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Old     (MantisTaboggin)      Join Date: Jun 2010       05-13-2014, 8:51 PM Reply   
I have an older Roswell C6 light bar with halogen bulbs. My question is can I just replace them with LED bulbs. Thanks!
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Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-13-2014, 11:30 PM Reply   
Since the current version comes with LEDs, my answer would be yes.
According to the specs of yours, "Spectra C6 light bar comes with six H3 Halogen 55w lights"
So you would need 6x H3 LED Bulbs.
Depending on the light output you want there are different options. There are 3 options here ranging from $3.49-$8.99 each.

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/H3-LED.H3-LED-Bulbs

You can find them elsewhere, but I have had a high success rate with the DDM stuff.

You could also go another option and replace some or all of them with HIDs, but this would be more expensive and you'd have to figure out how to run new wires and mount the ballasts. For a quick plug and play you can replace them with the LEDs.
Old     (MantisTaboggin)      Join Date: Jun 2010       05-14-2014, 12:20 AM Reply   
Ok thanks! Will it be possible to find a LED that will be as bright as the halogen? I would assume that the LED's would be less of a draw on the batteries correct?
Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-14-2014, 12:31 AM Reply   
They will draw less power than the halogens for sure. The higher end option of the one for $8.99 each has 10x Samsung 2323 SMD leds on it. These have a power consumption of 0.5W, ten of them puts a 5W draw per bulb as opposed to the 55W pulled per bulb of your halogens.

A 55W H3 bulb has an output of 1450 lumens.
The Samsung 2323s put out 45-55 lumens each depending on model, effectively 450-550 lumens per bulb.

So you will be saving 50W (~90%) per bulb, but you will be going down about 900-1000 lumens (~66%) per bulb as well.

That being said, running the 5W LED bulbs will be brighter than the stock C6 Elite tower they are currently selling that runs 3W LED bulbs instead. They obviously are selling these instead of the classic version you have with the halogens. They must be comparable or better in usable light output than the older version or they would just continue to make the older version.

On a side note, I have a 250 Lumen LED flashlight, and it lights up brighter in a concentrated beam pattern than stock halogen 55W high beams easily.
Old     (MantisTaboggin)      Join Date: Jun 2010       05-14-2014, 12:46 AM Reply   
Thanks again man you have been really helpful. If you see me on the Columbia come say "hi" I will throw ya a beer!
Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-14-2014, 2:06 PM Reply   
Cool. We're always out there in the summer, normally in the Hayden Island Slough or the South Side of Govt. Island in Stormtrooper.
Old     (rallyart)      Join Date: Nov 2006       05-15-2014, 7:24 AM Reply   
Lumens are lumens. It's a measured output of light. The spread of the light might be different but if you go from a 1450 lumen light to a 55 lumen light you are getting a small fraction as much light. If it has a more 'pencil' shape you could get a similar output at a point but everywhere outside that point would be dark.
LED's are great but they are not economic to make in higher wattages yet.
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 9:18 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathom View Post
They will draw less power than the halogens for sure. The higher end option of the one for $8.99 each has 10x Samsung 2323 SMD leds on it. These have a power consumption of 0.5W, ten of them puts a 5W draw per bulb as opposed to the 55W pulled per bulb of your halogens.

A 55W H3 bulb has an output of 1450 lumens.
The Samsung 2323s put out 45-55 lumens each depending on model, effectively 450-550 lumens per bulb.

So you will be saving 50W (~90%) per bulb, but you will be going down about 900-1000 lumens (~66%) per bulb as well.

That being said, running the 5W LED bulbs will be brighter than the stock C6 Elite tower they are currently selling that runs 3W LED bulbs instead. They obviously are selling these instead of the classic version you have with the halogens. They must be comparable or better in usable light output than the older version or they would just continue to make the older version.

On a side note, I have a 250 Lumen LED flashlight, and it lights up brighter in a concentrated beam pattern than stock halogen 55W high beams easily.
Are you sure about getting 900 to 1000 lumens from a 5w? That doesn't seem right with what I'm seeing out there. I'm finding 750 lumens out of 11 watt H3 LED's.
Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-15-2014, 9:39 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by trayson View Post
Are you sure about getting 900 to 1000 lumens from a 5w? That doesn't seem right with what I'm seeing out there. I'm finding 750 lumens out of 11 watt H3 LED's.
Reread the post. I didn't say he'd be getting 900-1000 lumens out of it. I said he'd be losing 900-1000 lumens compared to the halogen.

That being said, lumens is gross light output, not usable light. Lux is what the actual brightness is measured in. However a lumen meter is cheaper and more readily available to most people and is what they measure light output in, but it only tells part of the story.

"The difference between the units lumen and lux is that the lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 1000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square metre, lights up that square metre with an illuminance of 1000 lux. The same 1000 lumens, spread out over ten square metres, produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux. Mathematically, 1 lx = 1 lm/m2."

The more focused that light output is in the area you are using it, the brighter it will be and the higher lux you will have. You can have a setup where a higher lumen bulb doesn't put out as much usable light as a lower lumen bulb because of the amount of lux, or usable focused light. Generally lumens and lux go hand in hand, but not always.
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 9:48 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathom View Post
Reread the post. I didn't say he'd be getting 900-1000 lumens out of it. I said he'd be losing 900-1000 lumens compared to the halogen.

