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Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:02 am

Wondering if drop in LED lights make a difference and if so who do you recommend getting them from?

Headlights, turn signals, brake lights ect...

Thanks!

Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:25 am

Its all i have except for the HID headlights , brighter , cooler , less power , my rear was a kit purchased here made by Chip Birks , they work great .

Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:57 am

the led interior light is great, got the two row one off amazon, super bright, lights like daytime in the car. the single row ones are good too, but the double row is the way to go. note my car is 12 volt2.

havent done led elsewhere on my bug, but did go with led stop and reverse light bulbs on my vanagon, much beighter, again from amazon, tried several, the more peicey ones were much brighter than stock, the cheaper ones not much if any improvement. I have seen the kkts with circuit board to fit inside the small tail lights of the 61 and back bugs, they are very good.

the led stop lights act faster than regular filiment bulbs, thag can give you that extra margin of safety from being rear ended.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 7:25 am

I used the phillips brand LED drop in bulbs for my rear lights.
Much brighter than stock. The LED's are pointed backwards to utilize the stock reflectors so you don't end up with "hot spots" showing through the lens.

Turn signals
https://www.amazon.com/1157-P21-Philips-Replacemen...7+led+bulb

Running/Brake
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-1156-X-tremeVision-...6+led+bulb

I aslo made sure they were red LEDs so it didn't make the lens look pinkish.

Untitled by Steve, on Flickr

Sat Jun 25, 2016 8:32 am

I like those with the backward reflecting - are they available in 6-volt too?
I couldn't find a 6v listing.

Also does it say how many lumens they are on the package?
It's not listed on the Amazon links for those bulbs.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:42 am

Forgot to mention that they are 12v bulbs.

Phillips doesn't tell you exactly how many lumens the bulbs put out.
The package only says "5x more light than a regular bulb"

Some websites I've seen say they're somewhere around 130 lumens.

Sat Jun 25, 2016 10:33 pm

Thanks.

I could be wrong but it looks like 130 lumens is the equivalent of about an old style 9 watt bulb.

But when it comes to LEDs it seems all that matters is what you see in real life - brighter or not.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 7:04 am

rabbit20v wrote: The LED's are pointed backwards to utilize the stock reflectors so you don't end up with "hot spots" showing through the lens[/u

The hot spot and directional lighting of the LEDS are one reason I dont use them on any of my personal classic cars. ..

Those that actuallly reflect could be a game changer for those of us that want the correct old look and the modern efficient bulb.
It would seem those maybe would have a dead dark spot in the center though??

The main benefit of LED 's are real life brightness and the quick reaction for the stop lamps..

Other that that.. IMO .. on classic cars... it's just not worth it..

Maybe ad some pictures of actual lighting opertation.

EverettB wrote: I like those with the backward reflecting - are they available in 6-volt too?
I couldn't find a 6v listing.

I wouldn't be too surprised if they also worked on 6 volts.. but with less lumens,
LEDS are failry combatible regarding voltage less than spec.

.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 7:48 am

VOLKSWAGNUT wrote: EverettB wrote: I like those with the backward reflecting - are they available in 6-volt too?
I couldn't find a 6v listing.

I wouldn't be too surprised if they also worked on 6 volts.. but with less lumens,
LEDS are failry combatible regarding voltage less than spec.

I wonder that too... but don't want to spend $40 to find out they do not.
I have seen some specs before where 12v volt bulbs are listed as 7-24v and a couple people said they won't light up at 6v.

Maybe I should find some cheaper 12v ones just to try it.

Less lumens might be a problem since if 130 is equivalent to 9 watts, that's already 1/2 the wattage of the original 18-watt brake lights on my daily driver.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:30 am

EverettB wrote: VOLKSWAGNUT wrote: EverettB wrote: I like those with the backward reflecting - are they available in 6-volt too?
I couldn't find a 6v listing.

I wouldn't be too surprised if they also worked on 6 volts.. but with less lumens,
LEDS are failry combatible regarding voltage less than spec.

I wonder that too... but don't want to spend $40 to find out they do not.
I have seen some specs before where 12v volt bulbs are listed as 7-24v and a couple people said they won't light up at 6v.

Maybe I should find some cheaper 12v ones just to try it.

