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LED Bulbs for my 2008

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by N3FOL, Nov 25, 2009.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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  2. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    wow you only use ledsreplacements with 5 high output SMD leds on them.
    i guess your are brighter because mine are white and i lose a lot of light.
    you have a current draw of 0.035amps.. at 12 volt that only 0,42watts?? or do i make a mistake and its 4,2 watts ?
    i have ~1watt ledss and there just about the same brightniss as stock.
     
  3. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Don't confuse Watts with Lumins.. You can have a LED that sucks a lot of curent, which will correlate with watts, but not put out that many Lumins. On the other hand you can you can have a High Efficiency LED that puts out many more Lumins of light for less Current draw, or watts.
     
  4. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    That is exactly what I mean. If you take a white and red LED of the same brightness and put them behind a red lens, the red will pass *significantly* more light through the lens. Almost all red LED light will pass through, compared to only a small percentage of the "white" that will pass through. Think of it as putting limo tint over your headlights.

    As KK mentioned, don't confuse wattage with output. when you say you have 1W LED, that tells us nothing about how bright they are.
     
  5. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    Keep your eye on 'em. Those are un-regulated, and can suffer instant failure with a Voltage spike. I've found that these chinese-made units die in the first year, or keep working forever. There's very little in-between!

    Do you have any pictures of before/after? Or with one installed on one side, and stock on the other?

    I know what you mean about "more read." There's nothing like having a red LED behind a red lens!
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Will keep them in mind. By unregulated, you mean non-polarized? (try to understand the terminology here).

    I'm not sure where they're made but the white ones are a lot whiter than the china ones I bought off ebay earlier (those were bluish white).

    no I didn't take photos but when you stand behind and look at the lights... let's just say it's like looking at Salsa Red and then looking at Barcelona Red :D.
     
  7. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    Regulated meaning that no matter what Voltage is supplied to the circuit, that the LED only sees as much current as it is designed for. LEDs are current-driven devices. Not Voltage-driven like incandescents. A Voltage spike that an incandescent would take in stride can destroy an LED. So to do it right (the brake lamps in your Prius, and all the interior lights that I've sold to Prius owners are regulated) you need to regulate the current to the LED, or they see a big current spike when the voltage spikes. This is the main reason that cheap automotive LEDs die early. I was shocked (ha!) to find how large the spikes were in both the Prius and my EVs' 12V systems. I've gotten spikes in both cars well over 24V.

    I can guarantee that they weren't made in the US. :) The good news is that all LEDs are getting higher quality now, so even the cheap ones are starting to look great. The blue comes from one of (or both!) of two things: Being over driven (too much current) or having crappy phosphor. The phosphor is what makes the otherwise blue LED appear white to our eyes. So far every "white" LED you've bought has been a blue LED covered with a yellow phosphor. If done correctly with an expensive procedure, the result is a pleasant WHITE. If done cheaply....too blue, or less commonly, too green.

    The color difference I totally understand. I'm interested in brightness. So if you have an integrating sphere handy.... big enough to drive your Prius into... :)
     
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Thanks for the explanation darell! So... then the polarize bit... what's the difference between polarized and non-polarized LEDs? Does it mean that one works if it's plugged in either way and the other will only illuminate if plugged in one way?


    Hmm.... I will say it's almost as bright as our brake lights. Lemme see if I can grab a photo before I leave.
     
  9. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    there are also little current drivers from china but to date i dont see any reasson to use them
    because after more then 1 year of use only 1 broke.. for 50% from the 6 leds 3 stopt working.

    i expected the 12 volt on the prius would be more stable. because of the dc-dc converter instead of a altenator.
     
  10. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Well hello all, I received my bulbs today..

    Here are what they look like next to the Prius Logo on the rear deck mat
    [​IMG]

    Here is the is the left Led, right incandescant..

    [​IMG]


    Here they are at Dusk..the left Led, right incandescant..
    [​IMG]


    Now both lamps are leds

    [​IMG]


    The pics really do not do the lamps justice, the Leds are richer and more true in color, ut you would exect that in a LED. They make the standard incandescent look pale.

    For my money, I really prefer the Leds, no question about it!!!

    Here is the URL where I purchased the bulbs. The ones I chose wee the 9 Led unit. I think that the 12 Led bulb would fit also. I will have to buy a set and try them out!!!

    Now on to the rest of the lamps on the car!!!
     
  11. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Well hello all, I received my bulbs today..

    Here are what they look like next to the Prius Logo on the rear deck mat
    [​IMG]

    Here is the is the left Led, right incandescant..

    [​IMG]


    Here they are at Dusk..the left Led, right incandescant..

