LED Light info

I've been looking into running LED's to get more light without requiring a crazy charging system.  I've done some homework and ordered some lights for comparison.  Here's what I've learned so-far.

There are basically 3 different types of LED's:

3528 SMD (Surface Mount Diode)
This diode emits 3.8 lumens of light at full brightness.


5050 SMD
This has three LED's inside, so it emits 3 times as much light as a 3528 SMD (about 11.4lm)


LED
reported to emit up to 33 lumens each.  (60-70 lumens per watt)


So how do these compare?  Well, looking at ebay, I've found a bunch of different bulbs with different LED's on them in different configurations.  I opted for the brightest I could find in each type.


[list][*]For reference, a regular incandescent 1156 automotive bulb (used for directionals and also installed in my Murray's headlights) will yeild about 400 lumens.

• LED's are directional and only shine light outward in one direction as opposed to a bulb which shines all over.
  

I found a bulb with 80 x 3528SMD's on it.  This should yield about 305 lumens, pointed forwards and radially.  It will rely on the reflector in the headlight case.


Another bulb with 18 x 5050smd's in it, but it was rated at 250lm so I passed on it.


A "CREE" bulb that is rated at 400lm


And this one with regular LED's in it that's rated at 150% of an 1176 bulb, so I guess that means about 600lm.



To be continued...

Very intrusting. I was looking at converting my case tractor lights to led, that I can run off the battery. Still looking at some options, this might help.

WELP! I got all the bulbs in and I'm not all that impressed with the total lighting capabilities. I will say that for the amount of energy required to run these lights, they are a lot more efficient. It takes more of them to light up the trail, but now we can plug in many many more lights and still not drain our batteries..... That is if we can stand the quality of lighting....

Here is the Incandescent original 1156 on the left VS. the CREE Q5on the right. Looks like the CREE Q5 is just as bright and is more focused forward than the incandescent 1156. I do like the light "tone" of the 1156 though. It's mellower, and yellower and doesn't make my eyes work as hard.


Next we have the 80SMD 3528 on the left VS. the CREE Q5 on the right. Seems that they're both about the same, but the CREE Q5 is focused forwards more.


And lastly (for now) is the multi-LED that I got in blue by mistake on the left VS. the CREE Q5 on the right again. I'm not into impersonating cops, so I think I'll keep this one off the rig for now. But I think it's a little less effective anyway.

So, now you know as much as I do about the available LED lights for 1156 sockets like the ones in the front of my Murray. I'm going to look into the NAPA Tractor Incandescents like Mr Modified is running. I will report on amperage of those. I'm pretty sure they will beat out any LED I've tested here!

I was checking out Mr Modified's PAR36 type tractor lights.  (The round, rubber mounted kind) and I found an LED replacement bulb that will fit into the housing.  They're expensive, but check out the difference in lighting!  All at 1.5 amps versus about 4 amps.  Nice option for those of us who may be trying to conserve our batteries or have weak charging systems.




Here's the GROTE  TRILLIANT website.  They're about $100, but there's cheaper copies on ebay for $50.

I'm running the LED lights from Wally world and they do better than the original 1156 bulbs by a lot and I think are better in general since they are with wiring harness and switch for $24.99. I'll get a pic of them sometime later.

My murray has all LED bulbs in it and it's so much more efficient than regular bulbs.