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It has been asked if I have the latest version of the LEDs offered by Woodypeck. And I would say (as of this writing) yes. I think I got the latest pair off the shipping dock. He was out of stock when I ordered and shipped mine as soon as he got them.
here's what I pulled out...
And I don't have a pic with me but here's the back side of the black cased 4 chip (one low and 3 high) CREE LED unit
I just looped the connector wires over the hold down clips, I'll zip tie it...
and a side pic with fogs on, aux lights on (plain multi chip LED) and left hand H4 and right hand LED.
Maybe I'll get the crayons out and put up a color coded schemo in a bit.
Hi Patman. Thank for the write up and photos. The long range comment is not the case with the LED conversions we have fitted here to stock Euro 928's & headlight lenses. They have not needed any adjustment and the long distance "throw" is more than twice the distance that you can see with standard Halogen bulbs. So we need to work with you on why your set up is not giving you the long distance "Throw" that you should be seeing.
We don't see any issues with the ground and have not had this reported back to us - even form other USA customers so that may be an issue with your set up as you mention. You say you have already converted your POD to LED's if I read that correct - that may also be causing you some issues? Just an idea.
Interesting grill slats, I like that-- on your car.
Did you use CREE bulbs for the parking lights or standard LED? Wondering whether there is a CREE option for those, and if so whether the bulb indicator would pitch fits if some tailight sockets still had standard bulbs.
I swapped marker lights over to all LED, in order to have the proper illumination from tinted marker lenses, and that is not tripping the bulb nanny.
I'm pretty close to opting in for the headlights/fogs for voltage management more than anything else, but I want to stand by for confirmed solution to the electric glitch you describe.
Yes there is a CREE Option for you Parking lights. They shouldn't trip the bulb Nanny unless you go the whole hog and fit the rear CREE Led conversion as well and then you might just tip the balance for the bulb nanny to show here face. ):
..so I'm watchin' this movie...Caddyshack" I think it was. And in one scene they're in the clubhouse looking at golf clothes. Rodney Dangerfield picks up a hat and says" This is the worst looking hat I ever saw! What? You buy a hat like this and they let ya get a free bowl of soup with it?"
Then he looks over at a guy wearin' the same hat and says..."It looks good on you though!"
The fogs are CREE and work as advertised, until you put in two LED headlights AND and LED (blue) headlight indicator. I tried pulling any one of the headlight LEDs and replacing it with a regular filament bulb and everything works normal. The fog relay needs that ground that it normally gets when the high beams are off (through the bulb filament). But I've found that if you have a regular bulb in the blue indicator on the pod, it can get it's ground through there. But I have an LED there as well, so this may only be an issue for ALL LED U.S. cars. The schematics don't show the euro cars to have the same "no fogs on high beam" feature.
Anyway, I tested it last night by pulling the fog relay and jumpering all the connections out a few inches so I could work with it...sure enough, if ya simply get rid of the shared "power on hi beam / ground when off" wire and put a ground there instead, all works fine and you can turn the fogs on even with the high beams on. so that's what I'm gonna do. As Edd China says..."job done!"
So. If ya have a regular bulb in the pod indicator ya may not have this issue at all.
However, if the indicator bulb ever goes out you may be scratching your head as to why the fogs went wonky the same day the little blue indicator went out. or the same day you decided to put an LED in it. On this last part I haven't fully tested...not really gonna pull my pod and swap bulbs out to verify but it looks correct electrically.
And now, all the bulbs but the clock (out of laziness) and the generator fail bulb (cause the system needs it) are LEDs. I was missing a single festoon bulb for the glove box but Steve sent one along as a sample so it's now all LED baby!!
By the way, Thanks Steve.
Hi Patman - Your more than Welcome!
Not heard about the quirk with the fog ground before? Could be down to USA only cars but no-one has mentioned it from our many other USA customers so need to look into that with you. Maybe if you have a regular bulb in the Pod all is OK as you say?
Same here. In fact, in the last photo I posted...the fogs are ON!
Now, I'm gonna "mess" with 'em a bit to try to figure out why a 50 watt CREE fog light is less bright than a 40 watt CREE headlight.
But like you, I use them as DRLs and they look nice and have the right color...so...I'm just saying.
I might mess with the internal shield a little since the fogs have forward firing LEDs behind a built in lens.
Interesting comment. The 50w fogs are definitely brighter than the 40w however they are slightly longer so this might cause a difference as they are further out in the reflector.
The 40w fog CREE LED fits inside the internal shield that is why we chose to sell that version.
We are currently testing some NEW fog CREE LED bulbs which give more light out to the side and hence the reflector so the spread pattern will be completely different. That's progress I suppose.
I will get a set over for you to take a look at & test when they arrive.
