Extra driving light

[nosense]

I installed a Rigid light bar bought it from 4wheelonline. It really added better lighting but installation was really hard and tough.

 

[GStam]

Hi

I have now mounted some extra lights. Haven’t had time to test them on any longer trips yet, but they sure add "some" additionally lights ....

This is 4 NBB Alpha 225 converted with 60w Xenon with speed start ballast. They start in max 5s the first time and instantly when they are warm. The two in the middle are pencil beams and the other two are wide beams.
I have (As mentioned earlier in this thread) converted the standard halogen high beam to 60w Xenon.

URL to the same picture.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bs6zx7r0kjjbcxm/2014-09-04 17.00.13s.jpg?dl=0

The mounting point is custom made due to the FCM, it’s radar is placed behind the red marking.

If someone is interested then I can also post pictures on how I mounted switches and relays.

 

[krouebi]

@GStam,

WOW ! Very, very impressive indeed.

But after driving along on hi-beam with a total of 360 W of Xenon power (plus the standard 70 W low beams), isn't the difference when crossing another vehicle too big??

Or are you so far up in the North of Sweden that there is no real oncoming traffic ??

BTW, the embedded picture was not immediately visible (to me at least).

 

[GStam]

The difference is big but not a problem. A potential bigger problem is new road signs. They are very reflexive… On the car I had previous to this on I had 6000 K color and that was a bit annoying, these new Xenon bulbs have 4300K so I hope this will be better.

I live about 250km north from Stockholm. So it gets quite dark from early October to March.

Actually I have a 180w LED bar mounted on my skibox as well, that I use when traveling to the Swedish ski resorts. Haven’t mounted the box yet on the PHEV (Include a link to my prev car VW Passat.. )
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0mvpvzi2conj58/2013-11-28 15.52.51_s.jpg?dl=0

Yes, noticed that the picture didn’t work, maybe it’s because it’s an https URL?

NO, I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of wildlife and of running over people walking in the dark. These kind of light have saved me many times from crashing with i.e. Moose’s.

 

[jaapv]

The link doesn't work because you link to Dropbox. You must park the image on an Image site like Photobucket and use the

 

[Fragge]

Just ordered myself one of these:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/20-O...m-ATV-SUV-Yacht-Mining-Truck/32256134801.html

It's a cheap Chinese LED Bar that claims German 5W Osram LED's in it and insanely bright specs. People seems to be happy with them and they are so cheap it's a risk I'm willing to take.
I'll be mounting it below the numberplate and intend to do a small review on it when I mount it.

 

[RazMan]

I'll be mounting it below the numberplate and intend to do a small review on it when I mount it.

I will certainly be interested in seeing how you get on with this. I am considering the curved type which should fit discretely behind the grille, only visible when switched on.
Keep us posted

 

[jaapv]

You cannot fit it behind -or in front- of the grille, as there is a heat exchanger right behind it. It would lead to cooling problems in summer, resulting in the car shutting down in the worst case.

 

[Fragge]

The led bar is only as wide as the numberplate and will leave sufficient room below and on the sides to pass air through. A wider bar behind the grille might be an issue. If you buy a Led bar from the dealer they will cut out the plastic supports in the grille below the numberplate and fit the led bar there. I will fit it in front of the grille so it's removable without ruining the car.
I live in Sweden so it newer get especially hot anyways, might even remove it during summer to minimize the risk of theft. It hardly gets dark at night around here the anyways then.

 

[jaapv]

The point is that the large radiator behind the grille is the cooling system of the battery (it gets hot when recharged from the car, not just by external charging). If airflow is impaired the battery may cut out unexpectedly, causing the whole car to shut dow. The system was redesigned to be more sensitive after a couple of batteries brewed up in the first series of cars in Japan, delaying production for about four months. (think Boeing Dreamliner :twisted: )
If I read the dimensions correctly the frontal area is 510x80 mm. That will block about half of the air intake.
I think fitting it in place of the number plate and relocating the number plate might be a better idea., at least with cars that will be driven at normal summer temperatures and higher.

 

[Fragge]

Since the back of the LED bar is curved the air from underneath vill be able to pass through. Some airflow will be restricted but nowhere near half of it. The car is also designed and tested to function in way hotter climates than Sweden or The Netherlands for that matter. So I think there's a decent margin.
After all, the way the dealer installs them restricts the airflow even more.

 

[krouebi]

Hi,

just wondering about a couple of aspects regarding this and similar LED light bars:

1) are they street legal? It really doesn't seem so - and they are rather visible.

2) why this particular one, and ordered directly from China? For about 100 EUR (to which you have to add shipping and customs and VAT) there are plenty of similar items available on Amazon.

3) Fitting such a bar to the front bumper BELOW the license plate puts it not all that far from the pavement. You'll have extreme illumination close in front of the vehicle, but much less far out, where it's needed.