    [​IMG]


    Now both lamps are leds

    [​IMG]

    The pics really do not do the lamps justice, the Leds are richer and more true in color, but you would exect that in a LED. They make the standard incandescent look pale.

    For my money, I really prefer the Leds, no question about it!!!

    Here is the URL where I purchased the bulbs.

    http://autolumination.com/194.htm

    The ones I chose were the 9 Led unit. I think that the 12 Led bulb would fit also. I will have to buy a set and try them out!!!

    Now on to the rest of the exterior lamps on the car, I have aready done the interior, LOVE those very much also!!!
     
  12. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    First... all LEDs are polarized... by definition. They only let current flow in one direction. That's the diode part. These just happen to emit light while they also limit the direction of the current.

    But yes, something that is polarized will only work one way. Something that is non-polarized will work either way. There's no benefit to having an LED product that is non-polarized. Just makes it less efficient. You only need to pay attetion to the polarization once, so you might as well make the extra effort and then be done with it.
     
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  13. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    Well, certainly the LED side is more red. Very hard to determine what is brighter with the poor CRI and/or white balance of the (cell phone, I assume) camera. Sure looks like they work though. Nice.
     
  14. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    You know it was harder to get shots that really showed the difference. I am going to try with my good Nikon and a tripod tomorrow and see if I can get some better examples. I shot these at PC resolution 1024 x 768, otherwise the file size is to big to upload. Another thing I noticed when I looked at my shots and realized even though the license plate lights are Leds, the are too wide a dispersion pattern. They illuminate the ENTIRE license pate well. I did a bit of scrimming and have now achieved a pattern where ONLY the plate is lit, everything else around it is now darked out, it looks WAY MUCH BETTER!!! You will see in the reshoot!!!

    Yes, the RED is REAL RED, a vary narrow wavelegnth about 633nm, which is about as PURE RED as you are going to get. Which gets me to wondering, What is the Color Frequency Bandwidth for auto tail light plastic??? Its got to be in the low 600's, but how wide????

    Anybody know???

    I Googled for a little while trying to find the specs, NO JOY!!!
    But it is the reasoning behind not using a white bulb, only the Red component of the sectrum passes, eveything else is attenuated. You wasting all that energy and effort, only to use a TINY portion of the emitted light.
    With a Red Led bulb in a red lens, as long as the Red Led wavelegnth is in the red plastics bandwidth a much higher percentage of light will pass though, that's MUCH more efficient
    So for the Orange encased lamps, Orange Leds would seem to be the HOT Ticket!!!

     
  15. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    Yup. It surprised me as well. How about my EV? ALL the power comes from the Voltage-stable battery pack, and the 12V Aux is powered by a similar DC-DC converter. But I'm telling you, the V swings are dramatic in both of these cars. Larger than what I've seen in regular gasoline cars. I thought that a 20V max would be plenty for a nominal 12V system. Nope!
     
  16. darelldd

    darelldd Prius is our Gas Guzzler

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    I know from lots of experience that it is VERY difficult to take pictures of "light."

    I just noticed on the link you posted that these claim to be "fully regulated." Unfortunately, that just can't be true. But I know how they do it, because it is what I did in my license plate LEDs as well. I basically used another diode to clamp the voltage. Anyway... they appear to be about as high quality as I've seen. Against my own better judgement, I may even have to buy some myself!


    LEDs are made in a nice "red/orange" that works very well behind vehicle red plastic lenses as well. They usually appear brighter to the human eye than the real reds. All single-dice LEDs have very narrow wave lengths. Great for monochromatic color... really bad for CRI... or for making "white."


    Good question. I could probably figure that out.


    Yup! Lots of folks forget about the mono-chromatic nature of LEDs since they're so used to filtering "white" incandescents that contain a HUGE spectrum of colors... well, pretty much the whole visible specrum!
     
  17. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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    did you get a kit for the rest of the light? Could you of put the red leds in or did you have to use the super white ones?
     
  18. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    No I used 2 of the 9 Led RED's bulb, and it took 2 minutes to install, it was the simplest mod to date!!!
    Cost what, about $10 with postage... check the link I posted , order the 9 Led RED!!!
    The rest of the bulbs in the tail are just as easy to pop out. Just pull the cover hatch, there they are. 1.8th of a turn, carefully pull the bulb assy out, the wire is not super long, pop the old bulb out of the socket, pop the new one in, reinsert into tail light assy!
    Simple
     
  19. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Hmm, I bought a 5 LED from superbrightleds. I would assume that yours is brighter given that you have 4 extra LEDs of the same type as mine.
     
  20. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Yep, that would make sense, they also have a 25 Led bulb that is 4mm longer, same diameter. I think that will fit also, I will let you all know when they arrive, $10.99 ea, worth the bucks just to try them out!!!