Headlight help

[Tedsoldbus]

Can't test until Friday when new ignition switch comes, but I'm guessing the flow of juice is hindered somewhere like bob and others suggest. I also don't know how old the bulbs are. Do they get dim with age (like me) or just work/ not work like a house bulb?
I Still think I am headed for something very different.
I am not a good junk yard finder of things like Bob and others.

RJ will be out of bed pretty soon.....
I don't ask much from him. Just a square glass lens that fits my bus exactly, with halogen lights, that needs exactly the wires I sent pictures of connected to my Ford set up...

[Iceni John]

I also suffered my bus's original "sealed beam" halogen headlights that were essentially useless.   I now have Hella low/high, high beam and foglights, and the improvement is astonishing.   Being European, they have very sharp vertical cutoff to prevent glare, they're very nice all-glass quality, and they use replaceable lamps.   I have 100W lamps in the high beams, with a relay for each side's high beams, and I use selective-yellow lamps in the foglights to reduce back-scatter and eye fatigue.   I only use the high beams when there are absolutely no vehicles approaching me, and they light the road for a 1/4 mile or more ahead.   I wired the high beams with 10AWG wire, and because they use relays I put a small momentary push switch on the end of my turn signal stalk, so now I have high beam flashers to get people's attention.   So far, so good!

John

[Jim Blackwood]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

This site shows a Koito rectangular lens that may be worth looking at. Not cheap at $179 the pair, but glass and should have respectable optics. I'd want to see the light pattern before buying at that price.

Jim

[Tedsoldbus]

Thanks Jim. I'd have paid twice that for something that works when I was leading DT. Curb feelers would have been helpful. Soon as I can start the bus again we will check a few things...then....Let there be light!
Good talking too you again and your help with the Thetford measurements were a big help. Guess I shouldn't say that outloud... Don't want people thinking you are the toilette expert. Not a good title....

Sounds like John has a set up you could land airplanes with! I'm envious.

[robertglines1]

The opitc difusion has been a problem with that ford designed headlight system for decades. I'll have to ck out new lens offering. I am now running zeon with clear lens. led at the time were a little harsh for me. That's been 6 or 7 years ago.  Ted and I share several common interests so we talk often. The only experience has been by necessity. never ever again will I rebuild a burned shell!!!!! It was fun.  Bob

[chessie4905]

check hella site for euro spec headlamps that can use led bulbs. 12k per pair output and 6000 for color bright white. properly aim.
or if you are worried about dot legal, buy led  lamps truckers use.

[windtrader]

Jim - I looked at that site but it seems his focus, haha, is more traditiional lighting, I did not see any LED offerings. I'd go LED at this point. Is there a similar solid source for LED tech? Maybe I missed it in earlier posts.
I found this link on BGMhttps://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8630-evolution/
How much work is it to convert a four light setup into a single hi-low bulb? I'd leave the old ones in just to fill the hole but only one per side does the hi-low lighting.

[freds]

Can't test until Friday when new ignition switch comes, but I'm guessing the flow of juice is hindered somewhere like bob and others suggest. I also don't know how old the bulbs are. Do they get dim with age (like me) or just work/ not work like a house bulb?
I Still think I am headed for something very different.
I am not a good junk yard finder of things like Bob and others.

RJ will be out of bed pretty soon.....
I don't ask much from him. Just a square glass lens that fits my bus exactly, with halogen lights, that needs exactly the wires I sent pictures of connected to my Ford set up...

I saw a Silvana headlight commercial that says they do get dim (not mentally dim) as they get older and you should replace them after X number of years.

I just viewed your pictures and see that you have a removable bulb element.

I am wondering if you have some aftermarket headlight conversion because my bus which is the same year as yours's has round headlights.

The removeable bulb should have a part number on it that you can look up. Once you have that you should be able to find a direct LED replacement and just pop it in.