Less lumens might be a problem since if 130 is equivalent to 9 watts, that's already 1/2 the wattage of the original 18-watt brake lights on my daily driver.

one thing to consider is the color of the light, 130 lumens of red led light going thru a red taillight lense will be much brighter outside the red lense than 130 lumens of white incandesent light going thru the same lense
. The red lenses passes the red light and blocks all the other colors. if 100% of the light generated by the bulb is red, most all of it will make it thru the red lense. if the light generated is white, most of it will be blocked by the red tailight lense, and thus the lumens that make it out will only be a small fraction of that produced by the source bulb.
thus never use a white led for a tail light, only use a red one for brightest light out the lense. incandesent lights fail miserably in this regard as the filament glows white so that much of the output is lost in passing thru the colored lense.

physics 1A at work!

Sun Jun 26, 2016 10:45 am

EverettB wrote: Thanks.

I could be wrong but it looks like 130 lumens is the equivalent of about an old style 9 watt bulb.

But when it comes to LEDs it seems all that matters is what you see in real life - brighter or not.

Update on this:
After some more searching on watts vs. lumens, it looks like 130 lumens is more like 11.5 watts.

Yes, I have seen multiple people says to use only red LEDs in our red taillights, white LEDs will "blow out" the coloring.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:37 am

EverettB wrote: ... but don't want to spend $40 to find out they do not.

Yep ^ ... my thoughts exactly..

I really don't think the benefits of LED's as a replacement bulb outweigh the cost ..... yet.

Then there is the problem of the wash out, matching color LED for lens used and the LED light path direction not utilizing a lens to its full potential..
Not to mention.. a flasher change or a fake load is required..

Some love them, some dont..

They have no added benefit as a replacement for me.... (yet)...

The new cars that have LED's integrated are no doubt pretty impressive. Those were designed from scratch with LED's ... and are very different from a design stand point.

Case in point ..
I installed some free LED dome lights in my truck.. and frankly hated them and went back to the old incandescent ... on the flip side.. I used some others in the license plate spot on our Caddy (194's) and they certainly make the white POP bright on the reflective plate...

They certainly have a place in the auto market.

Im still optimistic though as the technology and availability has grown substantially.

I was one of those CFL replacement users ... those things are junk.. burned out in short time cost me more to buy.. so trying LED's in the home.. is a new venture for me.. I just used my first 8 LED's in our home during a kitchen remodel.. very impressed with the light output... So bright I had to install a dimmer. 8) ... Time will tell if they last as they claim.. Im skeptical

.

Sun Jun 26, 2016 11:49 am

I got an LED dome light from a guy here at work (free). It's dim and has a bad habit of coming on all by itself. Not cool, when I walk out to the car at midnight and find my dome light on with doors shut. 😬

Mon Jun 27, 2016 3:57 pm

rabbit20v wrote: I used the phillips brand LED drop in bulbs for my rear lights.
Much brighter than stock. The LED's are pointed backwards to utilize the stock reflectors so you don't end up with "hot spots" showing through the lens.

Turn signals
https://www.amazon.com/1157-P21-Philips-Replacemen...7+led+bulb

Running/Brake
https://www.amazon.com/Philips-1156-X-tremeVision-...6+led+bulb

I aslo made sure they were red LEDs so it didn't make the lens look pinkish.

Untitled by Steve, on Flickr

I thought I would post an update as I contacted Philips to see if these 12v bulb might happen to work on a 6-volt car since sometimes LEDs can work with less voltage.

They said No but to be honest I'm not sure if they said No because they won't light up or because of legal liability issues.

I might go buy some from the local parts store, try them, and return them if they don't work.
If my local store doesn't have a problem with me trying them out in the parking lot.

Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:12 pm

I don't think we can generalize. Three is a thread about 12V LED headlights dropping out on our marginal voltage generator-based cars. But many LEDs are 5V devices. I think it varies by design and manufacturer.

Wed Jun 29, 2016 8:11 am

EverettB wrote: I thought I would post an update as I contacted Philips to see if these 12v bulb might happen to work on a 6-volt car since sometimes LEDs can work with less voltage.

They said No but to be honest I'm not sure if they said No because they won't light up or because of legal liability issues.

I might go buy some from the local parts store, try them, and return them if they don't work.
If my local store doesn't have a problem with me trying them out in the parking lot.

I could throw a 12v to 6v adapter and see if they still work.