To be fair though it's only an LED lamp its not like he is asking to obtain illegal substances or firearms etc...
Styling Daylight Running Lights.
- Thread starter Abarth 595 Competizione
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Styling Daylight Running Lights.
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To be fair though it's only an LED lamp its not like he is asking to obtain illegal substances or firearms etc...
To be fair though, I've just replaced the right hand side bulb in our DRL/Sidelight again.
Last time was only in only August last year.
Six months isn't very long.
Give me a more reliable (legal) bulb please.
Greetings,
Mick.
Last time was only in only August last year.
Six months isn't very long.
Give me a more reliable (legal) bulb please.
Greetings,
Mick.
True, but it's still illegal. It been said before, but there are serverl consequences. One is you get stopped by a police officer who doesn't like LEDs get a ticket and then complain the forum did not tell you. Worse, you get into an accident, the insurance assessor notices the LEDs, cancels your policy due to illegal modification (possibly even if you told them of the mod). They have to pay out the third party costs, but they can still claim them back off you. This could result in having to payback tens or hundreds of thousands over years.
Unlikely, but possiblr.
Robert G8RPI.
I think people have got the resistor position wrong, the resistor should be parallel with the bulb ie connected across the bulb terminals, not in line with the feed, this will make the can bus see a "normal " bulb in place not one consuming much less power therefore stopping the warning flashing up, the bulb system is a bit crude it seems just to check that the full load is being drawn anything less means a bulb is out.
A quick calculation makes me think two 20 ohm 10 watt resistors in parallel should be correct
A quick calculation makes me think two 20 ohm 10 watt resistors in parallel should be correct
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To be fair though, I've just replaced the right hand side bulb in our DRL/Sidelight again.
Last time was only in only August last year.
Six months isn't very long.
Give me a more reliable (legal) bulb please.
Greetings,
Mick.
Try one of these from a quality manufacture had a job finding it, the part finder does not show the drl bulb only a normal sidelight bulb(which is the wrong one), quite expensive for one bulb too, got it as a spare, the rear side light bulb( http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/F...1cff4881c470e289f0dec2f7a30412643b0df1&000387 ) is only 29p from Europarts!
http://www.eurocarparts.com/search/481770910
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IRC it was Philips that sells E marked LED exterior globes, they're tested for compliance on a case by case basis. Last I checked there were none for the 500 though.
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Personally, I don't really care if it's legal, LED's are safer and that's why as soon as I buy a car, first thing I do is add LED stop lights.
If it really came down to it you could go to a testing laboratory and have them tested for compliance.
How are LEDs "safer"?
On testing, you obviously have no idea of the costs of testing and approving a light. Even small production car manufacturers like TVR and Lotus don't do it. Thats apart from the optical design issues. Designing a reflector / lens to suit an LED or filament lamp is fairly easy with modern ray-tracing CAD software but making a existing light desigined for a filament lamp work correctly with an "off the shelf" LED chip is completely different. There are also significant thermal issues.
Robert G8RPI.
Robert G8RPI.
Whilst not road legal these?; http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/7443-Twenty20-Cree-LED-12V-580-Canbus-Wedge-Bulb.html come in red or white
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AGH1965
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I want to know too. LED ligths respond a little quicker, but the driver of the car behind you is by far the slowest/weakest link in the chain.
Are they legal in Australia?
When I needed amber warning beacons a few years ago I paid a bloody fortune for the Approved LED ones having the old Britax 55w halogen rotator kill the car battery in about 45 mins
they were double to 3x the price of the cheap-o none approved ones on the likes of ebay.. but the light output and light spread blows the cheaper ones out of the water. And they still work. I got stopped by the police the other year as he saw the light heads in the back window and he was under the impression they were blue ones (same make and model as what is fitted to local patrol cars) so stopped me to check.. think I blinded him with the lights / rules and regs he looked at my new winter tyres noticed the tread depth got bored of looking for common faults and buggered of wishing me a good weekend as I had a reason to fit them (for off highway use)
Fastforward about a month later I stopped at an accident to help out as it had just happened (put lights on to warn others) then went to assist with a casualty (I'm a work first aider) and guess which officer turned up
well he just smiled when he saw me sat on the pavement in my green and day glo yellow first aider high vis vest( first aiders on a works site are supposed to be easily identifiable so It lives in my car after work ) with the injured person never questioned the lights and chased up the ambulance for me. after the ambulance left he thanked me shook hands and went on his way
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So if they're the weakest link, shouldn't you do all you can to help them out?
