

:thumbsup:

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

I went through this last winter and tried numerous bulbs in my Escape with standard bulbs. OEM LED headlights are annoyingly bright but still have the required beam cutoff to meet legal standards.

The truly blinding lights you see are aftermarket LED bulbs in housings designed for standard incandescent bulbs. Standard bulbs have precisely located filaments for low beam and high beam which focuses the light giving the correct projection and cutoff for each. The filament is a point source of light.

Most of the LED replacements available are a collection of LED chips over the whole length of the bulb resulting in a completely unfocused wall of light. One dead giivaway is there is little or no difference in where the light goes switching from low to high beam. Many people view the wall of light as an improvement since everything is lit up at once.

What oncoming drivers see if a blinding wall of light. Driving extensively throughout B.C. and Alberta I can tell you they are absolutely blinding and unfortunately they are the choose of almost every O/O trucker and 4x4 pickup owner.

There are a few much more expensive replacements that have only 2 or 4 LED chips that focus much better but they leave dark areas since the chips are mounted on the surface of a circuit board and can’t project 360 degrees.

I gave up on LEDs and put in the silver star or nighthawk bulbs in my vehicles. The tractor on the other hand has LEDs because it doesn’t have a 140A alternator and I just want light everywhere and for that they are great.

And “Get off my lawn!”

 

[5030]

100% accurate on all counts, especially the aftermarket lights.

 

[JethroB]

What you are telling us is...you are a typical inconsiderate dickweed.

:thumbsup:

 

[5030]

I wonder what the poster in post 9 would do if as he 'melted their windshield' as he states, if the oncoming person was so blinded by his inconsiderate stupidity that the oncoming driver swerved into his lane and pasted him head on because they could not see, being blinded by his high beams??? Not a good scenario. Especially if it was maybe a big truck pasting him.

 

[Dataway]

I've never been a fan of having people coming in the opposite direction being blinded while driving, seems self destructive.

 

[Tinhack]

I wonder what the poster in post 9 would do if as he 'melted their windshield' as he states, if the oncoming person was so blinded by his inconsiderate stupidity that the oncoming driver swerved into his lane and pasted him head on because they could not see, being blinded by his high beams??? Not a good scenario. Especially if it was maybe a big truck pasting him.

Come on butt-wipe, it's figure of speech. The other guys lights are on high already. I'm just trying to help him see.

Get over it. And go show what a bully you are somewhere else. There, you finally got the response you wanted. :stirthepot: