This is that retrofit thread we talked about!
02-26-2014, 06:05 PM
#1061
Senior Member
Interesting idea. No, I have not incorporated an LED bar of any sort, but I did build a F150 headlight using a JW Speaker round LED headlight as a design exercise. I don't follow LED bar technology closely, so I can't say for sure what the current output is like with regards to lighting up the road all the way to the tops of trees!!!!
I agree that the cut-off will be tough to incorporate...this aspect is very important and should not be ignored. As large as the F150 headlights are, you have to remember they are heavily angled and to get even a 6" light bar installed, one side would have to be pulled out and the other side sunk in as deep as possible, otherwise the light would be projected to the sides of the truck. There's very little room behind the reflector buckets to utilize.
I agree that the cut-off will be tough to incorporate...this aspect is very important and should not be ignored. As large as the F150 headlights are, you have to remember they are heavily angled and to get even a 6" light bar installed, one side would have to be pulled out and the other side sunk in as deep as possible, otherwise the light would be projected to the sides of the truck. There's very little room behind the reflector buckets to utilize.
Love the input (especially from the professionals)
Well our output on paper should be around 3360 lumens total.
So making a custom housing will be a waste of time?
02-26-2014, 07:19 PM
#1062
F150 Forum
King...ya right!!!!
For comparison sake, the Osram CBI bulbs 5k HID bulbs are rated at 3500 lumens at 35 watts. Myself, and many others run them at 50w which gives them a boost.
I wouldn't say a custom housing is a waste of time, but likely will be an expensive endeavor.
For comparison sake, the Osram CBI bulbs 5k HID bulbs are rated at 3500 lumens at 35 watts. Myself, and many others run them at 50w which gives them a boost.
I wouldn't say a custom housing is a waste of time, but likely will be an expensive endeavor.
02-26-2014, 07:56 PM
#1063
Hi.
Clearance constraints is one reason I advocated ditching the reflector. Then you'd have the depth from the inner face of the lens to the back of the housing to work with.
Perhaps a staggered 'cascaded' vertical array of two or three separate smallish quads would work (and fit) They could each be kept vertically forward-facing this way. And allow for separate alignment to facilitate cutoff convergence.
As for cutoff, look how BMW built their X5 Led fog - emitter mounted horizontally on a thermally conductive substrate, facing and firing 'up' into the reflector:
http://i40.tinypic.com/zm00ia.jpg
Admittedly, this would require purpose-built quad optics for headlight (low-beam) use - but you'd have your cutoff, lol.
Heatsinks. The more I think about this the better I like the Peltier solution. Imagine the two ( or three ) vertically cascaded quad emitter bases mounted to a unified, extruded or welded aluminum mechanical and thermal carrier that pre-aligns them all, connected to an active Peltier device and sink located on a section of housing with the best clearance, suitability, etc.
This company has some interesting products in this regard: http://www.tetech.com/index.html
Yep - a nice design exercise for your geeks, and not inexpensive. But Soooo Cool!
This is makin' me right thirsty, folks!
Regards;
MGD
Clearance constraints is one reason I advocated ditching the reflector. Then you'd have the depth from the inner face of the lens to the back of the housing to work with.
Perhaps a staggered 'cascaded' vertical array of two or three separate smallish quads would work (and fit) They could each be kept vertically forward-facing this way. And allow for separate alignment to facilitate cutoff convergence.
As for cutoff, look how BMW built their X5 Led fog - emitter mounted horizontally on a thermally conductive substrate, facing and firing 'up' into the reflector:
http://i40.tinypic.com/zm00ia.jpg
Admittedly, this would require purpose-built quad optics for headlight (low-beam) use - but you'd have your cutoff, lol.
Heatsinks. The more I think about this the better I like the Peltier solution. Imagine the two ( or three ) vertically cascaded quad emitter bases mounted to a unified, extruded or welded aluminum mechanical and thermal carrier that pre-aligns them all, connected to an active Peltier device and sink located on a section of housing with the best clearance, suitability, etc.
This company has some interesting products in this regard: http://www.tetech.com/index.html
Yep - a nice design exercise for your geeks, and not inexpensive. But Soooo Cool!
This is makin' me right thirsty, folks!
Regards;
MGD
Last edited by MGD; 02-26-2014 at 07:59 PM.
02-26-2014, 08:01 PM
#1064
F150 Forum
Speak english MGD!!!!!
The following users liked this post:
MGD (02-26-2014)
02-26-2014, 08:05 PM
#1065
The following users liked this post:
MGD (02-26-2014)
The following users liked this post:
Joel_980 (03-01-2014)