LED replacement bulbs, the good, the bad, the ugly

[doc724 925]

Based on very favorable performance of replacement LED marker lights for the rear lights on my 314, I decided to buy replacement bulbs for the headlights and tail lights on my 5xi and the tail lights on my 416H.  The xi headlamp replacements are for an 1159 bulb and the tail lights for the xi and the 416 are 194.  I bought the most powerful ones available within a reasonable cost.

 

Headlamp replacement in the xi was a snap.  Tail lights were a bit of a problem as LEDs only work in one polarity and of course those small 194 bulbs are not marked.  Anyway with a couple of tries, I got them installed and working.  The bad:  I was very disappointed with the intensity, but at least they worked.  Install on the 416 was not as positive.  The receptacle design is cheesy and I never could get the 194 LED bulbs to consistently make electrical contact.  More disappointment.

 

I had to use the 5xi yesterday to move the wet slop that fell in MA.  Midway through, one of the front headlights quit.  As I was putting the machine away, I checked the tail lights.  One was out and one was flickering.  Today, I pulled out the tail light that was not working and I found that there was a thermal runaway condition due to poor connection between the bulb and the electrical socket.  The ugly:  the socket is burned a bit and the LED bulb was toast. I will have to get a replacement for that socket.  I pulled out the other tail light, the flickering one, and there was evidence of a start of a similar thermal runaway.  Replaced that tail light with an incandescent bulb and pulled the 1159 LED head lights and replaced them with incandescent as well.  All three work. 

 

So my plan now is to get a set of red LED marker lights for the 416H (these are stand alone units and for $5 they offer superior intensity and they mount up to the original WH mounting holes-however, you have to drill a new hole for the power lead.  It does not match up)  As for anyone else who has gone down this road of replacing bulbs only, I suggest that you give a look to make sure your receptacles are not getting cooked as mine were.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

I just bought some LED tail lights mentioned in a recent thread:

 but no time to install so far but I expect to be very happy with them.  Complete lamp assemblies that look great!

superbrightleds.com
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Qty    Product/Options    Price/Ea
2    M9-R4: Red    4.95
SubTotal:    $9.90
Shipping:    $3.94
TOTAL:    $13.84

 

3 different pair of LED headlights have left me wanting...  Some even worse than 1156s.  I'm afraid to go higher wattage incandescent or halogen for fear of melting plastic!  I think I took a note to buy some that Craig/AMCRules mentioned not long ago...

 

 

Edited February 7, 2016 by DennisThornton
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[shallowwatersailor 3,214]

Don, I bought 194 LED bulbs from superbrightleds last year. The model number is: WLED-WHP6. I used them on the taillights of the 523Dxi and haven't had a problem.

 

I have replaced the standard 1156 with a Silver Star which has a bit more wattage. My concern is that the lens/bucket could be damaged with upping the wattage too much, and that LEDs don't have sufficient "projection" unless high quality or a number of leds per bulb. On a another forum, a member adapted halogen bulbs to his 5xi. I cautioned about burning the lens. I think for headlights on a 5xi it is better to add additional fixtures. How is this for inspiration?

 

[Theroundhousernr 590]

    For what its worth, I have had issues with what I thought was the socket on the cheapy rear lights on many of my machines. Problem was, my sockets where very nice, clean inside and showed no damage of any kind . Come to find out, I think it was the positive side, came in from the back of the fixture to a crimp on eye connector. Another wire came out of the socket with a crimp on connector as well. Both connectors are put around a plastic peg on the light fixture and then the peg is melted/ peened over at the top to keep a "good" connection between them.

When you would wiggle the bulb/socket the light would go on giving a symptom of a socket failure, when all it was doing was wiggling the poor connection between those wires.

 

   Out came my trusty ole weller soldering station and the problem has been fixed. NO more flickering lights or poor connections. You can either cut and splice these connections or just solder the two eye connectors together.

