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LED bulbs

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Superdrol, Apr 16, 2013.

  1. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    The reverse you can twist out through the back. There's a small panel I believe in the cargo area. The passenger headlight bulb is nearly impossible to remove without removing the entire lamp. You will slice up your wrist and strain your back holding an awkward static positiln
     
  2. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    I was looking at these for mine.
    JLC 7440 7443 T20 5W CREE + SMD LED Light Bulbs - CREE Q5 LED Chips - Brilliant Red : Amazon.com : Automotive

    I like how they have the side firing SMDs which should help fill in the spot effect that the Crees produce.
    The reverse bulbs are just 7440s. They should be accessible via the panel in the trunk. Shouldn't be any need to bake anything. It's just a bulb replacement.
     
  3. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    Three bolts on the coolant reservoir. It opens things up a little bit more. It's still tricky to access the low beam, but it's a hell of a lot easier.
     
  4. wotcher

    wotcher Member

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    How do you tell a good bulb from a dud? Aren't these bulbs come the random chinese factories, sometimes the same one?

    And I'm have trouble choosing between the exledusa/ijdmtoys prius led kit $100/90 vs the cheap $25 ebay kit. My concern is that I have a sunroof. The front dome lights are narrower and longer than the regular ones. I have seen users shave the led pcbs to make them fit. Or should I get the cheap kit and buy the dome lights separately? Would that also introduce the problem if the light colors don't match?

    [​IMG]
     
  5. wotcher

    wotcher Member

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    didnt realize the exledusa picture was ginormous
     
  6. lopgok

    lopgok Member

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    They will work, although they are a bit on the expensive side. The R5 bin is pretty high efficiency.
    I am not a great fan of 6000K color, as it is very blue. HID lights are about 4200K, for example.

    T20 7440 CREE R5 5W White Pair | eBay

    These are almost 4 times cheaper, for example.
     
  7. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    These suck for reverse bulbs. I have a pair and they are bright when you're standing behind them, but they project straight back (not utilizing the reflector in the taillight at all). If you need to light up a car 50 yards away when you're backing up, they would be great for that. But if you actually want to see the ground immediately behind the car, pass on this projector style. When backing up at night using the rear-view camera, the difference is literally night and day.

    Some people (over in the Chevy Volt forum) have said that removing the projector lens will work better. I removed a lens and tried it (in the daytime though) and the light pattern to my naked eye didnt seem to be more diffused or anything, so I ended up just putting my stock reverse bulbs back in.

    I have see another one with the projector on the end, but it has another 4 or 5 white LEDs around the base.. I imagine these may be better. But when I found them on eBay, they were something like $20 each. Found something similar.. $30 for a pair:

    Pair HID White 7440 7W CREE R5 12 SMD 5050 Projector LED Reverse Light Bulbs | eBay
     
  8. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    ^ Those are the ones you want. The side firing SMD's will hit the reflection and fill in a bit better.
    The Cree bulbs are very bright, but do have a narrow throw. The additional LEDs are there to help overcome the beam pattern.

    Wotcher, in my experience, most 6000k bulbs do have a similar color, at least they're close enough.
    If you have two bulbs from different vendors right next to each other, the difference will be more obvious, but if they're spaced further apart (map light and dome light, for instance) the difference becomes negligible.

    My LEDs for exterior and interior are from different sellers, but they look identical.
    Most of the ebay bulbs come from the same factory anyway.

    As far as pricing goes, I've had expensive LEDs crap out on me very quickly and cheapos last forever. I'd rather pay a little less up front. Having to replace a $1 bulb is no big deal, but having to replace a $15 bulb stings a bit.

    I'd also like to throw autolumination.com out there. They have some quality stuff and they're not outrageously priced.

    I changed all of my interior and exterior bulbs out for under $20. Sure, they're not going to be as crazy bright as the $100 panel set, but how bright do you really need the interior of your car?
     
  9. lopgok

    lopgok Member

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    Cool. What turn signal LEDs did you get?
    I can't seem to find any bright reasonably priced ones.
    I still have incandescent turn signals, and high beams on my car.
     
  10. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    Well, I lied... technically.
    I didn't replace the turn signals or reverse lights yet.

    I've always used the chrome standard bulbs for the turn signals. They're invisible in the housing and you don't have to deal with hyper flash.
    I had standard SMD reverse lights in my old car but they weren't terribly bright. I'll probably pick up the Cree ones with the 12 side firing SMDs.
     
  11. lopgok

    lopgok Member

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    I have a cree reverse light, without any SMD leds. It is a pretty tight fit, and I fear the SMDs will only make it a tigher fit.
    SMD LEDs such as 5050 LEDs aren't very bright. Roughly 10 lumens each. My tacoma turn signal uses 20 5050 LEDs.
    In reality, each 5050 LED is really 3 individual LEDs in a single package. I don't think adding 5 or 10 SMDs will change the
    overall brightness or pattern of a reverse light in a significant way.

    The cree is reasonably bright and the pattern is wide enough for me.
    A R5 or U2 bin, and a real usage of 5 watts, will make a pretty bright light.
    Many sellers on ebay claim a higher wattage than the bulb really draws.
    For example, I bought some Q5's that claimed 7w, but I measured 2.8 watts.

    I am still waiting for a bright amber turn signal led.
    I changed the flasher on my toyota tacoma when I put in LEDs; it wasn't a big deal.
     
  12. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    I don't understand what's going on with the reverse bulb. You need to buy the Cree bulb and remove the projector lens ?
     
  13. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    What's the difference between the nubs in post #22 and post #27 ?
     
  14. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    They look identical to me.
     
  15. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    I use these with the 7443 base for my rear lamps and back up lights. There is a 120 led version now!
    [FONT=Arial][B][SIZE=5][FONT=Arial][COLOR=#ff0000][SIZE=5][SIZE=5][SIZE=5][url="http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm"]Tail Light Brake Light Turn Signal LED Bulbs[/url][/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE][/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/B][/FONT]

    68 High Powered Wide Angle SMT LEDS
    These Bulbs have Advanced Surface Mount Technology LEDS
    60 high powered SMT side facing LEDS - 8 high powered SMT forward facing LEDS
    Only 20mm diameter x 57mm overall - fits all stock housings
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    $24.99 Ea.
    7440 Single Circuit 7443 Dual Circuit
    Super White
    Red
    Amber
    Choose Color

    Choose Type

    ***Click Here to add a tracking number to your order***
     
  16. Vitoe

    Vitoe New Member

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    I got some CREE LED's for my reverse lights for my Prius today from HIDMasters.com. They are local to me so I dropped by and got all the bulbs in my car replaced with LED's, I enjoy the CREE LED's, they do a great job combined with the backup camera.
     
  17. Vitoe

    Vitoe New Member

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    Also, are the rear turn signals accessible through the back panel as well? I want to get LED's for the reverse signals in the tails, and those need resistors too to prevent hyper flash right? Just mount the resistors somewhere back there?
     
  18. burstaneurysm

    burstaneurysm Active Member

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    You can access the rear turn signals through the panel.
    You will need resistors or a new flasher module to prevent hyper flash.
     
  19. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    Why do you need resistors for reverse bulbs ? I thought that is for the turn signals ?
     
  20. Superdrol

    Superdrol Member

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    Can you post a picture of the bulbs you use for the reverse? I'm just going to get those if they fit since you have them in already