Any help for dim headlights?

[Jim Blackwood]

What is the downside to using 24v headlights? Maybe carry a spare of each? I realize they are expensive but wouldn't that be cheaper and more reliable/less complex than a voltage reducer?

Jim

[chessie4905]

You can buy Hella housings and install led bulbs . Just find the ones that are rated at 24 volts. Some are rated at up 32 volts. You can buy bulbs at whatever brightness you want to live with. Since they draw less current than factory incandescent bulbs with less heat, you can use the original wiring.
Superbrightleds is one place to get the bulbs, and there many others on Amazon and Ebay.

[Jim Blackwood]

Yeah, but there's a problem with those LED halogen replacements. LEDs still don't have anywhere near the point density of a halogen/tungsten filament, so the source is more spread out. That means the lens optics are not right and there is more light scatter. And that puts the hot spot of the light beam where it doesn't belong and you can't entirely correct it with headlight aim. Sort of makes them illegal if anybody were to look close enough but at the very least other drivers won't like it.

Jim

[richard5933]

What is the downside to using 24v headlights? Maybe carry a spare of each? I realize they are expensive but wouldn't that be cheaper and more reliable/less complex than a voltage reducer?

Jim

1) Availability: 24v headlight bulbs are nearly impossible to find when on the road. It's possible to order them to have on hand but most of what's out there today is intended for either military or off-road use. That's what I understand is the reason the buses went to 12v - they could no longer have a steady supply of headlamps. I have a set of 24v bulbs, but they are definitely off-road bulbs and I don't think that they're DOT certified. Light pattern is probably not correct or optimal.

2) Most 24v headlamp bulbs, especially military bulbs, are actually 28v bulbs. At idle, my system doesn't produce enough juice to keep them at full bright, and even at highway speeds I'm not sure I'll be able to get them at their brightest.

3) Current setup is for the 12v bulbs. Want to keep it that way.

4) With the electronic 24v-13.8v converters, I'll have a steady 13.8v with an input voltage ranging from 20v-30v. Headlight output should be optimal at any engine speed.

5) When I want to update to somewhat more current technology down the road, 12v is much easier.

6) I enjoy the challenge.

[chessie4905]

Other drivers are going to get used to it, like it or not. Even the city busses here use leds. If you get couple of led bulbs, or complete headlamps, you'll never look back. The same thing was said when incandescent headlights went to halogen or projector lights or hid's

[Jim Blackwood]

Well, no that's not really the issue. There is no question the LED is a superior light source. The problem is with the beam pattern. That's one place where America has always been behind Europe and as far as I can tell, for no good reason. We are every bit as capable of making good optics for headlights but we don't. In fact if you really want the best optics you still might have to go back in time to the old Marschal housings made in France. But to be fair, Hella and Cibie have gotten nearly as good though it's certainly taken long enough. That's with Halogen elements though and if you move the element even a millimeter out of the sweet spot it throws the beam off.

That isn't much of an issue with typical American optics where all you have is a roughly oval blob in the middle, but with good optics you have a sharp cutoff at the top and an angled down left side so that you can put maximum light in your lane without blinding oncoming drivers. So to do it right you need a housing designed and manufactured specifically for a correct light pattern with an LED source. Hella and Cibie may have those by now but if so they aren't going to be cheap. Figure close to a hundred bucks each if not more. Those cheap ebay specials you see have no cutoff optics at all and as such are probably illegal to use on the road. In fact I have trouble seeing how some of the new car LED headlights ever were approved but enforcement has been getting more lax for decades so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise. It can't go on for ever though, the same concerns that created the standards in the first place are bound to resurface.

Jim

[buswarrior]

Along with spay and neuter your pets...

Refuse to run lighting that is not DOT compliant.

Cheap lights never were DOT compliant, whether we talk 1965 or 2018...

Remember "aircraft landing lights"?

Please choose good quality compliant lighting, whatever that means for your price point!!!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[richard5933]

I don't want to be 'that guy', the one that totally disregards the ability of other drivers to see the road and safely make it home.

The European standards headlamps don't appear to be a problem, although their pattern is different from the DOT standard.

LED?? Right now it's really hard to tell which are DOT compliant and which are not. Some of the bulbs are compliant, but only if used in housings that are compatible with the LED light pattern.

So, for now I'm going to stick with the sealed beams. Eventually I'll probably upgrade to DOT Hella or similar housings with halogen bulbs. I don't drive the bus at night for the most part, and my goal right now is to get the sealed beams optimized as best as possible. I've driven for decades without LED headlights, and I think I can make it another little while.

And, I agree. The wild west attitude towards headlights will have to come to an end eventually. Sadly, it is probably going to take a couple of major accidents with multiple injuries due to blinding oncoming headlights to convince the industry to get a handle on things.

[Fred Mc]

The problem with LED's as headlights is that the pattern emitted by LED bulbs is totally different that bulbs or  sealed beams and even projector headlights. And at this point in order to use LED's effectively and legally you have to use the housing as well. And I"m not aware of LED replacement UNITS for the original sealed beam headlights.And where replacements are available(i.e. Kenworth) they are pricey.

[buswarrior]

The 4104/4501 and rectangular light peeps have options:

https://www.grote.com/products/90941-5-grote-7-inch-led-headlight-sealed-beam-replacement/

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10001&urlLangId=-1&urlRequestType=Base&categoryId=13091&langId=-1&catalogId=10002

The 5.5 doesn't get any attention

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[chessie4905]

5.75. They do have dot compliant led headlamps for trucks. Saw them today. Hella makes Ecode headlamp housings that will take leds and in hi-lo and hi. You could use halogen if you don't care to use leds. If adjusted properly, they won't bother other drivers. Some of the leds, btw can be rotated in the housings to get a better beam pattern.

[Jim Blackwood]

What you really need to be able to choose a good light is information on the actual beam pattern. They all do have that data, it's just a matter of getting it.

Jim