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Post by prodigit on May 11, 2013 2:38:28 GMT -5
My HID is so Bright They wear shades on the International Space Station when they fly over me.  If this forum had a 'like' button or something, I'd have given it a thumbs up! LOL!  |
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Post by carasdad on May 11, 2013 8:27:09 GMT -5
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 2, 2013 2:09:57 GMT -5
First Night Ride with LED:I fired up my dimly lit Piece Sports twin 18 watt Baja style lights. Then I hit the 27 watt LED narrow beam headlight and night became DAY with VIVID color! I can see again! Who says you have to have HID? Screw them, LED does the job without a totally new HD electrical system! You can find them on E-Bay under "27W LED WORK LIGHT PENCIL BEAM OFF ROADLAMP TRUCK BOAT JEEP CAR 12V 24V 4WD 4x4" While the Internet was clear that LED light,s being diodes, will work with AC, their life spans can be severely shortened. I had one LED brake light only last an hour or two and now I know why. Simply you will only need a bridge rectifier as the AC is regulated. And Radio Shack sells them on E-Bay. I got the 3 pack so my LED tail lights will be DC only to increase their life span too. The 3rd is a back up. They are very very small and marked for wiring. The 3 pack was ... ummm memory says a buck or two each. Unlike normal headlights, these do not dim at idle. They stay bright till the idle gets below 1000 with a little dimming and pulsing. They never turn brown. The twin 18 watt factory lights add nothing to this one. You might as well turn them off showing that the combined 36 watts does not contribute and only adds needless load to the electrical system. Last, we all know that LED last a long long time and even if one light blew, you will not be left in the dark. Legal? and Beam Pattern?They are rated about 30 degrees and about 15 degrees L & R is about right. Simply they are not well patterned for on coming traffic. Hence why I wired them to the high beam (they lie, super low beam Vs ultra low beam.)I stepped out front of my scooter about 20 yds and to the other lane. They did not blind me, but I would not say they were normal either. I left it on and past about 15 cars. No one flashed me. That is a very small sample and maybe the next 15 will have 1/2 flash me. I admit it is pushing the edge, I will let others on the road decide for me. And update here if they are a problem. If they flash, then I will limit them to high beam empty road only. I saw nothing that says DOT on them. There are some rated for the road and if memory serves me right, they start at over $100. If they are too bright for low-beam, then clearly this light is not the full answer. But now I believe LED is the right direction for our low output electrical systems. At least in the future when DOT versions come out. I looked them up on eBay, but there are a LOT of different ones, and it would be great to have info on which type to use, and how to properly connect them up with the LED lights... I'm sure it's simple, but only IF you know how.Many thanks!Leo (not very electric-savvy) in Texas |
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Post by doublert on Jul 2, 2013 20:24:43 GMT -5
My lights suck real bad! How did you wire this thing up? Any details, like straight to the battery or something?
thanks,
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Post by alleyoop on Jul 2, 2013 20:34:02 GMT -5
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Post by doublert on Jul 2, 2013 20:39:31 GMT -5
[replyingto=doublert]doublert[/replyingto]Wiring details?
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 2, 2013 21:18:18 GMT -5
For us guys old enough to have had kerosene lights on our rides... LOL! Could you please write a quick "how-to" on the bridge-rectifiers?I looked them up on eBay, but there are a LOT of different ones, and it would be great to have info on which type to use, and how to properly connect them up with the LED lights... I'm sure it's simple, but only IF you know how.Many thanks!Leo (not very electric-savvy) in Texas i would like this info also but the OP hasn't logged in since March so hopefully someone else can help. or we will have to figure out on our own. my headlight is so bad i can't avoid anything if i'm traveling over 15 mph. |
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Post by alleyoop on Jul 2, 2013 21:47:03 GMT -5
They are DC lights, so get a off and on toggle and one wire which is probably RED goes to the battery and the other to ground. So the Live wire goes to the Toggle switch from the battery and then other wire ground it and it goes to the other terminal on the toggle switch. Hit the toggle and you have lights. Break the ground and it is off.