Drivers respond at least 200ms faster to an LED light then an incandescent. At 100km/h that's a difference of 5 metres or a difference in impact speed of roughly 25km/h. That's the difference between no accident and a write off or it could well mean the difference between walking away or not. Frankly I don't see why such a cheap and established technology isn't part of the NCAP testing process, it's far more useful than a seat belt reminder.
It's already impossible to buy truck/ trailer lights that aren't LED, so why are cars still rolling out of factories without?
LEDs that I use are brighter than stock, and so in a sunny country you can actually see them light up, vs incandescent where you have to be staring at the housing and wondering 'is he braking'. This is especially true of lights like the 500 where there's no body work to shade the lights from direct sunlight. News flash to the engineers - the sun is bright.
ECE lighting regs are a joke, look at how hard it is to see the front direction indicators on a lot of cars these days.
I'd rather avoid an accident than be involved in one just for the sake of technical compliance. I don't buy the whole 'different light pattern' -in the case of stop or turn signals- (just buy LEDs with multiple elements that give good light spread) argument when you look at how rudimentary ECE/DOT approved lights can be. My Jeep lights are just a square plastic box with a flat tinplate reflector. How many thousands of CAD/CFD hours went into those? LOL My Renault 3rd brake light is just a diffuser, no reflector at all.
I agree with not messing with headlights, but the tails/stops aren't rocket science. DRL's are sort of a grey area as although you're required to have them fitted, you're not required to have them on. So what's the practical difference between a DRL that's off and a DRL that's not compliant?
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I tried several things without success on our 500 as in the past I have changed all interior bulbs and some of the exterior bulbs to Led's on a few Volkswagens including my current Mk7 Golf R with no problem but the Fiat....well that's another thing completely. It don't want to play !!
I got these via a suggestion about 6 months ago on here and have been really pleased with these.
MTEC W21/5W (580) Dual Filament 7443 White Xenon Effect Bulbs (2 Bulbs) DRL
£7.95 free P&P on eBay
I got these via a suggestion about 6 months ago on here and have been really pleased with these.
MTEC W21/5W (580) Dual Filament 7443 White Xenon Effect Bulbs (2 Bulbs) DRL
£7.95 free P&P on eBay
While rear lghts are not as complex as headlights. they still have lenses that depend on the filament being in the correct position for proper performance.
Having brighter lamps s just as bad as dim, what about night time? If your brake lights are blinding the person in the next lane they may hit something else.
On DRLs on/off, a light fitted to the car must be approved even if it's off. Non mandatory lights must meet the requirements for mandatory ones. If it looks like a blue light it's an offence in the UK even it it has no bulb or wiring unless you are a recognised emergency vehicle.
Robert G8RPI.
As someone whose wife was an insurance underwriter until recently, I can confirm insurance companies take no prisoners and will do anything they can in their power to make sure your car is legal and as declared, including bulbs that may not have even been switched on.
K&N air filters and the like are a classic - a lad manages to have his car smashed into and written off while parked and unoccupied at the roadside at 3am while he is in bed asleep, the undeclared filter gets found on inspection by an assessor paid to and experienced in finding problems and the insurance gets invalidated with an an increased premium on the horizon.
This is more of a pain when the offender or offending vehicle is not known. It's usually the insuring mum or dad who takes the brunt of this when it's a younger driver and personally I never take the risk any more, although I used to have all sorts of mods when I was younger which I didn't declare because I either thought they were hidden, or thought they would never be an issue. Now, I get more piece of mind knowing there will never be a major financial headache in the future.
I think that the fact that the cars do not allow some lighting mods without a warning message speaks volumes. Perhaps it might be in order to have replacement bulbs tested at an MOT test centre? My garage has done alignment and testing for £30 in the past and if they won't get through MOT testing standards they are probably not a very good idea but it's sensible to keep everything above board with insurers as they do absolutely everything by the book. At the end of the day, they'll take your money, but it's not in their interest to pay you out.
