My son just put an LED bar on his jeep and we took a quick drive with it a couple nights ago.
It is quite floody. Too much light lost on road and in the sky - seriously, it light the entire height of a 40+ foot tree. I’m thinking an optic like I’ve seen for bikes that flattens the beam somewhat would be very nice.
It also has the dreaded bluish, almost purplish emitters. High CRI would be ok, but just something in the 3C tint range would probably be a lot better.
I think he said the bar had the option of more throwy optics, but it seems like a mix of 2 throwy and 4 floody would have worked, too.
I’ve been looking for power supplies and heatsinks to make a LED light fixture, something i can plug into the wall and light a room, i’m not sure if thats what your looking at
1. user replaceable optics ( flood, spot, elliptical or combination)
2. emitter upgrade option would be nice too. (xml-u2 or xm-l2 on your base unit would be great)
3. High CRI would be good.
4. included switch controls panel for on-off, low(DRL)-high(off-road use) or user customizable
5. a BLF friendly price will be the cherry on top.
dont want to kill this thread with a pipe dream, so…
what he says sounds good… hi cri not so important to me for an offroad light bar. might make cost to function ratio too high
low for driving light would need to be low…
controls for switch panel could be a variable switch for 3 sets of lights. sets could be a pair of emitters to a pair of triple emitters…
Just wasn’t sure if people in this particular subforum knew about us.
That is some impressive CAD work and design but yes, it looks extremely pricey to implement.
I also believe PilotPTK has his hands too full on his current projects to help us. We tried contacting him about a separate thing a while ago to no response. I’ll try shooting him another line.
For now at least, I’ve been looking at some existing products from China that I could modify and spec out.
In California at least, I’m a little fuzzy on the laws for auxiliary lighting but they appear to be illegal to use for regular roads. If we did make the light easy to modify (replaceable optics) that would severely compromise warranty, I’m not sure exactly how many people would would want to buy a DIY kit over a complete package. Granted I’m still taking input and looking at possible options.
Currently I have received some samples from a Chinese manufacturer and this is a test from a 40” light bar with 80 XB-Ds and 240W total.
almost all decent auxiliary lights state “for offroad use only”, at least all i have looked at do. i think lighting laws are national, maybe an exception for some local laws.
whats the expected retail of the sample in the photo, and got a pic? is it an all on/off setup or is there any sort of control on output?
Expected retail of most 40” LED light bars with around the same specifications range from 500-1000+, the current sample I am looking at would be in the lower range. This light is a simple off/on.
for off-road lighting you need decent CRI (75) and throw, which is difficult to get with optics less than 20mm diameter and not easy even with that size unless you’re using XP-E type LEDs. For automotive lights, good thermal monitoring or excellent heatsinking and a driver that can deal with 25V voltage spikes would also be a must.
If I were to build some auxiliary lighting, I’d go for a mix of aspheric, spot and elliptical optics to get the beam profile I want, with lots of surface area - generally speaking I’d aim to have a max 50-60C housing temperature at walking speeds.
the photo example you posted above would be fine for slow work, but at any kind of speed the very bright close in light will cause your eyes to dilate and you won’t be able to see anything at distance. It’ll also cause a lot of back scatter from anything to the side of the trail. I don’t have any experience of motorised night time off-roading (mtbing only), but I’ve hit 30mph before and you need a lot of light up range to avoid unpleasant surprises
What about a bar that used reflectors, something easily available like c8 reflectors should output enough light for the vast majority of customers.
Say 5 or 6 c8’s, with xml’s and the central one or two being overdriven xp-g2 should provide the throw needed.
That would create a 100m+ wall of light, probably closer to 200m.
My problem with light bar’s has always been fitment, buying a brand new car and adding one permanently doesn’t sit well. So how about a removable system that would leave no trace as to it’s fitment?
Vacuum cups and an electromagnet built into the unit could work I’d like to think?
Not 100% sure on what most of these current units use to attach, but I wouldn’t be modifying my car just to add some light…what happens when you want to change the light? or sell the car on?
