LED can be considered an inexpensive and durable light source. For a long time, the use of LEDs in the automotive industry was limited: such a source could not produce a sufficient number of lumens, although it consumed little energy. With the advent of bright and super-bright semiconductor emitters, the situation has changed. Now many companies, mainly from China, are striving to produce kits that allow replacement standard lamp to the LED lamp (array of light diodes). Let's try to compare the effectiveness of the low beam lighting obtained from the standard halogen lamp and from diode assemblies. We will conduct all experiments on a real-life car, trying to illuminate a pedestrian wearing a standard reflective vest.
Test results are disappointing
You can completely get rid of incandescent lamps in a car, and we are not even talking about the use of “xenon”. Source high beam may well be a laser that illuminates a fluorescent screen. The remaining lamps should then be replaced with LEDs, and we will consider further what comes of this.
For all their arrogance, manufacturers of LED optics of the NONAME brand are well aware that no one will use their lamps as a high beam source. Daytime running optics, fog lights and, perhaps, low beams – these are the main areas of application of LED technology today. But it seems that store-bought LED optics are not always as efficient as standard halogens. You can see this for yourself.
It is easy to notice that at a distance of 10-15 m, LED technology Provides almost perfect visibility. The beam coming from the halogen lamp looks narrower, and the spot from the LED lamps is located closer to the car. But as a result, at a distance of 20 m when using LEDs, only reflective details can be distinguished, which will stand out slightly against the general background. But for halogen lights, 20 meters is far from the limit. From a distance exceeding 20-30 m, the reflective vest becomes indistinguishable at all, if we talk about LED optics. We do not rule out that best performance may have branded LED headlights, which will be designed by the car manufacturer. But so far such solutions can only be seen in concepts and supercars.
We are looking for errors in our research
Being connected to a voltage source, by themselves LED bulbs They shine mercilessly - it simply blinds the eyes. But the quality of the headlight’s glow also depends on how accurately the entire optical system is configured: lamp, reflector, lens or diffuser. By changing the settings of the directional optics in which the diode assemblies are installed, it is not particularly possible to move the light spot forward. It looks like the LED lamp needs a special reflector and diffuser designed “for it”.
Nowadays, LED lamps are common, consisting of two diodes that are installed on different sides one plane. In shape, such a lamp resembles the “halogen” lamps used regularly. Note that these are the lamps that were used in the experiment. Only here, the external resemblance and increased brightness– it seems that not all the factors providing good lighting. The radiation in a halogen lamp comes from the filament, but here we have a plane. Whoever wants to, let him design a reflector, but for us the conclusion is obvious: simply changing the “halogen” to a source of another type is strictly prohibited.
- It will take a long time to select the shade of a broken headlight, and the LED optics themselves are quite unreliable;
- You need to prepare for a phenomenally expensive replacement after the factory warranty expires;
- LED assemblies get hot and dirty, in general, everything here is like with the worst “halogens” in the 90s!
Perhaps, knowing about the listed factors, professional tuning studios are not in too much of a hurry to switch to using LEDs (at least until recently this was the case). The optics developed by the car manufacturer do not need improvements. That is, it is unlikely that it can be significantly improved in principle (and even more so by simply changing the lamps).
Our review turned out to be somewhat pessimistic... In fact, all of the above did not appear here to dissuade someone from making a long-awaited purchase. The main thing is to know what to buy and from whom, as well as why exactly all this is needed.
In general, the 4th test was supposed to be about lamps with a flexible radiator (called G5), but the lamps are quite dull and are not suitable for low beam. And I just received a request to write about others, so first I’m writing about the H11 LED lamps called P6.
They are available in two versions: there is 45W with fashionable mini LEDs LUXEON Z ES, and there are more powerful 55W with already proven LUXEON MZ LEDs. I had more powerful ones, but I think I’ll be able to test others later.
1. Appearance like this:
The box contains 2 lamps, 2 drivers, instructions in the style of “take out the old lamp and insert the new one” and a hexagon for adjusting the focal length. The drivers are not heavy, and neither are the lamps. Everything is neat and inspires confidence.
The driver is connected using the same connectors as the previous lamps, then the cap is screwed on top and a waterproof connection is obtained.
The adapter base can be removed and replaced with another one. You can fix the base at the beginning of the thread, you can screw it all the way. In this case, the LEDs will be located either closer to the front edge of the headlight, or further away from it. The difference in the position of the LEDs is about 5 mm. I think this should noticeably affect the focusing of the lamp and the STG.
I didn’t conduct experiments because it would be uncomfortable and dirty to do this in a shopping center parking lot. I simply fixed the base by eye at the same distance to the LEDs as the halogen to the incandescent coil. But I think those who wish can get confused and somehow adjust the light to their needs (raise it higher, for example).
The lamps have a fan. It is not very loud, but not as quiet as T3 lamps. I placed the blocks under the hood in the first available place and tightened them with clamps. I think you can find a place further away, out of sight, but I don’t need that.
2. The LED type declared by the manufacturer is Lumileds Luxeon MZ. There are 4 of these LEDs on each lamp. The LEDs are located along the lamp, and not across, like the LMZ lamp from the second test. Apparently the Chinese realized that the filament coil of a halogen lamp is not stretched across the lamp, but along it, and it is logical to place the LEDs in the same way :) It is strange that they did not immediately understand this and for a long time riveted lamps with horizontal LEDs, triangular or square.