K&N air filters and the like are a classic - a lad manages to have his car smashed into and written off while parked and unoccupied at the roadside at 3am while he is in bed asleep, the undeclared filter gets found on inspection by an assessor paid to and experienced in finding problems and the insurance gets invalidated with an an increased premium on the horizon.
This is more of a pain when the offender or offending vehicle is not known. It's usually the insuring mum or dad who takes the brunt of this when it's a younger driver and personally I never take the risk any more, although I used to have all sorts of mods when I was younger which I didn't declare because I either thought they were hidden, or thought they would never be an issue. Now, I get more piece of mind knowing there will never be a major financial headache in the future.
I think that the fact that the cars do not allow some lighting mods without a warning message speaks volumes. Perhaps it might be in order to have replacement bulbs tested at an MOT test centre? My garage has done alignment and testing for £30 in the past and if they won't get through MOT testing standards they are probably not a very good idea but it's sensible to keep everything above board with insurers as they do absolutely everything by the book. At the end of the day, they'll take your money, but it's not in their interest to pay you out.
AGH1965
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I disagree. Using a seat belt is much more important than a car having LED brake lights. LED brake lights may prevent a few crashes, but seat belts really save lives.
In my opinion using LED lights that are even brighter than stock is close to a crime. Stock brake lights already dazzle lots of drivers. Why on earth make this worse?
It may not be a crime, but it is an offence under the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations (1989), for which you can be summonsed and fined in a Magistrates Court (though in practice a warning or a non-endorseable fixed penalty notice would be more likely).
As has just been confirmed by someone with inside knowledge of the industry, if an insurer does take exception with your fitting non E-marked bulbs, the potential for costing you money could be much, much greater.
I'd agree with those who are saying that the existing regulations are outdated in view of the capabilities of current technology, and most likely LED lighting will become the norm for future generations of cars, but IMO that's not a legitimate reason or excuse for taking matters into your own hands in the meantime.
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From experience in working on the law side, you would be unlikely to be summonsed unless your car is unroadworthy, or you are being an arse. Different light bulbs fall under Construction And Use but it is unlikely that your average constable would be aware of what is legal on the car unless it is really obvious.
Most cases would be dealt with a VDRS (vehicle defect rectivation scheme), you have a period of time after being stopped to rectify the fault and get the paperwork stamped at an MOT test centre. This used to be handy when you had people produce documents because the MOT centre would likely charge a nominal fee to stamp the paperwork. Think the fee is still charged but most of the time insurance and MOT is checked while you are followed and you don't find out if your not stopped.
That said, if you were stopped by a switched on traffic cop then the fine tooth comb would be used. Tickets for offences around lighting are non endorsable unless they are considered dangerous. However, any ticket either endorsable or not can be argued in magistrates court if the recipient chooses to do so, at which point their may be a significant increase in fine or points.
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The non sense is that over the past 50 years, people have gotten used to wearing seatbelts (warnings or not). Why is it now that we suddenly need a warning?
My lights aren't anywhere near as bright as 100% legal trailer lights. I've got two sets of approved LED lights on my trailer and they're like a set of low beams, they light up the street behind me yet that's perfectly OK. Other people with trades bodies, trailer etc have the same lights, they're annoyingly bright at night, but they're legal and I've yet to crash into 'someone else' while following one.
In time I'd like to add a PWM dimmer to give my stops a night mode, but that's a low priority as UFI's never seen a night time road. If driving at night I make it a point not to leave my foot on the brake once stationary.
For my situation regarding insurance, I'm considering switching to only third party cover because as it stands, it's not worth me making a claim for much less than $10K. Our insurance companies are a bit more lenient than in the UK, thankfully. For example, we no longer have to disclose speeding tickets or general mods, only power increasing engine mods. Likewise, they can't reject a claim on a technicality, only if your mod could have reasonably contributed to the accident (say you fit wheel studs that are too short and a wheel comes off fair game- they can't blame a wheel coming off on a non E marked globe).
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