Don’t Use LED Bulbs in Halogen Reflector Headlights

[jaudette3]

In my little foray into social media I have some received some interesting comments from some folks about LED headlights:

I got blinded by those f-ing headlights this morning on my way too work. Had to pull over for a bit. They should be illegal!!

They are not so good they blind oncoming traffic and cause more accidents and deer just freeze so you have to have good brakes to miss them

Are you kidding me?? Those LED headlights are too bright and have too much glare due to the high blue content. Blue light scatters much more than other light causing glare! How many other drivers need to get blinded to wreck and die so you can spot one deer in the road or ditch?!


I don't think that those people are trolls - I think they have been victims of LED bulbs in halogen reflector headlights. This prompted me to dig a little deeper and to write a detailed article on why you should never use LED bulbs in halogen reflector headlights. It seems like a cheap and easy upgrade and there are innumerous inexpensive bulbs available, but it's a terrible idea.

A few reasons that I will explore in detail in the article.

• You blind on-coming drivers with glare and scatter.
• Your illumination is much worse than with halogen bulbs
• The cut-off is horrible.
• They’re impossible to adjust.
• You get a scattered burst of light as opposed to focused light.
• You look like a hillbilly noob.

LED bulb in halogen reflector headlight on the left - high wattage halogen on the right.


I’ll post the article in a few days. But please don’t drive with LED bulbs in halogen reflector assemblies. It’s just not safe, for you or for on-coming drivers.

Cheers,
JohnA

Note: As you know, I sell LED headlight assemblies so I have a horse in this race. But I don't care if you buy LED headlights from me or someone else, please don't use LED bulbs in halogen reflector assemblies.

[Arne]

Thanks for publicizing this, John. This needs to be known more widely. I'm of much the same opinion of the oh-so-common blue tinted halogen bulbs. The blue wavelengths scatter and cause more glare. I wish those were illegal.

[JT912]

Thanks for publicizing this, John. This needs to be known more widely. I'm of much the same opinion of the oh-so-common blue tinted halogen bulbs. The blue wavelengths scatter and cause more glare. I wish those were illegal.

I just wear my blue-blocker sunglasses at night.

[jaudette3]

First I will go ahead and provide some quotes for an article on this topic written by the estimable Daniel Stern, an acknowledged expert on automobile lighting. These excerpts are taken from the following article: Daniel Stern: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/...nversions.html

Note: I've inserted "LED bulbs" in places because Mr. Stern considers "HID Kits" and "LED bulbs" to be equivalent in terms of "upgrade".

Good HID and LED headlamps are terrific; they can offer excellent safety performance and driver comfort, but only if they're designed and built from the start as HID or LED headlamps. Installing an "HID kit" or "LED bulbs" in a halogen headlamp isn't an upgrade, it's a large and serious safety downgrade.

"HID kits" and "LED bulbs” are not a legitimate, safe, effective, or legal product. No matter whose name is on them or what the vendor claims, they are a fraudulent scam. They are not capable of producing the right amount of light in the right distribution pattern for the lamp's optics to work. The particular details of the incompatibility are different for LED vs. HID, but the principles and problems are the same overall. In one sentence: halogen headlamps must use halogen bulbs or they don't—can't—won't work effectively, safely, or legally.

Some "HID kit" and "LED bulb" marketeers will try to tell you that the kits are technically illegal only because the US headlamp laws are stuck in the past. That's wrong; the world's experts and regulators all say the same thing: Don't!

What about the law, what does it have to say on the matter? In virtually every first-world country, HID and LED "retrofits" into halogen headlamps are illegal. They're illegal clear across Europe and in all of the many countries that use European ECE headlight regulations. They're illegal in the US and Canada. Nevertheless, on the particular count of HID and LED "retrofits" into halogen headlamps, the world's regulators and engineers all say DON'T!

The only safe and legitimate HID and LED retrofit is one that replaces the entire headlamp—that is lens, reflector, bulb...the whole system—with optics designed for HID or LED usage.

