LED lamps.

handyman · Unread post by **handyman** » 31 Dec 2010, 14:41

I've been running standard Ring halogens with 50% brighter output in our Xantias and ZX, and they seem to be working perfectly. Light pattern is better and whiter and I've had no comments from the MOT testers regarding usage. I bought the lamps in bulk from Lidl for the last two years and they were either £1.99 or £2.99 a set.

My brother told me about them and he is a real cheapskate!

I do find that alot of the problems with the Xantia headlight output is down to dirty lenses. They seem to collect road dirty rather quickly.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 31 Dec 2010, 14:59

Yes! it's amazing how much bighter the lights can be after a clean even if they don't appear dirty

reblack68 · Unread post by **reblack68** » 01 Jan 2011, 09:06

CitroJim wrote:I find an odd problem with the Yankee-style sirens the emergency services use. I hear them but haven't a clue which direction they are coming from and it seems I'm not alone; chaos happens whilst all road uses try to figure out where the emergency vehicle is and take appropriate avoiding action. I wonder how many accidents this causes

I never had this problem with the old two-tone horns. You knew what they were and the direction they were headed. Simple. And I bet the old rotating blue light never dazzled anyone either...

Time to abandon the fancy stuff and bring back the good old traditional blues and twos...

The direction problem is a known issue. It's against the law to admit something doesn't work and go back to the old way so the fire engines around here honk as well as wailing.

I don't much like the LED lightbars either. Most of them seem to appear white from a distance so you can't tell whether it's an emergency vehicle, breakdown truck or even just a council van. A yellow or blue rotating beacon sweeping around made it quite clear what was going on. It grabbed your attention because it was moving and it didn't dazzle everybody. How often have you had a police officer directing you around an accident and struggled to see both the officer and the road ahead?

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 05 Jan 2011, 21:47

When I went round Jim's to sort out the aux belt, I had a go with the tail lights as reverse lights with pleasant results.

The second photo was taken about 2 car lengths away.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 09 Jan 2011, 21:05

Had some 9 SMD 501s arrive and gave them a go.
Unfortunately one of them doesn't work so will have to contact the seller.
They much more suited to parking lights in the Xantia.
The forward facing ultra bright normal shaped LEDs are better suited for number plate illumination.

4 ultra bright LED 501 in left parking light, 9 SMD 501 in right parking light, which actually illuminates the reflector.

Tungsten 501 in left 4 ultra brith LED 501 in right

GB · Unread post by GB » 13 Jan 2011, 16:33

Xac wrote:4 ultra bright LED 501 in left parking light, 9 SMD 501 in right parking light, which actually illuminates the reflector.

Excellent stuff, thanks for the photos.

Need to replace my C5 sidelights again - they are H6W, bloody expensive (around £7 a pair) and need replacing every 3 months on average - so would definitely prefer LED's.

Are there any MOT requirements re: sidelight brightness? Are white 9 SMD LED's road legal?

GB

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 13 Jan 2011, 16:58

They have to be white and visible from a reasonable distance, and not dazzling.

GB · Unread post by GB » 16 Jan 2011, 00:11

Are the C5 II sidelights on CANBUS? About to get LED bulbs - do they need to have the special circuitry to avoid any blow bulb error messages?

At the moment both bulbs in my C5 are blown (two months after replacing them again), and I get no error messages warning me of faulty bulbs. Am I right to think that they are not on CANBUS then?

GB

Citroenmad · Unread post by **Citroenmad** » 16 Jan 2011, 00:17

I got a pair of these:

http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/canbus-h6w ... p-499.html

for my C5II, they have not caused any blown bulb problems but they are a bit of a blue/white. Ive since removed them, but they will no doubt last longer, i might think about putting them in once these bulbs go. Though not sure.

Some pics of them in this thread:

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... c&start=30

GB · Unread post by GB » 16 Jan 2011, 00:38

Citroenmad wrote:I got a pair of these:
http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/canbus-h6w ... p-499.html

Yours definitely have the "error free circuitry".

I'm thinking of getting these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 1619wt_991
They are warm white in colour, and feature 9 LED's so they should be brighter than the original H6W bulbs.

Or even these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2pcs-BAX9S-H6W-64 ... 1829wt_966
17 LED's, just need to make sure they would fit. They are £15 thou, but on the other hand that's my current six-monthly sidelight replacement budget anyway.

GB

f00lzz · Unread post by **f00lzz** » 16 Jan 2011, 01:44

hobblerian wrote:I've fitted these-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Extreme-1w-Sideli ... 4cf2e379bc

in my XM sidelights, far better than the old yellow ones. Nice and bright and a good colour match to HIDs. The light only shines forward though not an all round glow like a normal bulb.

I have tried LED bulbs in my Xantia before... unfortunately after a time they begin to fail because they are not protected from the heat of the headlight bulb!

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 25 Jan 2011, 22:05

Pair of these arrived today

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0568709488

They're great!
Interestingly they work either way around in the socket and are of a better build quality, but then we're talking £15 compared to £2-3.
These are them compared to the 9 LED ones.

Tried the 9 LED ones as the number plate illumination bulbs but they're too long for the diffusers to fit, so I'll stick with the 4 LED ones as they do the job perfectly.

So, although they're 3 times the cost of 501s from Halfrauds, they should last a heck of a lot longer, and they're brighter and whiter.
For the number plate illumination, these ones are the ones to go for:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0482757096

Penguin · Unread post by **Penguin** » 26 Jan 2011, 15:18

Interesting thread. I was thinking of getting a pair of the stop/tail light leds for my Xantia but interesting to read Amjakes experience of them. Maybe I'll stick to the filament bulbs and just put up with replacing them regularly!

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 26 Jan 2011, 19:20

I'll be looking into trying break lights next month

Unread post by **myglaren** » 15 Feb 2011, 21:53

Anyone know the difference between 477 and 499? (Apart from 22

)
I seem to be getting through H7 bulbs at a fair old rate, had another one to change today.
I was looking for a longer lived replacement, with an increased light output.

I found Osram Night Breaker Bulbs.
While my current bulbs are 477 these are 499.
As they are rather more expensive than the current standard bulbs I'd rather not make any silly mistakes before buying them.

Another option would be these Philips Extreme Power that at least according to one review appear to be better.

On the upside the bulb only took five minutes to change, a big improvement on the usual 30 mins - two hours.