LED DRL and Hi-Beam
 

I happened on V-LED's Facebook page the other day and asked them if they had a solution for Honda/Acura DRL systems that use low wattage for the DRL and full power for the hi-beams on the same bulb. They told me this would work in our cars:

http://www.vleds.com/headlights/led/...g2-3000lm.html

I asked them if it would provide dual-intensity so the would be dimmer on DRL mode but still bright enough to provide sufficient light for hi-beam use. They said they would. Personally, I will be ordering them the next time they have one of their 20% off weekends. If anybody feels like being a guinea pig before that, please feel free.

To my knowledge, there really are not other solutions that do not involve either yellowish DRL's or insufficient hi-beam brightness.

I am willing to bet they do not turn on for the DRL in the RL. If you read the spec's, it says the forward voltage (turn on voltage) is 9-14V. The RL DRL uses a 4Vpp AC signal with 2V DC offset. IOW, the signal swings between 0-4V. (I don't know the frequency.)

The fact that the forward voltage is a range suggests that you can run different intensities of output, but you need at least 9V to turn them on if I am reading the spec's correctly.

Thanks buddy. I'll run that by them. I trust your judgement but if they say it will work and it costs me nothing to return them if they don't, I'll probably give them a whirl. After putting the LED DRL's on the wifey's TL, I'm jealous every time I look at her car.

Definitely get a return agreement from them. I am most interested in LEDs brighter than halogens.

The biggest thing I've found with LED's is they seem to be brighter in short distances but their light doesn't seem to travel as far. Does that make sense at all? My parents have a 2013 Accord Touring and the LED headlights are really nice but don't seem to illuminate as far down the road as either of my Acura's.

So I asked V-LED's about the trigger voltage and here's what they said:

The driver in the MT-G2 will operate down to 4V and when used with a capacitor they will not flicker. The driver on the other 6K bulbs needs at least 7V to turn on the LED. We are working on a new driver for these so they will work low voltage DRL applications.

I'll believe it when I see it. An AC to DC converter is more than just a capacitor

I modeled a number of rectifier designs when I was doing the DRL switch, and it was getting complex to smooth out the DRL signal and still switch fast enough to go to 12V for the high beams without delays.

I here ya. Like I said, if it costs me nothing to return them, I'm willing to try it out. They have a 15% off Fathers Day sale coming up. I'll probably place my order over the weekend. 15% off makes them $170. Honestly, that's not a whole lot more than I ended up spending to get the LED DRL's in the TL.

15% off weekend. Just placed my order. Stay tuned....

Please inform us about the result...

:thumbsup:

Yes, let us know how this goes. This would be a very nice and simple upgrade if it works!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm not holding my breath on these. If they work I'll be ecstatic! If they don't...I won't be all that surprised.

:popcorn:

Lights shipped today and are scheduled for delivery on Wednesday. Hopefully I have time to install them in the coming week. I'm off tomorrow and Sunday but will be at the zoo most of the day on Sunday. I might not be able to get to it until next Tuesday. I looked at it tonight and the battery will for sure have to come out to get to the driver's side light. The passenger side looks pretty straightforward once you pull the plastic cover off. Will also have to find a place to mount the boxes.

if you bought the bulbs in the first post dont use the drl box.

you will be blinding anyone you happen upon with the DRLs running those bulbs full blast.

I have the prev version in my TSX (1800 lumen). Running at OEM DRL voltage they are BRIGHT ENOUGH to drive around in the dark. All full power you will blind everyone.

you will need a resistor to turn off the bulb out warning. somewhere between 5 and 6 ohms per side.




my bulb in place...you can see the fan
Attachment 82945

drl only
Attachment 82946

drl head on

Attachment 82947

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lo beam only

Attachment 82949

lo and hi beam.

Attachment 82950




with older LEDs that werent as bright as these newer ones you need that drl box. and it does work. I have pics of that setup as well. i actually used the vled drl box to trigger a 12v relay from the drl voltage.

Attachment 82951

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/n...lectronics.jpg

Thanks, Rob. I'll just see how it goes. V-LED's said the new version will run dimmer for DRL's and brighter for hi-beams. I the system is not completely plug and play, I will probably return it.