Steve
We are currently testing some NEW fog CREE LED bulbs which give more light out to the side and hence the reflector so the spread pattern will be completely different. That's progress I suppose.
I will get a set over for you to take a look at & test when they arrive.
Steve
It's also interesting that you have the ability to alter the design of the LED array as much as you do, allowing you to fine tune the beam rather than simply go with an off the shelf unit just for the sake of cosmetic appeal. How soon can a design change like that arrive in your hands?
As a note, I now have the original halogen bulb, an off the shelf unit that came with my (otherwise nice) LED kit, your 40 watt short (fog) and your 50 watt long (aux) units. I may have to spend an evening in an aircraft hanger checking out bulbs (I guess they cant really be called "bulbs" though...)
It's also interesting that you have the ability to alter the design of the LED array as much as you do, allowing you to fine tune the beam rather than simply go with an off the shelf unit just for the sake of cosmetic appeal. How soon can a design change like that arrive in your hands?
As a note, I now have the original halogen bulb, an off the shelf unit that came with my (otherwise nice) LED kit, your 40 watt short (fog) and your 50 watt long (aux) units. I may have to spend an evening in an aircraft hanger checking out bulbs (I guess they cant really be called "bulbs" though...)
We work closely with our suppliers and constantly give feedback on modifications and changes to the stock bulbs to improve them or modify them to fit all other cars. That said, in reality there are only a few things we can change sometimes, but other times we get s lot more flexibility.
We have had the CREE "chips" upgraded on a few occasions to increase the light output and for the latest H3 development we have a new bulbs that has been pushed though development for us as a hybrid from another bulb morphed onto the H3 body for us. This has been a tricky one to get done and two of our suppliers have been trying to get this done to our liking for us. We will see how it turns out when they arrive next week.
Do LED replacement lamps still provide a adequate light cut-off with oem reflectors? I absolutely hate retrofitted HID bulbs without a proper cut-off that just blinds everyone.
Do LED replacement lamps still provide a adequate light cut-off with oem reflectors? I absolutely hate retrofitted HID bulbs without a proper cut-off that just blinds everyone.
I agree with Patman. These Cree LED lights give a nearly identical cut-off and beam pattern as original. The bulbs are shaped in such a way that the relationship of light source and optics are maintained as original. This is not the case with simple drop-in HID bulbs, which I am sure we have all seen by the diffuse glare they produce. Other LED's may also have less than ideal optics.
I have the same LEDs as mentioned in this thread, and they are excellent in all ways.
Good luck,
Dave
I installed a set. I'm happy with them, but I do feel they do not part the darkness as far down the road as the latest/greatest Silverstars that I removed. I do appreciate knowing there is less draw on that headlight harness though- and more reserve available to drive electric fans, my principal motivation.
Speis Hecker if I recall, 4 (some areas 5) color coats with sanding between, I believe we put 3 clear on top with sanding also. special taping, prep and flex additive or the bumper separator strips, then a buff, and Griots sealer after it cured. Makes the LEDs look whiter. LEDs.
I can confirm that Patman's description of the fog light switch activating the high beams is accurate. I purchased a set of the 'Cree' H4 LED from Hong Kong about 9 months ago and installed them. With headlights on and dimmed, the fog light switch activates the high beams.
Replacing the H4 LED lights with Halogen bulbs restored function of the high/low beam switch when the fog light switch is on.
I dont know why this happened but it is repeatable on my early 93 GTS. I changed the 53 relays (IV, VIII) and cleaned the ground points in the engine bay and at the CE panel without success. I did the instrument panel LED conversion a few years ago.
I do like the H4 LEDs and will try a different set from one of our vendors in a few months. Has anyone else seen this?
I do think I have a nice clean reliable fix for that, (for my uses that is...fixing this issue and getting fogs whenever I want) though I Haven't actually enacted it yet, but it would involve cutting the ground wire to the fog relay coil (and capping it) and then giving the coil relay a permanent ground. ( I could make it more complex I guess with extra diodes and relays, or add a resistor to ground, but this way I get my fogs whenever I want) Currently the ground for the fog relay coil comes through the bulb filament...which is gone when ya put in an LED. Cut that, and install a fresh ground, and the fogs will work any time you turn them on (including when Hi Beams are on, which I like...providing the state likes it as much as me, but I'll just pull the fuse prior to inspection). When the hi beams are "on" that same ground wire gets 12v, and thus puts 12 volts on both sides of the fog relay coil - and with 12 volts on both sides, it wont turn on the fogs...that's what keeps 'em off when hi beams are on. Oh, one more thing, Be careful leaving them on in Hi Beam until you make the ground swap...cause the ground for the hi beams is coming through the tiny little fog relay coil now!
Well...that's how I think it works, like I said, I haven't actually put a meter to it and watched it work yet, but I will soon. This is just for discussion at this point.
05-15-2015, 11:46 AM