Alleyoop
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 5, 2013 0:33:37 GMT -5
They are DC lights, so get a off and on toggle and one wire which is probably RED goes to the battery and the other to ground. So the Live wire goes to the Toggle switch from the battery and then other wire ground it and it goes to the other terminal on the toggle switch. Hit the toggle and you have lights. Break the ground and it is off. Alleyoop
That's what I originally intended to do... BUT... After thinking about it, I didn't want to put any extra drain on the battery, AND, I wanted to not use the original headlights when the LED was in use.SO....... I figured I'd DISCONNECT the factory high-beams from the factory switch, and RECONNECT the high-beam switch to the LED headlight... Then when I hit the high-beams, the low-beams go out, and the LED comes on. No drain except less than with factory low-beams, and running off the AC circuit.Simple enough, but still would run the LED off the AC. Supposedly OK, but I understand AC is hard on LED's. I figure the bridge-rectifier, between the old high-beam switch and the new LED would solve everything... Maybe?... LOL! I imagine the rectifier simply needs to be inserted in the hot wire before the LED, to convert AC to DC, but I need to know for sure, AND just WHAT rectifier to get.Barring that solution, a kill-switch on the low-beams, and a switched direct-battery connection to the LED like you suggest would be OK. I just really like the idea of simply using the old low/high-beam switch for a really clean, simple hookup.Thanks!Leo |
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 5, 2013 0:51:59 GMT -5
Leo, i found this yesterday. explains how a bridge rectifier works and how to connect it.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 5, 2013 10:33:30 GMT -5
Leo, i found this yesterday. explains how a bridge rectifier works and how to connect it. Ramblinman, Much appreciated, but it only an empty space appears on my PC. No link. Don't know if it's my PC or what. Thanks, Leo |
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 5, 2013 10:56:41 GMT -5
Leo, i found this yesterday. explains how a bridge rectifier works and how to connect it. Ramblinman, Much appreciated, but it only an empty space appears on my PC. No link. Don't know if it's my PC or what. Thanks, Leo here is the url: you'll have to figure out why youtube vids aren't playing if you're still having problems. |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 7, 2013 0:19:02 GMT -5
Got it! Something was wrong with my PC...
Thanks!
Leo
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jul 8, 2013 1:55:29 GMT -5
OK guyz n' galz...
After much interest, AND much good advice from Alleyoop and others, I found a bridge-rectifier made specifically for 12V AC systems on vehicles... Both are available on eBay, this one shown below which is good for up to 3 amps draw, and another much more expensive one for a high-end snowmobile that is good for 70 amps. THAT is overkill on a scooter... I contacted the seller of this inexpensive one, and it should be good for up to 40 watts of LED lighting on our scoots. I ordered one, along with a 20 watt oval light, which hopefully will go where the chrome "windshield/instrument shade" now resides. I plan to attempt to disconnect the brights, splice this rectifier between the old bright-switch AC and the new DC LED so when I hit the brights, the AC factory dims go out, and the new DC LED will come on. I plan to use the factory dims as my legal daytime driving lights as usual, and the LED for a PROPER low-beam at night... If it works like I think it will, I won't need "brights" at the speeds the scoot is capable of. The LED will be FAR better than the factory beams (low OR bright)...  windows 7 screen shotIf this sounds like I'm going to blow something up, somebody PLEASE let me know... I won't have the goodies for a couple of weeks. This will be an interesting experiment...Leo in Texas
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Post by ramblinman on Jul 8, 2013 5:03:41 GMT -5
hey Leo, i ordered the 27w led light yesterday. hopefully i'll have it within 2 weeks, it's on a slow boat from china. i will be attempting to set mine up similar to yours. my low beams don't work and my high beams are more like low beams anyway. so if i can figure out how to connect i'd like the 27w led light to come on when i switch to low.
at least that is the plan for now.
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..BAD TO THE BONE..