Also, I was a little worried about the color as V-LED's advertised 5k bulbs tend to be more of a milky white. Their 6k bulbs tend to be closer to what most other companies advertise as 5k and are more of a crystal white. I was hoping they would be closer to 6k than 5k but, after seeing your pictures, I'm actually more worried about it now. Your DRL's look almost yellow.

Yeah the 5000k do have some yellow. I attribute it to the color of the actual chip being yellow.

I understand DRL vs hi output. They will be bright enough without the box.

Not sure what lo beam you run but my OEM 4300k have yellow tint as well.

Good luck.

You can run a 100 ohm resistor to stop the DRL light and it will save you some current. It doesn't have to be below 10 ohms.

Wish I had the time to install these tonight. Here are some pictures anyway.

Attachment 106035

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Attachment 106037

Just for you bitches...I stayed up past my bedtime and installed them tonight. They fucking work as advertised! No extra wiring needed. Yes, they are a little bright but not blinding and I think they will be fine during the day. Keep in mind these are iPhone pictures and all it will focus on is the light. I will post some more thoughts on them tomorrow. I need to get to bed.

Attachment 106032

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Nobody flashed me on the way to work today. That's a good start. :)

:clap:

Who's the main moderator in the RL forum? We should move this thread to the general discussion area.

Bob (nueronbob) used to be our most frequent contributor since he owned an '06 (?), but since he sold, he doesn't come around here much. Ken1997TL is online more often (since Bob is a Dr.) and comes through here occasionally. The other alternative is RonA who is one of the admins and sees everything all the time. :run:

I PMed Bob already. We will see.

Thread moved. Glad this worked. :)

Thanks, Bob.

What about high beams compared to halogens and Bi-xenons?

So here's a little review on the lights:

They are still working exactly the way they should. They come on automatically at a dimmer setting for DRL's. Switch on the high-beams and they are bright as shit. I always felt like the high-beams in the RL were not all that much brighter than the low-beams. These make a huge difference. I will try to get some pictures of the light output here shortly.

They are reasonably priced IMO. All things considered, $160-$200, (depending on if there is a sale or not when you buy them), really isn't that much to pay for this mod considering the quality, ease of install, light output and the fact that they are the only option known for our cars. Install was a breeze but you will need to pull the battery to install the driver's side light. The boxes are easy to hide. I double-sided taped them to the frame underneath the side engine covers and they are completely hidden and out of the way.

I only have a couple of complaints. I wish they were 6k instead of the 5k color. While the 5k matches the headlights almost perfectly, I rarely ever use them as high-beams. 99.9% of their life will be spent at the lower DRL wattage during the day. For that, I actually think something more on the 6k side of the color scale would be a little more eye catching. The other thing is I wish the 3 tabs that hold the bulb into the headlight housing were a little thicker. When you rotate the bulbs to click them into place, they just don't feel nearly as secure as the regular halogen bulbs when they tighten down.

Other than those two little problems, I can't complain at all about these and highly recommend them to anybody looking to get rid of those yellow DRL's without losing their high-beams.

Do they come with install instructions? I'm no whiz at these things. I see the "boxes" you mentioned. Those obviously have to be a buffer/resistor. ..something with which I am not familiar. Forgive my ignorance, but would I be able to install these as a "nubee"? Any assistance/comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I don't know if there were instructions included. It's pretty self explanatory. There's no way you can screw it up honestly. If you can hook a DVD player up to a TV, you can do this.

Much want such like. I am going to do it :D Thanks for this. And Mr. Dude face guy. The website has a guide to install on it

I dare you to post some day time pics

Planning in getting daytime pictures as well as pictures showing the high-beam output.

I can't wait to see the pics!
There will be a sale on 4th July by V-Leds.

;)

http://www.jlclightings.com/70W-Cree...ulbs-p/dp6.htm

check this out , basically same thing .. and half the price $100?

im currently using these for my DRL : http://www.jlclightings.com/55W-LED-...ma-p/dp55w.htm

Attachment 82514

I went with a different set on my TL last week, they do work as advertised though and look great as the DRL or when used as the high beam.

Do these work as high beams as well like the VLEDs advertise for dual purpose

Thanks BDogg! These work very well in my '08. I put them in for safety reasons and they are BRIGHT!