L.E.D lights

[jaiyenyen]

I'd like to brighten the reversing lights on my truck, maybe the headlights too.

Is it just a case of changing the bulbs to led, or is there more to it?

It's a 2019 MG Extender.

[NE1]

When I upgraded my headlights , the shop that did it added something else , like a little box , something to do with the strength of the new lights.

Sorry I can't be of any more help , it was a long time ago.

I will try and take a photo of it all tomorrow.

[PJPom]

It was probably a relay , one question I have, is your windscreen heavily tinted ? I removed my windscreen tint and it was amazing how much my lights brightened.

Seriously I think if you can't see the occupants from the outside how the heck can they see out at night ?. a band of tint across the top is an asset and I have also halved the tint on the drivers side window to see the door mirror at night.

Regarding the reverse lights, an extra light added to the drivers rear never goes amiss when combined with the removed tint 

 

[jaiyenyen]

The tint is only 40% front and back, so I don't think that's an issue.

I thought about adding an extra light at the back but thought it would be simpler to upgrade the bulbs.

[prism]

I would go to a shop for the headlights and have them install the proper bulb(s) and aim them so you won't be blinding oncoming drivers on the road. You should be able to just change the bulb for an LED one for the backup light. 

[MadMuhammad]

11 hours ago, NE1 said:

When I upgraded my headlights , the shop that did it added something else , like a little box , something to do with the strength of the new lights.

Sorry I can't be of any more help , it was a long time ago.

I will try and take a photo of it all tomorrow.

I’m guessing they installed a relay with a direct feed to the lights from the battery, switched by the standard headlight switch and loom. It makes quite the difference giving the bulbs a ‘clean’ power feed

[Bangkok Barry]

11 hours ago, PJPom said:

I think if you can't see the occupants from the outside how the heck can they see out at night ?

The heavy tint is illegal. But well, you know.........

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, MadMuhammad said:

I’m guessing they installed a relay with a direct feed to the lights from the battery, switched by the standard headlight switch and loom. It makes quite the difference giving the bulbs a ‘clean’ power feed

Isn't 12 volts 12 volts wherever it comes from?

[SomchaiDIY]

40 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Isn't 12 volts 12 volts wherever it comes from?

12 volt yes but modern car have some new electronic trick on circuit

 

I not know about mg truck lights but many car has electronic control of light circuit

 

Some car have lamp fail detect this can have problem if change to led

 

Some car have pulse control to front light this can have problem when change to led 

 

Always best check system before purchase new lamp or take to auto shop 

[Jorgendk]

43 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Isn't 12 volts 12 volts wherever it comes from?

Well.. Yes 12 Volt is 12 Volt.
But going a long,thin vier to the svitsh and back, the vire will have a lot of resisten, and it might only be 10 volt at your light.
A Relay will make the el to the light only have to go thrue a short thik wier, and give the light all the valt it want.

[KhunLA]

I simply fly my drone ahead of me ... scouting the way forward.

 

[KannikaP]

16 minutes ago, Jorgendk said:

Well.. Yes 12 Volt is 12 Volt.
But going a long,thin vier to the svitsh and back, the vire will have a lot of resisten, and it might only be 10 volt at your light.
A Relay will make the el to the light only have to go thrue a short thik wier, and give the light all the valt it want.

Sorry but I do not think that a couple of metres of wire will drop the feed from 12 to 10 volts. 

[PJPom]

Just changing bulbs on a modern car is NOT a good idea !.

It seems that every light has its allocated place in the control modules and if you interfere with anything it will have consequences.

Auto Electricians in Australia are in big demand , simple repairs or replacements are now nearly impossible, planned obsolescence rules.

My experience of repairing cars with only two fuses and no relays has taught me one thing, modern electronics are brilliant until they go wrong.

[RocketDog]

53 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Sorry but I do not think that a couple of metres of wire will drop the feed from 12 to 10 volts. 

If it truly drops that much voltage then it's dissipating that as heat which would melt insulation, etc.

I agree with you.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

14 hours ago, PJPom said:

Seriously I think if you can't see the occupants from the outside how the heck can they see out at night ?.

How?  Easy.  Tint is designed to allow occupants to see out while restricting vision and light/heat into the vehicle!

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

The heavy tint is illegal. But well, you know.........

