Cree headlights

[mintex]

Anyone tried these cree type headlight bulbs and if so what did you think of them?

Says they are 40w but give a bright white light.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/40W-5000LM-H4-HB2-9003-Cree-LED-Headlight-Kit-Car-Driving-Lamp-Bulbs-6000K-White-/252013521757?hash=item3aad2d2b5d:g:nDEAAOSw9N1VyHfJ

[Pete126]

Hi Dave, the ones you listed are for spotlights the standard headlight fitment is 410/p45t which they don't list. I found that unless the light unit is designed to use LED bulbs either front or rear they are not as good as the standard bulbs, if you want to go brighter put relays on the dip and main beam circuits and use 60/55w bulbs

http://club126uk.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4238.msg28381#msg28381   

[mintex]

Ah ok cheers pete.
Ive not had much to do with led or cree bulbs so just wondered if they were worth trying, think i will give them a miss.
 
I have modified my headlights to take the h4 bulbs so it's a little easier to get new bulbs.

[Bambino126]

I've tried Cree Led bulbs for my brake lights and they are great.
I have a light meter and did some tests to prove it wasn't just a placebo effect.
A 5W Cree brake light, gives off significantly more brightness than the original 21W incandescent bulbs.

Incidentally, I've changed my front side lights, and rear tail lights, brake lights, and number plate lights all to LED's. This is to reduce the drag to the alternator, that causes the idle speed to drop when you put the lights on. I was finding myself winding up the idle speed on the carb to compensate, and then the next day you'd drive without lights and the idle would be too high and 1st gear would crunch! Led bulbs solve this problem.

I haven't changed the indicators because I think the lower wattage would affect their "blink" rate, and I haven't done the headlights because I don't think there is an led replacement for those old 410 globes.

[Bambino126]

As I understand it, 126 headlights that can accept H4 bulbs are not available in RHD.

If you drive in the U.K. and want brighter headlights, what some people do, I believe, is build a "hybrid" headlight from a LHD H4 headlight and a RHD 410 headlight, by taking the RHD glass lens off and joining it to the H4 accepting back part. Then you can run bright H4's in the UK.

However this raises another problem in that you are running 2 x 55w through wiring and switches that can only handle 2 x 40w with some people getting damaged or melted switches or wiring, so installing relays was the solution to that problem.

So if these bright Cree leds only draw 40w and your car can already accept H4's then you would get the brightness you are looking for without needing relays.

[Bambino126]

As it is still quite new technology I would probably go for a trusted brand like Philips rather than a chinese jobbie off Ebay.

These ones look good and only draw 22W (expensive though)

http://www.horizonleds.co.uk/headlamp-cree-led/4th-generation-cree-led-kits/h4-cree-philips-led-headlight-kit-g4

[mintex]

I like the idea of cree bulbs as you get more light for less wattage, and if i could find some good ones at a reasonable price  then i would consider trying them.

Them you have found would probably be good coming from a known brand and you do tend to get what you pay for but as you say,  them ones are expensive

[mintex]

I modified my headlights using an idea i saw on this site somewhere but i can't remember who did it?   

1st pic is the standard bulb in that you can still use.

2nd are the slots i filled into the headlight

3rd is with the h4 bulb in, there is a small gap around the bulb but you can still use the original bulb holder to keep it in place

[gammakeith]

The chinese bulbs are good if you are happy to wait for delivery.  I modified one of my motorbikes with LED bulbs all around. The (6v) lights run directly off the magneto so the headlamp vanished out at tickover before.  I now have a very much brighter headlamp that stays bright (ish) at tickover.  I got one of the fan cooled headlamp bulbs and I think it was all of £6!  Dip is good but the main beam pattern is fairly poor.  I suspect it will fail an MOT but I can quickly swap the old bulb back.

Keith

[michaelodonnell500]

Chinese LED's can be a bit hit or miss.
Me and a few colleagues bought LED lights for the house waited for the long delivery and finally fitted them.
Firstly the bulbs were drawing more current than stated, drawing 7W as apposed to 5W.
Secondly the bulbs lasted for around 6 months before they started to fail. In my case several of the LED's had burnt out causing the rest to fail as I think they were in series. The technology is there, but the QC is pretty poor so things will slip through the net.
You might be lucky and you might get a good set, but it's a pain if you have to buy twice!

[Legre]

Look at this. When I see yellow light I'm sure classic is driving.