 

 

3 hours ago, shallowwatersailor said:

and that LEDs don't have sufficient "projection" unless high quality or a number of leds per bulb

John, could you explain that a little more for me? I'm not sure I understand what you meant by that.  Thanks.

 

Edited February 7, 2016 by Theroundhousernr

[shallowwatersailor 3,214]

7 minutes ago, Theroundhousernr said:

John, could you explain that a little more for me? I'm not sure I understand what you meant by that.  Thanks.

 

LEDs are linear in projection so the view angle is not very wide. Therefore it takes a number of them placed in a cluster to be seen from different angles. There is also the factor of  lumens. LED bulbs with a higher LUX will light a given area better than a lower LUX rated bulb. But they also produce more heat. There are some LED bulbs that have their own fan to keep them cool The latest technology of LED (SMT/SMD) are more expensive but show promise. 

[doc724 925]

Roundhousernr, thx for the tip.  I will go give a look

 

 

[doc724 925]

1 hour ago, Theroundhousernr said:

    For what its worth, I have had issues with what I thought was the socket on the cheapy rear lights on many of my machines. Problem was, my sockets where very nice, clean inside and showed no damage of any kind . Come to find out, I think it was the positive side, came in from the pack of the fixture to a crimp on eye connector. Another wire came out of the socket with a crimp on connector as well. Both connectors are put around a plastic peg on the light fixture and then the peg is melted/ peened over at the top to keep a "good" connection between them.

When you would wiggle the bulb/socket the light would go on giving a symptom of a socket failure, when all it was doing was wiggling the poor connection between those wires.

 

   Out came my trusty ole weller soldering station and the problem has been fixed. NO more flickering lights or poor connections. You can either cut and splice these connections or just solder the two eye connectors together.

 

 

 

 

 

Just back from the garage.  You are indeed correct, the heat staked posts do not hold the terminals tightly enough.  On both my rear lights, it was the ground side that was intermittent.  A light push with a screwdriver tip identified the intermittent connection.  It does not help that the terminals were oxidized either.

 

My trusty old Weller is long gone.  About time to invest in a new one!

[KC9KAS 4,744]

I bought replacement LED's for my motorcycle and was totally disappointed.....went back to the old incandescent ones.

I have replaced LED lights (entire unit) on my GT's an have been very happy with them!

[Theroundhousernr 590]

2 hours ago, shallowwatersailor said:

LEDs are linear in projection so the view angle is not very wide. Therefore it takes a number of them placed in a cluster to be seen from different angles. There is also the factor of  lumens. LED bulbs with a higher LUX will light a given area better than a lower LUX rated bulb. But they also produce more heat. There are some LED bulbs that have their own fan to keep them cool The latest technology of LED (SMT/SMD) are more expensive but show promise. 

Now I feel dumb, lol I read protection not projections.Lol  I knew about the projections angles but excellent explanation!

Edited February 7, 2016 by Theroundhousernr

[Theroundhousernr 590]

31 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

I bought replacement LED's for my motorcycle and was totally disappointed.....went back to the old incandescent ones.

I have replaced LED lights (entire unit) on my GT's an have been very happy with them!

I thought about replacing the bulbs in my truck with LED type 194 bulbs. After really thinking about it I changed my mind and ordered Sylvania 194 Long Life bulbs in a pack of ten and replaced my cab lights and liscense plate lights. As John stated, LED's have a very focused light pattern. The LED replacement lights on your GT14 are designed to be LED and give very good light. Sticking LED bulbs in some incandescent fixtures leads to poor results and lots of the light being wasted inside the fixture itself. However, I would like to try them in the older C series headlight fixtures and adding reflectors or polishing the aluminum fixture to project the light outward. It seems some of our other members have had good success in that way.

 

37 minutes ago, doc724 said:

Just back from the garage.  You are indeed correct, the heat staked posts do not hold the terminals tightly enough.  On both my rear lights, it was the ground side that was intermittent.  A light push with a screwdriver tip identified the intermittent connection.  It does not help that the terminals were oxidized either.

