LED Headlight

[Jeff Gordon]

I've been reading through some of the conversations about LED lights. I was given a LED Headlight that my buddy had in his 1600 Nomad...he said it didn't diffuse the light properly due to the clear lense? I thought why not try it, it fits right into the back of the light like it was made for it. I wanted to post a picture here to show everyone what it looked like but had trouble getting it to load. The light has a what appears to be a built in fan motor to keep it cool I presume? Has anyone ever tried one of these? Please let me know from any experiences or suggestions if I can safely use this light...it puts out a great deal of light!!!

[Tonyvdb]

Led bulb work just fine however the boot will no longer fit on it so "if" you get water up in that area you may kill the bulb. The fan is to keep the driver for the LED cool as it gets hot.
The LED bulb will also get stuck on high beam because the bulb out sensor will automatically switch it to the other setting when on low due to the LED bulbs low current draw.

[stubabe]

I installed an LED headlight on my Voyager XII about 18 months ago and it has performed flawlessly for me. I used the one without a fan because to me it was less that could go wrong. To solve the high beam problem I purchased an LED headlight load resistor which is readily available on Ebay. Since then I have never had a bulb failure warning nor a stuck high beam because the current was too low.
Stuart

[dsmmrm]

A resistor is certainly a workable solution but unfortunately is negates the power benefit gained by switching to LED in the first place. Is there a solution to this that gives us the ability to use the extra wattage saved by the LED bulb? Can we just disconnect the low beam failure device or whatever it's called?

[triton28]

To fool the reserve lighting unit remove the LG/R and Bl/O wires from the white plastic connector coming from the reserve lighting unit.
Make sure you tape them over so they DO NOT contact ground.
Dave

[stubabe]

I think there is a misconception here in how LED lamps work. They actually draw less current hence less power is needed than with halogen bulbs. The way the bulb failure circuit works it is looking for minimal to no current to come through that circuit. Since LED bulbs draw a lot less current it causes the bulb failure circuit to think the bulb is burnt out. Putting a resistor in the circuit puts a load on it so that the bulb failure circuit sees the circuit as normal and doesn't trigger a failure. An added benefit is the resistor limits the amount of current going through the LED bulb which could help prevent premature failure.

[dsmmrm]

The problem with using a resistor as you describe,stubabe, is that it not only gets the failure circuit to see a "normal" load, the alternator also sees the same load. One of the main benefits in using leds is reducing the alternator load. Adding the resistor load to the led load just gets us back to where we started. Also, the led draws what it draws whether or not the resistor is there. I don't think the resistor will affect the life of the led meaningfully.

[dsmmrm]

Triton28's solution appears to be the way the get the failure circuit out of the picture and still keep the reduced led load. My only question now is, where is the reserve lighting unit?

[ghostler]

There's another issue with using a resistor. Unless it can be found in an autoparts store, would be its ready availability. Using Ohms Law, I ran calculations based on one such LED unit, power was 12 Watts. At 13.8 Volts nominal with alternator charging, current draw is 0.87 Amps. Halogen high beam draws 65 Watts or 4.71 Amps. To mimic would require a 3.6 Ohm resistor to absorb 3.84 Amps. Resistor load would be 53 Watts, so resistor would have to be higher rated to prevent from burning out the resistor, lets say a 100 Watt rating.

Digikey.com search on chassis mounted resisters from 3.5 to 4.5 Ohms at 75 to 150 Watt ratings netted only a few in stock and most special order, starting at around $12 to over $20 each. You'd need 2, each wired in series with each filament. (Low beam would use a slightly smaller value resistor, but not discussing for the sake of making a point.)

Since the resistor is absorbing the power, it will produce heat. Heat will be akin to the heat produced by the Halogen bulb, sizzling hot to the touch. I know this from resistors used in power supplies for the old tube (valve) radios of 50 - 60 years ago.

Thus, better would be to deactivate or bypass the headlight automatic control / monitoring circuit, as Dave pointed out.

[triton28]

Perhaps my choice of words was not appropriate as in order to be fooled there must be some conscious awareness on the part of the foolee. A more explanatory opening would have been "To remove the low/no voltage detection circuitry from the reserve lighting unit"........
The reserve unit is located below the inner cowling cassette storage pocket, and cruise control processing unit, after you remove the left hand upper cowling.
It is the lower of the 2 stacked electronic black boxes ( I believe ), and is labelled "Turn signal operating unit Self cancelling".
Dave

[triton28]

Edit;
It is the lower of the 2 stacked electronic black boxes ( I believe ), and is labelled "Turn signal operating unit Self cancelling":
This should read "It is the UPPER of the 2 stacked electronic black boxes ( I believe ), and is labelled Reserve Lighting Device".
I was thinking about another post when I was finishing this headlight post.
Dave

[Nails]

Sorry for resurrecting this old thread.

The upper box is the turn signal unit, and the lower one is the reserve lighting unit. I think -- couldn't actually read the lower one. But it's the only one with LG/R and Bl/O wires.

(I guess you thought you made a mistake, but were wrong ;)

[Van Voyager]

......One of the main benefits in using leds is reducing the alternator load.

Unless the alternator is of the excited field type - like in most cars and only on a few bikes - reducing the 'load' doesn't change the alternator output. In permanent magnet alternators, power savings realized by using LED's can be re-purposed for something else (say: heated grips or vest or ??) but the alternator still puts out the same power. 'Excess' power gets shunted to ground via the voltage regulator so if power is saved by installing LED's the 'freed-up' power is simply shunted to ground.

