Courtesy light upgrade

[ewenmaclean]

Hello,

I went for 38mm which fits fine, but I reckon you could happily go up to 42mm as the contacts are pretty bendy. I went for 8 LED and yeah - a bit dim for my liking... 12 might be better....

I extended the lighting circuit so it forms a mini "ring main" to prevent voltage drop on the non-fuse box side and that helped a bit...

Ewen

[Red Westie]

OK..ordered two the the 16 led ones 41mm long...from HK so I'm not expecting them until well into the New Year...I'll let you know how good they are.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUPER-BRIGHT-41mm ... 19c173f34d

2 items total cost £2.90 so pretty good value.

Martin

[slowcoach]

i also got a couple of the led festoon bulbs from HK through ebay too, i think they are 16 led, but still quite small and certainly no bother to fit in. 39mm i believe? sorry ive lost the link now..
but very good and obviously a straight easy swap.

ive got a 30mm T5 flourescent tube in a fitting too, which im looking to swap to an LED tube.. has anyone done this swap? (should also be an easy swap)

[dansimpson]

Just swapped my T5 tube light guts for 2 of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

Taken out all electronic bits and just wired them direct to the switch and the negative wire.
Bent them into a U shape at either end of the fitting. Perfic

[slowcoach]

cool- how is the brightness vs the old t5 8w tube? and is it quite a harsh white light? might be softened by my funked yellow'd plastic lens cover anyway!

[dansimpson]

I reckon it is more than twice as effective as the tube. Its not too harsh once the diffuser is on (wouldnt be able to deal with it without the diffuser though), a bit "colder" looking light. I'll be upgrading the other fitting, and using Jeds recommend for the door light.

[Red Westie]

Arrived today and fitted.....they only work one way BTW...16 superbrite LEDS.
3 days short of a month but then I guess you can take Xmas & New year off you are probably looking at about 20 days...
Anyway....I reckon they are at least 60% brighter but the light is a much cleaner blue/white compared to the very yellow cast of the 10watt standard festoons.

Well pleased and I think I made the right choice with the 16 LEDS...going on the intensity I would say 8 - 10 LED's would be similar light output to the original festoon bulb.
41mm fits fine but I wouldn't go any longer than that....
Good buy at £2.90 for two.
The courtesy light lens difuses the light reasonable well so you do get complete cockpit illumination when both sides are turned on.

The one Jed ordered has the plastic lenses over the LEDS but only has 6 LEDS....we will have to compare next time we meet Jed

I took a pic next to a new 10p piece:



Martin

[16vmini]

Just swapped my T5 tube light guts for 2 of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT

Taken out all electronic bits and just wired them direct to the switch and the negative wire.
Bent them into a U shape at either end of the fitting. Perfic

mine have just turned up , and one of my tube bulbs has just gone .. time to mod i think

Matt

[orangebooboobearcrew]

Bought some of these off flea-bay last week and turned up yesterday - all the way from Hong Kong!!!

Fitted them last night and well chuffed They look ace - nice crisp light and bright as the strip lights now!

I've got some strip LED's that I think I am going to wire up across the roof in the rear - level with where the rear courtesy light is but across the middle. Should be like daylight in their then...!

Top tip - thanks all.

Chris

[16vmini]

still not modded my strip lights yet , trying to get at those bloody PK's from the top is a nightmare

Matt

[paul66beetle]

Bought some of these off flea-bay last week and turned up yesterday - all the way from Hong Kong!!!

Fitted them last night and well chuffed They look ace - nice crisp light and bright as the strip lights now!

I've got some strip LED's that I think I am going to wire up across the roof in the rear - level with where the rear courtesy light is but across the middle. Should be like daylight in their then...!

Top tip - thanks all.

Chris

Pics needed.

[dansimpson]

Forgive my rubbish photography skills,

both taken using same settings on camera (no flash), one led, one original tubes





Twin led strips fitted, others a twin tube light

Dan

[Red Westie]

I would certainly be interested to see consumption figures on these LED's....people always seem to infer that they use a lot less power but there never seems to be actual figures posted.
If I have the time I will stick an ameter in between on of my festoons (16 LEDS as in Pic) and post up my findings in watts.
Lower consuming caming lights would be a definate bonus for battery life on a long camp without hookup.

Martin

[Titus A Duxass]

The little SMD type if driven at max brightness run at 35ma, the next step up is approx. 65ma.
A cree type super bright normally runs at 350ma.

So that be about 1/2 amp for the little one.

[Red Westie]

Well......the reason I'm asking is the obvious really.
If there need to be 12 LEDS to give off the same light output as say..a 10 watt bulb..then are these 'multi' led bulds really that power frugal?....interesting...I'm definately going to get the ameter out and check.

Martin