Per usual, Mr. Stern doesn't pull any punches. I encourage you to read the full article.

Cheers,
JohnA

[jaudette3]

Cutoff: LED Bulbs in Reflector Headlights
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute did a study of the efficacy of mounting LED bulbs in reflector headlights that was published by the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers, founded by Henry Ford among others) and found wild varying results. They tried nine different LED “H4 replacement” bulbs. Among other things, most of the bulbs varied widely in performance compared to the manufacturer’s specs.

And here’s an eye opening (or eye burning) picture of their various cutoffs:


Yikes! It's easy to see why the headlights of an oncoming vehicle with LEDs in reflectors emits a big blast of glare into your eyes. You "might" get lucky and choose a bulb with a decent cutoff. Although it still will not focus properly and it will most likely not yield as much useful lighting as a higher power H4 bulb.

Cutoff of the Audette Collection JW Speaker Evo 2 Dual Burn Headlights
If you're interested in seeing the cutoff of Audette Collection assemblies you can take a look at the following video done by PCA:

https://youtu.be/YLPJGnMSRd0

----------------------------

Source of cutoff data:
Investigating the Influence of Headlight Glare and Aim on Risk-Related Driving Behavior 2017-01-1360

The results suggest that discomfort from headlight glare, including effects from vertical mis-aim, could be correlated with increased nighttime crash risk while driving.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4271/2017-01-1360

Citation: Bullough, J., "Investigating the Influence of Headlight Glare and Aim on Risk-Related Driving Behavior,"
SAE Technical Paper 2017-01-1360, 2017
Author(s): John D. Bullough
Affiliated: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

[Arne]

John, what is the effect of shining real LEDs (like the JW Speaker lights) through the fluted lenses? Seems like that might cause some extraneous scatter, since the lenses are designed for halogen bulbs and reflectors.

[jaudette3]

John, what is the effect of shining real LEDs (like the JW Speaker lights) through the fluted lenses? Seems like that might cause some extraneous scatter, since the lenses are designed for halogen bulbs and reflectors.

Arne...

My many buyers of LED headlamps with fluted lenses appear to be happy with the performance of their lamps. The feedback I have received so far has been 100% positive. There’s one positive in the configuration of the LEDs that I use in my builds - the low beam projector is under the middle of the fluted lenses so the cutoff is outstanding when properly adjusted. I have heard of some slight gray barring but no one seems to mind.

Cheers,
John

[jaudette3]

I started this same discussion at PP and it’s an interesting sociology experiment to observe the discussion there vs. the discussion here. There are some there that insist that their replacement LED bulbs in reflector headlights work just great, dammit. I’ve asked them to send me information on their extraordinary bulbs so I can forward it to the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) whose studies have yielded strong negative results, but so far nothing.

Cheers,
JohnA

[rower]

John-
What’s your recommendation if any for those of us staying with 6v and original lenses on A’s?

[jaudette3]

John-
What’s your recommendation if any for those of us staying with 6v and original lenses on A’s?

I would use what I call an H4 insert in place of the sealed beam unit, one with the removable 6v Halogen bulb. Then go ahead and replace the bulb with the best high performance 6v H4 that you can find (I like the Narva’s). And install a relay kit. That should brighten things up quite a lot and still look stock.

Some links:

H4 insert:
https://sierramadrecollection.com/35...-7-p26526.html

Narva H4 / 9300 / 6v
https://www.rallylights.com/narva-h4...ogen-bulb.html

Why a relay kit?
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads...t&Number=88742

15% voltage drop decreases bulb brightness from 100 lumens to 54 lumens

From my website (same principle applies to 6v systems):



NLA relay kit (expensive):
http://www.nlaparts.com/store/headli...c-p-17035.html

Zim’s relay kit:
http://www.allzim.com/store/zim-s-6v...relay-kit.html

Cheers,
John