[SgtSlag]

I switched to an LED headlight, and I also replaced all bulbs on the bike, except for the instruments, with LED's. It raised the output voltage on my alternator to 14.2 Volts, very consistently. With regular filament bulbs in place, the best I could achieve, was around 13.2 Volts. I am very satisfied with the increase in Voltage. My hope is that it will improve the life of the AGM battery, by giving it a slightly higher charging voltage, and a few more Amps, as well. It also helps with the 12V port I installed for charging cell phones on the bike, while riding. Wife used it on her phone, last week: she said it charged her phone, but it charged more slowly than it does using the wall outlet charger (no surprise there...). I took that to indicate that it would have charged even more slowly if the voltage had only been 13.2 Volts (fewer available Watts/Amps), if it would have charged it at all.

It is not all about Voltage, though. It is about Watts. The lighter the load of bulbs, the more Watts I have for other things: phone charger, heated gear (maybe -- they suck a lot of Watts out of the charging system...), etc. It's been a while, but I believe I saved around 25 Watts just with the LED headlight. I don't remember how many Watts I saved with the other lights being swapped out, but it likely is more than 15 Watts, added to the 25 Watts on the headlight, means I freed up around 40 Watts to charge the battery with, or to charge a cell phone, or power a GPS system on the bike. I'm good with that. Cheers!

[shifterkart26]

I installed an LED headlight on my Voyager XII about 18 months ago and it has performed flawlessly for me. I used the one without a fan because to me it was less that could go wrong. To solve the high beam problem I purchased an LED headlight load resistor which is readily available on Ebay. Since then I have never had a bulb failure warning nor a stuck high beam because the current was too low.
Stuart

What brand of bulb did you use? Did it give you noticably better lighting? Thanks

[SgtSlag]

Just re-read stubabe's comments on load resistors... Wrong. The load resistors draw more current from the system, to increase the amperage flowing, to make the headlight failure circuit think the headlight is working properly, drawing the "correct" amount of current. In other words, they defeat the purpose of using an LED to reduce the current draw of the headlight. I would not use them for any purpose, personally.

When I replaced the signal light, and marker bulbs, with LED's, I had to replace the flasher module. The old flasher module would not work with the reduced current draw of the LED's; some folks added Load Resistors, increasing the current draw, to make the older mechanical flasher modules work properly with the LED's... The new electronic flasher module is designed for use with LED lights, and it has worked flawlessly since installation, 3+ years ago. The only thing I lost, was the failure indicator of the mechanical flasher module flashing the failed bulb circuit faster, when a light failed. The electronic flasher module behaves the same, whether the bulbs/LED's work, or not -- so I need to do a light check at the beginning of every ride... I did this before I installed LED's, so nothing new.


With regards to light output from an LED headlight, versus a Halogen headlight... YES, the LED output is noticeably greater than the Halogen bulb. When you look at the spec's for the two bulbs, the LED's typically pump out several thousand more Lumens than a Halogen bulb, for fewer Watts of energy. There is a very noticeable difference! Add to that the color changes [5,000K LED (white) vs. 3,000K Halogen (yellow)], and the it is quite obvious how much better the LED is than the Halogen.

This LED bulb from Amazon, is very similar to what I installed in my Voyager XII. Mine is only slightly different. I paid a similar price. My LED bulb runs at 5,000K, not 6,000K, so mine is more white, and less blue, in color. I believe mine is only around 5,000 Lumens, while this unit is 8,000 Lumens. The braided heat sinks get mildly warm during Hi-beam usage, not hot, at all. With 30,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures, these LED headlights should outlast the bike itself! Vibration has never been an issue: no filaments to break! If you estimate that the bike's average speed, while the bike is running and the headlight is on, at 20 MPH, and the bulb lasts 30,000 hours, then the bulb should last around 600,000 miles of riding: 20 MPH * 30,000 hours = 600,000 miles...

Mine has been installed for roughly two years now. Flawless performance! I do not have an issue with the headlight failure circuit, except with my LED headlight modulator running: the failure circuit flashes, like the headlight, but the headlight still modulates, still increases my visibility, dramatically, in traffic. The modulator was installed at the same time as the LED bulb. No issues yet. Cheers!

[cranky]

.. THANKS for that updte!!! I have the LED running lites, very bright! and
have the modulator with a stock bulb... I'll let good enough alone... JM2C

I don't run at nite, so don't need a lot of lite....

[SgtSlag]

If you do go with the LED headlight (I rarely run at night either, but its durability, Mean Time Between Failure, and how much more it makes us visible in traffic, is why I switched; the reclaimed wattage was an added bonus), be certain to spend the cash on an LED-compatible Modulator... The filament bulb Modulator will not work with an LED bulb. The LED Modulator is north of $100, but worth it, IMO. I've had many a car start to pull out in front of us, then stop... I firmly believe it was because of the Modulator that they stopped. I won't ride without a Modulator. Cheers!

[cranky]

Thanks!!! I also run the LED flasher tail lites, flash 8 times in 2 seconds then
solid.... ANY advantage I can get!!!!

[Mr Jensee]

I just purchased and installed a 32watt LED headlight for the Voyager. At no time did the headlight burnout sensor activate. I went riding for more than 150 miles on it and used both high and low beams without a problem. Yes the one I got has a fan but it was only $16 on Amazon so I am not really out anything if it fails in the rain. I am carrying the original bulb with me in case it does. Oh btw did I say it was bright? Hell yeah!