LED Headlights

[onetuza]

I tried some 2800 lumen headlight bulbs from vintagecarleds.com. At first I thought they were fantastic, but then noticed that after the headlights are on for maybe 10 minutes, if I put on the high beams they would stick on high beam and not come back down no matter how many times I hit the foot switch.
Turn them off for 5-10 minutes and they work fine. Personally I feel it's a heat issue. The fan on these is inside the headlamp housing (not behind it as on other models) which is in turn inside the headlight bucket and there is no place for the heat to go.

The seller said he thinks my relay is sticking and needs to be cleaned or a new one put in. I told him that there is no separate relay on a 65 VW and that the footswitch works fine with halogen bulbs. I was very disappointed and had to send them back.

Anyone else have this problem or find a set that fits and works?
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When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[EVfun]

I have LED headlights in my beach buggy, closed up in chrome shells, and they have been working fine. Mine where from VLED, an older model that is no longer sold and the power supply boxes are inside the headlight shells too. So far they have been working fine.

I would suggest you test a little more. It is not impossible for the foot switches to stick, but it should be less likely with LED headlights as they draw a lot less current. Perhaps you can use a 3 terminal toggle switch in place of the floor switch and see if the problems happens with that.
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[TinCanFab]

[onetuza]

I am thankful for the input. Sadly I returned the bulbs for a refund. I'm still not clear though, on why they consistently work fine for the first 5-10 minutes and then exhibit problems.
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[herbie1200]

[onetuza]

Yes, blue indicator light worked properly.
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[vintagecarleds]

Just a update-

We did some testing on the LED units that were returned to us by you due to this reported issue.

Here is what we found:

After leaving them running inside sealed units for 2 hours (to build up as much heat as we could) They switched from low/high beam just fine.

However

After we started lowering the output voltage to the LED headlamp units from 13+ volts, down to 11.8-12.2 volts we noticed when switching from Hi/Lo the headlights would get "stuck" - This is the issue you reported to us.

So I think the cause is due to your headlight pigtails giving the bulbs low voltage, either due to age of the wires, maybe your generator/alternator, possible corrosion or another electrical issue.

If you go and start your car up, let it warm up and with the headlights on take a voltage reading at the pig tail end (from the back side of it) leave the headlight plugged in, and on and see what voltage you are getting.

We have only had one other user have this issue in the past year, it was due to his generator having 50% of the commutator dead (solder was flung off it) replacing his generator solved the headlight issue, and his low voltage issue at his battery.

- VintageCarLED
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www.vintagecarleds.com
[email protected]
713-853-9644

[KTPhil]

Thanks for posting your results here for us all to see.

A generator does not charge at idle and so 12 volts or a little less will be common at idle.

Sounds like the power supply of the units is not robust enough to deal with 12 volts, or slightly less. Unfortunately, that pretty much rules out use on any generator-based Volkswagen application.

[vintagecarleds]

[onetuza]

For the record, I'm running a new alternator (+_ 6 mos. old)

engine idling with low beams on.
Alternator output, 13.7 volts
Voltage at light - low beams, 12.29

engine idling with high beams on.
Alternator output, 14.2 volts
Voltage at light - high beams, 11.99
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[vintagecarleds]

[onetuza]

Still waiting for someone to tell me why they work fine for the first 10 minutes or so and then stop working after they've heated up how is this affecting the voltage?

I've checked the grounds in the past and all connections are clean and tight, so I might just put in a new foot switch and see if anything changes should be easy enough.

Just one more thing, you're selling these headlights specifically for classic cars. Classic cars maybe 6 V or 12 V but they certainly all could have issues. It seems like you should develop your bulbs to not be so sensitive. 11.99 volts is for all intents and purposes 12 V it seems like your lights should work regardless.
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[vintagecarleds]

[onetuza]

I tested it a couple of times after it had been running, turned it off for five or 10 minutes and turned it back on. The choke did not reset at those times and the lights worked fine so I'm not buying that theory, but like I said, when I get around to it I'll change the foot switch and see if the voltage is any different. If I suddenly have more voltage, maybe I'll go ahead and order the lights again.
Thanks for all of the input.
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[vintagecarleds]

[KTPhil]

Normal semiconductor behavior changes with temperature. Ten minutes of operation must raise a junction temperature just enough to make a difference.

I agree that if you drop 2 volts from the alternator to the lamp, there is a wiring problem. Solve that, and the lights may work fine.

On my old 6 volt car, I got the total voltage drop to about 0.4V (tougher with a 6V car due to currents being higher). I soldered wires, replaced or cleaned connectors, and cleaned all grounds. The highest current is right at the headlight connections, so suspect those and the grounds first. Your VOM, moved connector by connector, will flush out the culprit(s) quickly.

[onetuza]

Ok, here's what I did:

Replaced foot switch with a new one from ,Wolfsberg West.

Removed all fuses, cleaned their ends, cleaned all of the fuse holders , (light sand, wiped with alcohol)

Pulled the spade connectors from trunk side, (same procedure).

Sadly, I was unable to reach the spade connectors adequately at the headlight switch, only to jiggle some of them. I assume I would need the escutcheon tool to release the switch and maybe get to the wires. (Maybe in the future some time)

Nevertheless I did get some results:


engine idling with low beams on.
Alternator output, 13.8 volts
Voltage at light - low beams, 12.75

engine idling with high beams on.
Alternator output, 13.8 volts
Voltage at light - high beams, 12.75

So, better, but too close for comfort for LED's
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[bluebus86]

[onetuza]

I'm going to attempt to swap out the headlight switch when I get a chance,
but in the meantime, Vintage-Car-LEDs has graciously offered to send me back the LED lamps
to try free of charge for 2 or three weeks, since my voltage is up at the lamps.
If all is good, they'll take payment.
Who could ask for better customer service?
Thanks, guys.
Will keep you posted.
_________________
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather . . . .
Not screaming, like the other passengers in his car!

[Drewmon]

Please do, I've been eyeing those for a while too. Let us know how you make out.