That being said, lumens is gross light output, not usable light. Lux is what the actual brightness is measured in. However a lumen meter is cheaper and more readily available to most people and is what they measure light output in, but it only tells part of the story.

"The difference between the units lumen and lux is that the lux takes into account the area over which the luminous flux is spread. A flux of 1000 lumens, concentrated into an area of one square metre, lights up that square metre with an illuminance of 1000 lux. The same 1000 lumens, spread out over ten square metres, produces a dimmer illuminance of only 100 lux. Mathematically, 1 lx = 1 lm/m2."

The more focused that light output is in the area you are using it, the brighter it will be and the higher lux you will have. You can have a setup where a higher lumen bulb doesn't put out as much usable light as a lower lumen bulb because of the amount of lux, or usable focused light. Generally lumens and lux go hand in hand, but not always.
What we really need is a LASER! highly concentrated light!!!

Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-15-2014, 10:37 AM Reply   
Just throwing this out there if you want really bright light output out of it.
How about selling the C6 light bar and buying a smaller 2 pod light bar and installing HIDs in it? That would give you much more light than he has now or would have with an LED upgrade. It would run about $30-40 for a HID kit, cheaper than an LED upgrade on 6 pods. You just have to be creative on the wiring and hiding of the ballast.

And no, I dont think we need to bring in a
Old     (03suprassv)      Join Date: Jan 2009       05-15-2014, 10:40 AM Reply   
I just ordered some new totron led light bars to mount on my existing light bar. I removed the halogen fixture and will put these in their place. Will post pics when I'm done.
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 10:50 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathom View Post
Just throwing this out there if you want really bright light output out of it.
How about selling the C6 light bar and buying a smaller 2 pod light bar and installing HIDs in it? That would give you much more light than he has now or would have with an LED upgrade. It would run about $30-40 for a HID kit, cheaper than an LED upgrade on 6 pods. You just have to be creative on the wiring and hiding of the ballast.
Um, why would you sugest putting HID's in anything but an HID housing? We all know that the dispersion of an HID bulb in a reflector housing is crap and really needs projector housings to function as designed...

Of course that doesn't stop people in old buttrocker F150 trucks from running HID's in reflector housings and blinding everyone on the road, does it???

I would rather see someone invest in a good LED lightbar than try to fiddle around with HID's.
Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-15-2014, 10:53 AM Reply   
Hey now, my housings, even though they are reflectors, are designed for HID and do not blind everyone.

Also, we're talking about tower lights and he was concerned about brightness. They definitely won't be the most accurate, but they will be bright. It's also not like there's oncoming traffic to worry about 99% of the time like there is in a car.
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 10:58 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathom View Post
Hey now, my housings, even though they are reflectors, are designed for HID and do not blind everyone.

Also, we're talking about tower lights and he was concerned about brightness. They definitely won't be the most accurate, but they will be bright. It's also not like there's oncoming traffic to worry about 99% of the time like there is in a car.
A half-assed Ebay "projector-ish" housing with weaksauce anti-glare shields doesn't make it a real projector housing. If it don't look like a Boobie, it aint a real projector housing!!!

And no "oncoming traffic" per se. Just the Marine Sherrif that'd give him a ticket for having forward facing lights that look like stern lights! hahaha
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 11:07 AM Reply   
If you want bright, get a pair of the 130 watt KC Daylighters. They are bright as hell. And if you already have 5 of the 55 watt lights on your tower, then a pair of KC Daylighters would be about the same amp draw.

That said, they're pretty ugly and look like mini speaker cans! hahahah!
Old     (phathom)      Join Date: Jun 2013       05-15-2014, 11:12 AM Reply   
hehe boobies
If you recall, I didn't get the projectorish housings, those are very cheesy and actually cause worse glare on any light while reducing light output.
The reflectors I have were made and tested with HID lights to not give that glare. We can test it at any point if you want. There is no more glare than on the regular halogen light housing. Now there is something to be said about any lights in a truck, being higher blinding people in cars, but that's with HIDs or not.

Also how would they resemble stern lights?

All that aside, there is nothing wrong with replacing those light pods with LED light bars. Those can have some serious light output.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/SP-LED-20inch
90W total draw, less than 6x 55W bulbs. 9000 lumens. Just barely brighter than the 6x halogen pods at 8700 lumens

There's also some other options if you wanted to go with the pod type lights vs doing a bar. A lot of these are close to as bright or brighter than the halogens. Just put them in place of the halogen pods on the bar
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/GT...LED-Work-Lamps
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/FX...ff-Road-Lights
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/ZX...oad-LED-Lights
Old     (trayson)      Join Date: May 2013 Location: Vancouver WA       05-15-2014, 11:25 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by phathom View Post

Also how would they resemble stern lights?
Um, because they're white.


Not red/green.

While we use spotlights on our boat at night, it's not legal.

Rule 20
"The Rules concerning lights shall be complied with from sunset to sunrise, and during such times no other lights shall be exhibited, except such lights which cannot be mistaken for the lights specified in these Rules or do not impair their visibility or distinctive character, or interfere with the keeping of a proper look-out."

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navru...les/Rule20.htm

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