LED Light Recommendations For Number Plate Lights

wasabi · Postby **wasabi** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:15 am

Hi All

So I'm doing the old trick of replacing the T10 globes in the number plate lights.

As I have found in my previous cars, there can be a bit of trial & error when it comes to doing this... Not because it's a difficult task, but to find the right lights which produce the desired amount of light (Especially when they also double as your boot light as it is in the NB's). Generally this means more LED's which makes for a larger globe... Then fitting them into the standard enclosure can be a bit of a task.

Hoping that someone may have gone through this bit of trial & error & can point me in the right direction in regards to which is the best brand &/or light configuration it would be fantastic.

PS - I'm also going to replace the interior light with an LED cluster which in the past I've found has been able to illuminate the cabin to at least twice the brightness. I'm also educating myself about LED headlamps (Yes I know, but slow at getting on the band wagon) as a possible alternative to going the traditional HID's.

Cheers

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:56 pm

Why would you bother replacing lic plate bulbs unless they fail. Old technology , cheap, reliable available anywhere. The existing bulbs fit into standard bulb holders or apertures and provide adequate light to identify the reg plate etc. As for led headlamps these are still far from std equipment as factory figment and again standard lighting systems in modern cars work very well. Everyone seems to think all lighting is designed to emit max light but that's not strictly true. Tail light turn sigs etc are designed not to dazzle and annoy other motorists. Led drls I do get because they are meant to be seen. The car designers fit and design lights which comply with lighting regs and its tightly controlled.

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:55 pm

I've done this and found that the eBay T10 light is correct for the numberplate, but you may desire complete coverage and so be disappointed with the "gap" in the middle. your judgement will tell you which is correct - but avoid those with the metal surround on the LEDs themselves. Also don't be fooled by the "we have eleventy LEDs in our T10" as they won't fit.

Interior light however, I've found that going for a warm white LED in the correct length results in a very acceptable aftermarket solution with more brightness and a factory looking colour.

taminga16 · Postby **taminga16** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 11:09 pm

Mr M,
I have just taken delivery of a new Mazda BT-50, I travel with the parkers on and I must say the incandescent bulbs were nothing short of insipid and as such I have replaced them all with LED'S. A recommendation for the OP would be a visit to JAYCAR, they stock a T10 replacement with four LED'S in cool white for about $4.00.
Greg.
P.S. remember that LED'S are polarity sensitive.

wasabi · Postby **wasabi** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 3:05 pm

Thanks for the feedback guys. I've heard the stuff from Jaycar is good, so might give them a go to start with & see if they perform to my liking.

Regarding the possibility of LED head lights, would this be as simple as replacing the globes with appropriate LED's or installing an HID kit? Or is there more to it? Given there aren't many factory cars with these (Especially at lower price levels) I'm unclear as to what the set up differences are... I'm assuming it wouldn't be any different to a LED downlight vs. a standard downlight, but who knows

Mr Morlock wrote:Why would you bother replacing lic plate bulbs unless they fail. Old technology , cheap, reliable available anywhere. The existing bulbs fit into standard bulb holders or apertures and provide adequate light to identify the reg plate etc. As for led headlamps these are still far from std equipment as factory figment and again standard lighting systems in modern cars work very well. Everyone seems to think all lighting is designed to emit max light but that's not strictly true. Tail light turn sigs etc are designed not to dazzle and annoy other motorists. Led drls I do get because they are meant to be seen. The car designers fit and design lights which comply with lighting regs and its tightly controlled.

LED's have become widely used as they use less power, produce less heat & generally speaking can provide more light. In my case, I simply don't like the old yellow lights. If you see an MX5 at night with HID's & LED is the appropriate places, you'd be shocked at the difference it makes to the look.

Might be piss poor justification, but it's my thoughts / opinion

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 11:46 pm

Quality LEDs and drls are not cheap but quality units do a very good job. Just look at most OEM LEDs and compare to the poor aftermarket units on some vehicles.

Automotive headlamps are not like home lighting. A car headlamp has very carefully optimised light performance some of course better than others. Even today projector lamps are very common and it's really quite old technology but it works well.

wasabi · Postby **wasabi** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:24 pm

So sounds like if you want whiter / bright head lights, you're better off going for some top notch globes or going HID's rather than muck around with LED's

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 5:29 pm

Whiter lights don't necessarily mean vision is better, often it can make it worse.

And brighter just annoys every other person on the road.

as far as I'm concerned HIDs are an awful lighting system that seems to add nothing but glare to other drivers, eye fatigue from the glare, and does very little for actual vision.
I'm talking about both factory and aftermarket HIDs here, factory are slightly less glary, but I still havent been in any car with headlights that beat halogen bulbs for visibility in all conditions.

/endrant.

davekmoore · Postby **davekmoore** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:26 am

This tread was mostly about LEDs for the rear number plate lights, I guess partly because on an SE it's possible to leave the boot ever so slightly not closed which leaves these lights on and the battery likely to suffer?

Regarding white headlamps, SWMBO's Skoda Superb has Xenons which are just amazing on unlit country roads at night. Way brighter, whiter, and project much further and wider. Highly recommended.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 2:47 pm

Xenons or gas discharge or HIDs whatever you want to call them-they were introduced on OE in Europe for top of the line cars. It was something for those that could afford it to out do those that could not. BMW always played the game years ago to have other signatures on their lamps just so as you would know it was a Bimmer- that was more aesthetic than anything else. Yesterday's technology becomes more affordable so more ordinary cars may have them on mid range models. I wonder what the MX5 HID was like- apparently these were an option overseas for OEM??

The big issue with lamps designed by OEMs is control of light and that means sharp cut off and of course good performance for driver and other road users.The lamps are subject to ADR and full testing by the maker as well. Europe also used self levelling and washers all to do with eliminating dazzle. A quality HID light is a great thing to have BUT you cannot just throw some components into a headlamp or for that matter buy some aftermarket thing and expect it to perform well or not annoy others.

LED headlamps are very new- how they perform and how much to make and engineer and final cost I don't know. I don't think led light bars are aesthetically attractive and us poor motorists can mistake them for cameras!

HKS comments- sit behind the drivers seat in some of the local Fords with halogen lamps and even cars made years ago and you will be really taken back with performance esp on high beam - it was the great performance on hi beam that killed off the need for add on driving lights.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 5:45 pm

further to the lic plate lbulbss as Dave reminded. On my NB the lamps are mounted on the boot lid and to turn them on the park bulbs must be switched on. I recall somewhere that the lic plate lamps are tricky to remove i.e. breaking the retainers which are part of the lamp?

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:10 pm

On my SE the number plate/boot lights come on as soon as open the bootlid even without the park lamps on. Broke one of the tabs on mine when I took them out to fit with LED's, but was able to repair it.

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:41 pm

Mr Morlock wrote:HKS comments- sit behind the drivers seat in some of the local Fords with halogen lamps and even cars made years ago and you will be really taken back with performance esp on high beam - it was the great performance on hi beam that killed off the need for add on driving lights.

The Fords/Holdens are the main ones I mean when I say that a good Halogen system is better than most HIDs.

My father has had Falcons for work, so I've dríven most Falcons since about the EB (Early 1990s)
They've all been halogen, and have all had great headlights.

Even my girlfriend's Kingswood has brilliant headlights, again normal halogens (same as an NA MX5 actually, 7inch semi sealed H4)