Are 78 LED's Better than 9 ?

[W8BYA]

Been experimenting with different LED lights to replace the stock halogen lights on my New Holland Boomer-40. Started out with round 9-LED fixtures, which were ok....then switched to 16-LED square fixtures which were better, but ultimately ended up with a 78-LED light bar.

These light bars, one for the front & one for the rear are exactly what I wanted ! They are extremely bright even pointed down a bit and really help my bad eyes at night. Just do not use these if you are going to drive out on an open road unless they are angled WAY down as they will blind on-coming traffic.

Two things I like about these are they consume less power then a pair of 55W halogen bulbs and they are a combo spot & flood light which does a great job lighting up the work area.

Here is a brief video showing them in action:

If 9 LED's are Good on my Boomer 4 Tractor 78 Must Be Better ! - YouTube

Now you know what to ask Santa for <g>.....Season Greetings !!!

 

[shovelmike]

Very nice, thanks for posting this. It sure helps when you can see what you're doing.

 

[W8BYA]

Very nice, thanks for posting this. It sure helps when you can see what you're doing.

Thanks ! Hate to admit it but getting old and with retina issues I need more light than most folks so I sorta had to make things look like Wrigley Field around here

 

[shovelmike]

I am in about the same shape, I severely injured my left eye 37 years back, had a vertical exhaust on my Ferguson and it hung up on a hedge limb, snapped back piercing the eye. by the grace of God and the skills of a top notch surgeon I still have vision. I have glaucoma, and some loss of pigment in the retina, my doc has me on vitamins specifically for eye health and must wear good UV blocking sunglasses outside.
Man, this getting old stuff is rough.

 

[coobie]

Good video, thanks..

 

[Cat_Driver]

It's all about the WATTS of the LED's.

You can have 9 60W LED's with a total of 540 watts.

You can have 78 1W LED's 78 Watts.

It's all bout the math not the number of LED's

I have an area light with (1) Led...but it's 200 watts

 

[W8BYA]

It's all about the WATTS of the LED's.

You can have 9 60W LED's with a total of 540 watts.

You can have 78 1W LED's 78 Watts.

It's all bout the math not the number of LED's

I have an area light with (1) Led...but it's 200 watts

Well, technically even that is incorrect but I understand what you are trying to convey. Ultimately it has to do with the conversion efficiency from DC input power to output lumens but I was not able to fit all that in the subject line.

For the benefit of others, I can have my power source driving a bank of resistors and draw a massive amount of power yet output very little light in the visible spectrum. Most of the energy will be converted to pure radiant heat and a few photons will be generated down in the IR range. So watts alone is not what we are after either.

To complicate matters, all of these LED light fixtures utilize digital switch mode power supplies to help ensure that the LED's are driven by the correct amount of current over a wide range in input voltages. It is interesting to note the actual power delivered into the light fixture (SMPS & LED's) and see how the DC voltage and current each vary as the voltage is ramped up. Fortunately SMPS's are pretty efficient, usually always above 90%. If you would like to see an example of this and a MAJOR issue with the SMPS's in these cheap Asian LED light fixtures have a look at this other video I made (for another group) illustrating the awful RFI they generate if improperly designed & filtered.

In the end the goal was all about getting the most amount of lumens spread out over the largest area in front of and to the rear of the tractor without having to mount a bazillion separate light fixtures and spend big bucks. I stuck with traditional "2W" LED's (which also mean very little when you consider the source) and got both of these light bars delivered for $60. I consider them a good value since they do what I am after.

WOW, UNREAL RFI Noise Measured From My LED Tractor Lights ! - YouTube

 

[trctr155]

Very good writeups in all your LED threads. Amazing difference they make over traditional lighting. I need to find some replacement 6"x4" rectangular replacements for my JD110TLB. DId you run a new separate circuit or pull from the existing?

 

[W8BYA]

Very good writeups in all your LED threads. Amazing difference they make over traditional lighting. I need to find some replacement 6"x4" rectangular replacements for my JD110TLB. DId you run a new separate circuit or pull from the existing?

That is one of the nice things about these LED fixtures. While they do differ in the amount of current they will draw they tend to generate more light output for a given power input. A lot of typical halogen aux lights are "standard" 55W units, which if accurate, means at 13.8 VDC that they each draw about 4 amps. So a pair of traditional lights for say the front will draw 8 amps. This light bar, at max was able to draw 7-1/2 amps.

So to me they offer more light in more places for about the same power from the battery/alternator. But specifically I did not have to run any new wires, relays or fuses since I am drawing less current then the stock lights. That is not to say you will not find lights that draw a lot more current. Real high quality commercial lights using higher wattage LED's can consume a lot more power then these here.