Don't worry, this light thread isn't about headlights I'm asking this though, because I know there are a lot of people on here that have a super vast knowledge of this stuff.

I have seen all the LED replacement bulbs for cars that go into the old school sockets. I have noticed that there are different kinds of LEDs. Some with 1, 2, 3, 4+ led's. Some say super bright, etc. At what point do they become brighter than a regular old bulb? I can't find any charts that show the actual brightness in lumens or candlepower.

Are there pros/cons to switching out? I was thinking less power, instant on, and less heat were good pros. But are they as bright and at what point? Do they light up an area as well or are they too directional?

Thank you,
John Cluff

 

from what i've seen, LED bulbs that are replacement bulbs that go back into an OEM housing are always dimmer than the stock bulbs.

now full-replacement LED housings are always much brighter than stock housings because they were designed from the get-go to be LED.

take the "halo" LED tails vs stock tails vs stock tails with LED bulbs.

the halos will be super bright compared to the others while the OEM setup will be brighter than the OEM tails with LED bulbs in them.

if you're looking to go LED, get the full replacement halos and don't stick in an LED replacement bulb.

 

I was actually thinking about the interior lights. Like the floor ones and like dashboard ones. I was wondering for my C5, but also for a 1950 Studebaker Champion that I'm restoring. I'm going from 6volt to 12 volt so I have to replace the bulbs anyways. I figured I would go LED. Are the LED's not as bright as stock even if you go with the ones that have like 5 led's in them?

John

 

I had the exact same questions, although I was looking to replace tail lights. Since I have euro-style tail lights, I was not interested in "Halo's."
I read as much as I could find on this subject and what I finally concluded is that if you compare one regular bulb to one LED, the regular bulb is brighter (ie. has greater light output). If you buy a cluster of LEDs then the amount of light produced by the cluster may exceed the single bulb output.
In my case i decided to spend the money on the LEDs and I am going to do an "objective" test. I own a light meter and I have measured the output of the stock bulbs. When I put in the LEDs I will also measure their output. When I'm done I hope to have a definitive answer (at least enough so for my satisfaction), as to which bulb type produces the greatest amount of light.
BUT, for me, part of the issue is also that I rather like the very crisp
on-off characteristic of LEDs. I also like their very low heat production which translates into some phenominal life expectancies for these bulbs.
Best wishes.
Glen

 

When do you plan on doing the test? That sounds like exactly the info I need. I can easily find the light output of regular bulbs, but not the LEDs. I like the same benefits that you listed.

 

This is a deeper question than you realize. As with most topics on this board, it can be over analyzed easily. I give a c/p from a LED supplier that I use:
The unit of measure commonly used to describe LED intensity is the millicandela (mcd), 1000 millicandela equals 1 candela. Candelas measures how much light is produced as measured at the light source.
The candela is the Luminous Intensity, in a given direction, of a source of monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.

The unit of measure commonly used for most other light sources is the Lumen.
Lumens are units of Luminous Flux and they measure how much light actually falls on a surface.
The Luminous Flux (lumens) from a light source is equal to the Luminous Intensity (candelas) multiplied by the solid angle over which the light is emitted, taking into account the varying intensities in different directions.
So you can see that it is not a simple matter to accurately convert millicandelas (mcd) to lumens but here is link to a handy program that will do it for you:
http://led.linear1.org/lumen.wiz

How's that for over analyzing? I won't post the link to my LED source as they aren't a sponsor here.

 

All I can say is I have 104 Red LED bulbs in my tail lights and when I hit the brakes I blind people behind me. Anything reflective behind me for 1/4 to 1/2 a mile lights up. The side marker lights are sharper. I purposely went with 4 LED bulbs for the license plate lights so they are just a bit dimmer than the originals. The interior 194 bulbs are matrix 6 LED bulbs and they are ample for their positions. The front signals are switchbacks with clear lenses and they are white until I signal then they turn amber. The mirror has 8 bulb festoons and are brighter than stock.

Wrapping up I chose LEDs for dependability, little to no heat, brightness, and because I like the looks.

 

Thank you for the Science lesson

And thank you for the real life experience with your car.

It all helped a lot.

John

 

The main issue in replacing the interior bulbs with LEDs is the beam pattern, stock incandescents transmit their light 360 degrees were as LEDs vary from a viewing angle of 10 to 40 degrees forward. An LED is MUCH brighter within it's veiwing angle then an incadcsent the trick is to get the "target" within the veiwing angle.

Here's an example of a stock HVAC compared to one I modded with White LEDs;



To give you an idea of how much light LEDs produce, look at the light spilling out behind these Door switches;



Sometimes you have to get creative to use LEDs where they weren't intended to be used. Our Traction Control button uses a plastic wave guide to feed the light from two incandescent bulbs to the button. LEDs with their inherent narrow beam just will not light the button properly. One way to fix this is to embed an LED directly into the back of the button itself;





I've been doing LEDs conversions for some time now and I haven't found a component yet that I can't light up nicely with LEDs, it may take some ingenuity but you can get the results you want! For instance the footwells, instead of using the stock 194 socket install an LED strip across the width of the footwell, the result is excellent.

If you have any questions feel free to hit me up...

 

AWESOME!! Thank you.

 

Picture of strip?
Could you point me to where you purchased your specific LED's?

I've got all LED's in my Yukon, but it's a bit trickier if I want to use LED's for outside lighting as they need to be bright. Like your description.

 

[QUOTE=GK;1568909261]Picture of strip?
http://www.oznium.com/thin-waterproof-ribbon
I don't have any pics of mine installed, perhaps some folks that do will chime in...

Tim

 

I got several PM's about this. For the record the lights I bought are commonly sold by Ecklers and Corvettes of America. They are assemblies. Each lamp has 26 LEDs arranged in straight rows. 4x26=104. I bought mine on EBay for just under $200. but in 3 months I had one that had a strip of 4 LEDs go out. The seller advertised a 1 year warranty. Scam. I cut it open and soldered all the ends and sealed the light back up with epoxy. No problems since.

So with that said here's what I recommend. I really like the new Halo style over what I have. I don't know if they are as bright or brighter but they do look much cooler. I've seen them sold on ebay but consider what you'd do if/when you have a problem down the road. Remember forum vendors are here for you.