 

My trusty old Weller is long gone.  About time to invest in a new one

 

  Could not remember whether it was positive or negative but mine were most likely the negative as well. I believe the positive goes right to the light socket.( Could be wrong again, its been awhile ) I figured I wasn't the only one having issues with this poor design. Get them connections fixed and should fix you right up!

Edited February 7, 2016 by Theroundhousernr

[can whlvr 994]

so anyone have pics of these replacements,do they replace original 35 watt bulbs on the 416,and do guys feel the 1156 replacement is good,these bulbs are pricy but the 1156 don't give much light as on my c160,s

[Theroundhousernr 590]

6 minutes ago, can whlvr said:

so anyone have pics of these replacements,do they replace original 35 watt bulbs on the 416,and do guys feel the 1156 replacement is good,these bulbs are pricy but the 1156 don't give much light as on my c160,s

I have seen both replaced with good results. Maybe someone will post these up, in the mean time I will look for those threads.

[DennisThornton 4,771]

50 minutes ago, KC9KAS said:

I bought replacement LED's for my motorcycle and was totally disappointed.....went back to the old incandescent ones.

I have replaced LED lights (entire unit) on my GT's an have been very happy with them!

 

Which ones?  So far I've been less than thrilled.

[doc724 925]

37 minutes ago, Theroundhousernr said:

 Sticking LED bulbs in some incandescent fixtures leads to poor results and lots of the light being wasted inside the fixture itself. However, I would like to try them in the older C series headlight fixtures and adding reflectors or polishing the aluminum fixture to project the light outward. It seems some of our other members have had good success in that way.

 

 

 

I may try them in my C141.  Never thought of polishing the headlight bucket (the reflector).   What were you going to use (dremel tool and a wire wheel or polishing compound)?

[Theroundhousernr 590]

 

59 minutes ago, can whlvr said:

so anyone have pics of these replacements

http://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/53342-led-headlight-upgrade/ Here is one good thread on the topic for head lights with excellent photos for reference. Sorry to get off track.

 

29 minutes ago, doc724 said:

I may try them in my C141.  Never thought of polishing the headlight bucket (the reflector).   What were you going to use (dremel tool and a wire wheel or polishing compound)?

   Pretty much. I was thinking of knocking down the heavy stuff with a wire wheel in a dremel tool. Then move to a small buff wheel in a dremel and work my way through compounds until I get the best finish. That idea may change when I go to actually do it. Might just be easier to buy some reflective material and form it to fit inside then glue in place with epoxy. Then find the highest lumens LED bulb I can fit in there, think I saw them as high as 1400 Lum. You will never achieve the light put off by a quality LED spot/flood fixture but should be much better then factory and allot less amp draw. Also this does not alter the originality of the tractor which is the main reason I would go through all the trouble to do that.

  For those of you that don't like the blue hint but off by LED, that has changed and you can find LEDs putting off light in the 3500K-6500K spectrum of light. The higher the kelvin rating the more blue the light will look. Natural light I think is some where around 3500K.

 

  Here is a picture of a set of 18W CRE LED floods on my blower. There is NO outdoor lighting. This is all light from the cab lights and I think they are rated at 1260 lum. Makes blowing at night wonderful and also makes a good emergency light when you need it by a trailer for loading at night and so on. But I would never drill holes in my tractor hood to mount them.

 

 

Edited February 7, 2016 by Theroundhousernr

[shallowwatersailor 3,214]

Spent some time in the garage this afternoon putting the suitcase weights back on "Cisco." I realized I had the inexpensive LED lights from Advance Auto on the shelf. They are only taped in place but look pretty good on the 5xi. There would be two different mounting points available. One would be to the edge of the removable side panels; or mounting them to the hood support upright. The only obstacle is the exhaust discharge so mount it below. Or extend it with a vertical stack.

 

 

 

[can whlvr 994]

as far as a relflective product for the headlight pot,ive used chrome spray paint with excellent results,ive recondioned a few thia way and they work as good as new