No, it's not illegal.   There are no laws in Thailand prohibiting any type of tint.  There were going to be, a few years ago. but the plan was abandoned.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, SomchaiDIY said:

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

Isn't 12 volts 12 volts wherever it comes from?

12 volt yes but modern car have some new electronic trick on circuit

 

I not know about mg truck lights but many car has electronic control of light circuit

Many car has electronic control of [the 12 volt] light circuit!

[Liverpool Lou]

4 hours ago, MadMuhammad said:

I’m guessing they installed a relay with a direct feed to the lights from the battery, switched by the standard headlight switch and loom. It makes quite the difference giving the bulbs a ‘clean’ power feed

A relay is just a switch, it doesn't "clean" electrical power.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Jorgendk said:

Yes 12 Volt is 12 Volt.
But going a long,thin vier to the svitsh and back, the vire will have a lot of resisten, and it might only be 10 volt at your light.

The length of the wire does not affect the voltage through it!

[KannikaP]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The length of the wire does not affect the voltage through it!

No, but it's resistance will affect the Current according to Mr Ohm!

[bbko]

When I was in the US and my older car had a bad headlight, I went to the local car part store and noticed just like lightbulbs for the house they come in different strengths.  

For the car if you're going to install the light yourself, make sure you don't touch the glass bulb as the oil on your fingers will cause it to burn out faster.

 

 

[brianthainess]

1 hour ago, KannikaP said:

Sorry but I do not think that a couple of metres of wire will drop the feed from 12 to 10 volts. 

especially with engine alternator running at near 14v

[brianthainess]

There are many easy fit add on LCD lights on lazada, front can be independently switched, rear just connect into reverse light wiring.

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, MadMuhammad said:

16 hours ago, NE1 said:

When I upgraded my headlights , the shop that did it added something else , like a little box , something to do with the strength of the new lights.

Sorry I can't be of any more help , it was a long time ago.

I will try and take a photo of it all tomorrow.

I’m guessing they installed a relay with a direct feed to the lights from the battery, switched by the standard headlight switch and loom. It makes quite the difference giving the bulbs a ‘clean’ power feed

More likely a CANBUS adapter to dupe the cars electronics into detecting that some sort of globe is fitted.

 

LED's have lower resistance than filament globes and some vehicle's electronics will see that as a short circuit and turn off the power to the socket. Similarly, if the filament blows, the vehicle electronics detects an open-circuit and may turn on a warning light on the dashboard.

 

Most CANBUS adapters are simply high-wattage resistors in a special box.

 

LED's are lower power (wattage) equivalent devices than regular filament globes so a relay for power isolation is generally not required.

[NE1]

Just taken a photo of what was added when I upgraded.......One for each light.

[MadMuhammad]

3 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

A relay is just a switch, it doesn't "clean" electrical power.

Read what I said agin and get back to me 

[The Theory]

I installed a pair of lights under my truck rear bumper with a switch. I used the extra lights manually when I needed more lights. In rear. 

[NanLaew]

Back to the OP's first question. Replacing the stock reversing globe with an LED should brighten up the rear view. I did that on my pickup that only had the one backup light on the drivers side with a high-intensity red on the passenger side for driving in heavy rain/road spray.

 

Eventually I doubled up on each of them, adding 'Rigid' brand after market white LED on passenger side and a red LED on the drivers side. These were paralleled in with the existing wiring without need for relays but they would sometimes not light up. I ended up adding resistors in series with them so that the vehicle CANBUS saw a 'proper' resistive load (same impedance as a filament) and they work great. Knowing Ohms law is handy.

 

If the OP can take a picture of one of his headlights and possible the connectors behind them under the bonnet, we can advise what's best for the headlights. Generally, if anything has a reflector as part of the assembly, an LED will make a brighter white light output but the beam scatter will probably annoy oncoming drivers, especially with cheaper LED's where no effort is made to make the LED match the 'point source' of a filament globe with partial shrouds.

[Lancashirelad]

Existing windscreen tint is 40% tint or 40% light transmission? (the correct way tint is measured). If the latter that's 60% tint, more than 30% is too dark for a windscreen.  Seen people moaning about poor headlights on this forum many times, it's alway the tint that's the problem.

[jaiyenyen]

I really don't think the tint is an issue. The tint is hardly noticeable when you look at the front and rear screens.