[Jim Blackwood]

First off, there can never be a correct LED replacement for an incandescent or halogen bulb because the LED light source is orders of magnitude larger than the filament type. This means the optics will be wrong and cause a great deal of light scatter, causing it to blind oncoming drivers. The focal point is in the wrong place and that can only be fixed with a different design where the reflector and the lens are both made for the LED. So no, you shouldn't put an LED in a halogen lamp housing.

Unfortunately accurate information on the web has been progressing towards the lowest common denominator and this is very evident where headlights are concerned. Very little actual engineering data and a great deal of marketing hype, making it hard to find what good is actually there. So it now takes a deep dive to come up with good usable information and I'm not particularly willing to pursue LED headlights quite that hard at present. But for any who are I can give a few pointers. First and foremost look for hard data on beam pattern with actual photos being usually useful and comparative photos being much more so, particularly when they show the pattern shining on a blank wall. Look for data of beam color because shorter wavelengths (blue) are not as good as longer ones (yellow) for seeing sharp details. Look for info on output power, this may be expressed in lumens. Then look at package size, cooling requirements, wattage draw, etc. Despite the LED's advantages, for high power lamps a good halogen still remains an excellent choice.

Jim

[chessie4905]

you buy the hellas and then install the led bulbs as retrofit. every technofile talks about proper patterns, etc. yada, yada, yada. patterns may not be perfect, but adjusting them after installation will be most satisfactory for average person. just don't have the beam too high to annoy oncoming drivers who will flash their lights. we have lots of deer here in pa, so i prefer bright leds. superbrightleds, lasfit, are two good companies to get bulbs from.

[RJ]

Jim - I looked at that site but it seems his focus, haha, is more traditiional lighting, I did not see any LED offerings. I'd go LED at this point. Is there a similar solid source for LED tech? Maybe I missed it in earlier posts.
I found this link on BGMhttps://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8630-evolution/
How much work is it to convert a four light setup into a single hi-low bulb? I'd leave the old ones in just to fill the hole but only one per side does the hi-low lighting.

Don -

I fixed the link for you:

https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8630-evolution/

And if you have the gawd-awful 4x6 rectangular lamps:

https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/heated-4x6-led-headlights-model-8800-evolution-2/

If one has a 4104 or Scenicruiser:

https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/led-headlights-model-8700-evo-2-db/

Or, if you're looking for something else:

https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/

Note that these LED lights are NOT CHEAP! They're made in WI, and are available in both DOT and ECE configurations - but you can't buy the ECE ones here in the US.

OTOH, you can buy the inexpensive, non-DOT compliant off-shore stuff if you want to go LED, or, as Chessie suggested, you can just buy Hella halogens and substitute an LED bulb.

I now have the JWSpeakers on my coach, and the difference is astounding!

FWIW & HTH. . .

RJ

[Jim Blackwood]

Before you get too wild with your Hella/LED retrofit, Take one of those lamps and set it up so you can see the light pattern on your garage door and take a picture of it. Then without moving the lamp swap in your LED bulb and take a picture of that too. Once you've done that, there is nobody here who can tell you that you don't know what you are talking about, but my bet is that it will change your opinion about using LED bulbs in Halogen lamps.

Remember, the horizontal cutoff is there for the benefit of oncoming traffic and the more light is put out by the bulb the more important that cutoff becomes.

Jim

[chessie4905]

a lot of the led bulbs now are listed to operate from 12 to 30 volts. good for our 24 volt systems. some bulbs you can rotate the pattern. Ive used leds for close to 20 years and get satisfactory illumination without blinding others and they work so much better than the aircraft landing lights we used to use.

[Jim Blackwood]

Oh well if that's your standard I guess they would.

Jim

[freds]

Hey Ted

Take a look at the following link's?

https://www.ibpindustries.com/product/mci-mc-8-mci-mc-9-mci-mc-5c-headlight-conversion-kit-dual-rectangular-halogen-polished/

https://www.ibpindustries.com/product/c43-0093ps-headlight-conversion-kit-dual-rectangular-polished/