LED headlight gripe of the day

[cattlerepairman]

I am Mr. Lucky when it comes to LED headlights. From my first set, one died almost instantly (and yes, I took great care grounding them properly). Failure mode was: low beam went out, but all LED (including the ones used by low beam) lit up nicely on high beam. I replaced with two "new" ones from a vendor on the forum for an ok price.

Now one of this set has a flickering low beam. I suspect that this is a variation of the death experienced with the first one. It is on the other side of the truck, though. The low beam will come on, stay on for a few seconds, flick off...stay dark...come back on at random. Zero issues on high beams and zero issues on the other light. I guess I should check power supply to low beam, just for giggles.

Just a rant and to confirm that I have another lemon LED headlight.

 

[zout]

Just a thought - but I would backtrack that headlight wiring harness and make sure all the grounds are clean and nothing is sporatically shorting out (rubbing). Seeing as your driving it almost gives me the indication this might be happening - its only a thought after reading this a couple time and trying to think through it - but I am not a smart fella anyhow.

 

[goldneagle]

I am Mr. Lucky when it comes to LED headlights. From my first set, one died almost instantly (and yes, I took great care grounding them properly). Failure mode was: low beam went out, but all LED (including the ones used by low beam) lit up nicely on high beam. I replaced with two "new" ones from a vendor on the forum for an ok price.

Now one of this set has a flickering low beam. I suspect that this is a variation of the death experienced with the first one. It is on the other side of the truck, though. The low beam will come on, stay on for a few seconds, flick off...stay dark...come back on at random. Zero issues on high beams and zero issues on the other light. I guess I should check power supply to low beam, just for giggles.

Just a rant and to confirm that I have another lemon LED headlight.

I had a problem with the LED headlights on my M923. Ended up being a bad hi/low switch. Check to make sure yours clicks easily.

 

[Jeepsinker]

All of mine have been that same failure mode. Try drilling or cutting some ventilation holes in the back of the headlight buckets. You'll notice that on the back of the headlights there are large heatsinks, but no provision for airflow around them at all. I'm beginning to think they get hot and the drivers fail because the heatsink has no airflow.
Edit: I would cut or drill some holes in the top and the bottoms of them to get the best airflow, and not just a couple holes either. The more the better.

 

[muthkw25]

LEDS produce almost no heat because there is no filament. It's a light emitting diode. I would look elsewhere for the problems.

 

[Jeepsinker]

No the LEDs don't, the drivers do. There are transistors in the housing that drive those high powered LEDs and they produce a lot of heat, hence the reason for the large heatsink on the back of the lights.

 

[welldigger]

Yall are both wrong. Led's emit almost no infrared light. The diodes themselves get very hot. Look at any led light bar and the housing is one giant heatsink. In fact when building led fixtures you bond the led itself to the heatsink with thermal adhesive. Depending on the driver type they usually emit very little heat. In fact buck drivers may only get warm to the touch while the light emitting diode would burn you.

On a related note I have come to the conclusion trucklite military lights are garbage. I am the self proclaimed trucklite hater. Even the cheapest led light bars have far superior circuitry compared to trucklite circuits. Trucklite uses the cheapest components. I have directed one myself.

 

[jwaller]

I've had the same results. I've had 3 of them die the same way now. Sucks as I like the way they work but don't last long. I have stopped using mine all the time and just use them at night. The new A5 hemmet trucks use a new projector light. Should be better but I have no idea of the cost.

 

[Jeepsinker]

That is an led projector. Made by J.W. Speaker.

 

[Jeepsinker]

And I know that you aren't going to tell me that the heat sink being covered and having no airflow has nothing to do with failures. There is no way that having a heatsink covered is a good thing.

 

[Suprman]

Trucklite has a newer style led headlight it's multi volt and the light is better directed for road use

 

[welldigger]

Trucklite has a newer style led headlight it's multi volt and the light is better directed for road use

I hope it's better than the garbage they were making before.

 

[Suprman]

 

[welldigger]

And I know that you aren't going to tell me that the heat sink being covered and having no airflow has nothing to do with failures. There is no way that having a heatsink covered is a good thing.

I agree that the heatsink being closed in can't be great for these lights. However, I don't think that's the direct cause.

The more I research led failures the more I realize these lights don't fit the template for diodes burning out due to overheating.

They act more like a solder joint failing. Thus, causing an open circuit. This explains why so many will fail on low beam while every diode still functions on high beam. Now I do believe heat is an indirect cause along with trucklites very poor heat dissipation design. They use a very hard and rigid potting compund. I believe there is a disproportion in how much the potting material expands and contracts to how much the circuitry expands and contracts. Especially since there isn't just one layer of pcb in these things. There are multiple layers stacked on each other with only hard potting between them.

 

[todds112]

That's a shame to hear. I thought that was the payoff for LED's: expensive, but lasted much much longer than regular bulbs. Doesn't sound like They're worth it.

 

[welldigger]

Now these would look great on my deuce since I'm blacking out my whole grille. Unfortunately they are rather expensive. USA made though and 24v.

 

[Castle Bravo]

Now these would look great on my deuce since I'm blacking out my whole grille. Unfortunately they are rather expensive. USA made though and 24v.View attachment 503349

They are 12v or 24v. I put some on my M1070.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...ition-thread&p=1570274&viewfull=1#post1570274

 

[welldigger]

I wish you hadn't shown me that. Now I really want some!!

 

[Castle Bravo]

I wish you hadn't shown me that. Now I really want some!!

They're pretty dang cool. I was reading about them and the first versions of them had cooling fans.

 

[welldigger]

If they weren't almost $800 for a pair I would have already ordered them. The reviews I'm finding for them seem to rate them as excellent.