The declared luminous flux is 5200 lm. This is more than 3 times more than a halogen. Xenon is also resting. Judging by the specifications, LEDs of this type can, in principle, produce up to 1290 Lm. That is, in my opinion, at the maximum current recommended by the manufacturer, the lamp can produce 1290*4=5160 Lm. The Chinese have rounded it up a little :) The lamp may not have 5200 Lm, but a flow of 4000-4500 Lm from one lamp is quite real. For low or high beam this is more than enough. In fact, the lamp is really very bright.
3. The lamp power declared by the manufacturer is 55 watts. The same as the standard halogen... That is, you can forget about saving energy. But again, cars will not have problems checking lamps, since the power is the same, then probably the on-board computer will not swear at such lamps. But I don’t have any checks on my Mazda, which I’m very happy about! I’ll write the exact power of the lamp a little later, I forgot to measure the current...
4. I measure the brightness at a distance of 1 meter. On the lux meter, the numbers float up and down in the range of 16000-17000 Lux (let me remind you, the standard halogen had 8200 Lux). The brightness did not drop below 16000, that is, the brightness is always 2 times higher than the halogen, and sometimes even a little higher. Apparently the driver adjusts something in real time and the brightness changes somewhat. When you're driving you can't see it.
5. Photo on the wall: in my opinion everything is quite decent.
Hi all)
Today I’ll tell you about LED low beam bulbs. The idea of installing these light bulbs arose a long time ago, and then it happened that one lamp in the near one burned out, so I decided to find a worthy alternative them. I traveled around the markets, looked at what was what and for what. When choosing lamps, the main criteria for me were that it would fit into the headlight and the lid would close, and of course, that it would at least somehow correspond to the cut-off boundaries. But I didn’t find such lamps on the market) They all came with blocks, a bunch of extra wires that I didn’t need at all. Well, then I went to everyone’s favorite Aliexpress, found, based on reviews, decent light bulbs for such a small amount of 1,700 rubles) On YouTube there is a review of the same light bulbs, only with a different name, so I thought, let me try it too) Especially at work , colleagues have been running around with similar light bulbs for a long time (ever since the first diodes came out), they really liked them, admired them, recommended them.
I placed an order, a little less than a month later they came to me) Here is the long-awaited box)
Here is a diode light bulb compared to a regular one
There were no problems during installation, diode light bulb fit into the headlight like it was cast))
Even the lid closed, but with a slight nuance. If you leave it as is, then the upper part of the diode cooler touches the cover and because of this, the headlights shine lower than expected. I found a solution for myself like this) I took the lid, with an engraver I sharpened all the insides of the lid that were clinging to the radiator and it turned out something like this.
But now it doesn’t catch on anything and the lid closes smoothly and the headlights shine as they should)
Well now general form what it looks like from the outside. The light from the diodes is crystal white with a slight cold tint.
Well, now the most interesting thing is how they shine in practice. I made a short photo report, in approximately the same conditions and in different weather conditions. I made a report on the low beam, I didn’t do the high beam, I don’t really use it)) And I just forgot about it)
This is how regular halogen lights shine
The left headlight has a halogen diode in the right. You can see that there is a tick, but they shine many times brighter
Now many people will start saying that all this is bullshit, there are no boundaries, they are blinding and other nonsense.
I made a special trip to work, took the adjustment device and checked how they shine without adjustments, stupidly changing the light bulb from a regular one to a diode
GHG is almost normal, there is a slight flare, which can be corrected by small adjustments of the headlight
Well, now a photo of how they shine in various road conditions.
My favorite thing when I changed many light bulbs was to take a photo of how they shine on the snow or dry asphalt))
Well, I was no exception)) The light on the snow is really decent, very bright and good, just like on dry asphalt)
Now how do they shine on dirty asphalt?
Low + fogs
Well, one photo in motion from a phone on dirty asphalt
Well, on wet asphalt how the neighbor shines
Middle with fogs
Well, I’ll tell you a little about my personal impressions. I've been using them for three months now. Honestly, I expected much less from light bulbs for that amount of money than they actually can) Before this I had Osram CBH 5500k, but compared to them they shine much better, the road has actually become better visible in any weather conditions, in dry or snowy weather it has become driving is a pleasure, in rainy weather visibility has surprisingly increased, I don’t know how to explain, but in such conditions the halogen light was lost on the road, and the diodes in reverse became better visible) plus they do not heat up the headlight and do not need to be washed as often as with halogen)
But these are purely my impressions and feelings, so I don’t want to impose anything on anyone, but they really shine better than halogen.
I’m not sure about the legality of this installation, everyone has different opinions, but it can’t be called illegal either, the traffic rules don’t say anything about diodes, especially since they haven’t made a GOST for diodes yet)
In fact, this violation is qualified by Article 12.5 Part 1 List of malfunctions for which the operation of the vehicle is prohibited (the lamp does not match the type of headlight or reflector, entails a warning or a fine of 500 rubles) and not Article 12.5 Part 3 as special signals.
But there you will already run into someone.