4) In most countries supplementary driving lights must be fitted in pairs - it might be less "cop attractive" to fit two shorter bars on each side of the license plate. In this way it would also be possible to fit them some cms higher up.

I have now had the street legal OSRAM COOL BLUE INTENSE fitted for well over a month (and about 1.5K kms). They are brighter than the OEM bulbs, not quite as bright as the OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER UNLIMITED, but the light color matches the color of the Xenons better. Still, as far as brightness goes, they're a far cry away from a set of HB3/9005 Xenon burners, which are quite easily available for less than 50 EUR. Of course, these are also not street legal, but the chances of their presence being detected are insignificant.

On a cost/benefit basis this is probably the solution I'll end up with - but with a new kit, which will light up the bulbs quicker than the old ones from 2007.

 

[Fragge]

Hi,

just wondering about a couple of aspects regarding this and similar LED light bars:

1) are they street legal? It really doesn't seem so - and they are rather visible.

2) why this particular one, and ordered directly from China? For about 100 EUR (to which you have to add shipping and customs and VAT) there are plenty of similar items available on Amazon.

3) Fitting such a bar to the front bumper BELOW the license plate puts it not all that far from the pavement. You'll have extreme illumination close in front of the vehicle, but much less far out, where it's needed.

4) In most countries supplementary driving lights must be fitted in pairs - it might be less "cop attractive" to fit two shorter bars on each side of the license plate. In this way it would also be possible to fit them some cms higher up.

I have now had the street legal OSRAM COOL BLUE INTENSE fitted for well over a month (and about 1.5K kms). They are brighter than the OEM bulbs, not quite as bright as the OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER UNLIMITED, but the light color matches the color of the Xenons better. Still, as far as brightness goes, they're a far cry away from a set of HB3/9005 Xenon burners, which are quite easily available for less than 50 EUR. Of course, these are also not street legal, but the chances of their presence being detected are insignificant.

On a cost/benefit basis this is probably the solution I'll end up with - but with a new kit, which will light up the bulbs quicker than the old ones from 2007.

Hi, I'll try to answer your questions.
1. At least in Sweden it's legal to add as much/powerful lights as you want as long as they are used as highbeam(as this one will be). Lowbeams are heavily regulated and checked in a mandatory yearly inspection.

2. Well, this is as cheap as i can find a LED bar with 5W LED:s fitted. There are several bars with 3W LED:s that are way cheeper. A brand name bar with 5W LED:s are about 1000 EUR if I buy it in a store locally.

3. The mounting options are limited, if I mount it higher up it will protrude to much and washing the car in an automatic carwash isn't possible anymore. Besides it would look ugly. Mounting it below the plate will tuck it away in the cavity of the grille and give a more sleek look. I've driven a PHEV with a similar LED bar mounted below the plate and it was plenty powerful on highbeam.

4. At least in Sweden there are no such requirements on extra highbeams.

I already got Nighbreakers installed but they are nowhere near the amount of light the LED bar will produce.

 

[Fragge]

I recieved the chinese LED bar today and did some tests on it. It claimed 5W emitters with a total of 210W power. I took it apart and the driver boards was rated at 18W each with 6 emitters. That gives a maximum of 3W per emitter. Measured consumption is 84W which is 2W per emitter in actual power.

On the upside the build quality was high and shipping was very fast. I've tried it in the dark and it is quite powerful so I'll mount it anyways.

The seller granted me a partial refund since I still wanted to keep the LED bar. You get what you pay for I guess

More to come...

 

[krouebi]

Hi Fragge,

- just what I guessed.

They make virtually identical light bars and then put on some fantasy claims of what they're made of, in order to justify the higher price.

I do look forward to your real-life testing of this thing - and then I might get one of the ones offered on Amazon with shipping from Germany.

No hassle with delays and having to pay customs duties - where I am now, shipments from outside the EU are extremely delayed and often never reach destination.

 

[Fragge]

The strange thing about this particular seller is that even though he was located i china the parcel was sent from Germany, so no tax or customs to pay for me. A positive surprise.

 

[Fragge]

Is there someone who allready installed extra lights that wants to share how the did the electrical installation?

 

[RazMan]

I would imagine that a simple parallel connection to the main beam feed would suffice as the current draw is not huge (depending on the unit chosen of course) - maybe a separate relay if you have any worries about overloading a fused circuit.

 

[Fragge]

Thanks, but I'm trying to do a "clean" install an not hack any cables off. Usually there is some spare connector or something with the correct wires available.

 

[MartinH]

About the European regulation of lights, and yes, the law also includes Sweden as we are part of European union, with max 2 extra lights in the front, max total light luminens of 75, max 2 pos ligts with min 1 meter apart, etc etc, but we do not care, and so does the government, we can mount whatever we want for full beam, nice!
My Volvon XC70 has 300W xenon on full beam, the PHEV still "Clean", but how knows, as i have alot of 60W and 100W LED bars in stock.