2" LED Off-Road Light

Boogalooper

New member
First off if this is the wrong section sorry, wasn't really sure where to put it.

I came across a nifty little 2" square LED light that seems like it would work pretty well for camp/work lights, maybe even auxiliary lighting.

Comes in 4 different beam patterns. Elliptical/Medium/Narrow/Wide beam patterns, no idea how different they are so much info I have no idea about :Wow1:

If others know more and think they would be at least decent when I get my bumper welded together I will get a few and stick them in there to see how well they work.
http://shop.autoanything.com/lights/65A5321A0A0.aspx
$119
Free shipping

Watts: 10
Lumens: 900
Draw: .75 amps @ 12 volts
Mounting Depth: 1.5"
he brightest compact LED off-road lamps on the market
Choose 2”, 4” and 6” housings, each packed with 10 watt LED bulbs
Each bulb produces 900 lumens—brighter than halogen lights
LED bulbs boast a 50,000 hour lifespan
Works on virtually any vehicle thanks to the variable 9 - 50 volt DC input
Easy 2 wire installation
Available in narrow beam, medium beam, wide beam and elliptical beam
2” lights interlock modularly for endless mounting options
Rugged die-cast aluminum housing
Impenetrable to dust and submersible up to 3 meters
Includes wiring harness, relay and switch
Some models come with your choice of black or white housings
Your Solstice LED Off-Road Lights are backed by a Lifetime Warranty


visionx_xil_s1100.jpg

It all seems really nice, but I don't know enough about lights to know how bright 900 lumens is, or if these would bee good for extra lighting. I think a few of these recessed into a bumper would be great. Extra back up lights for sure but I don't know how they would work for up front.

For how small they are they may be great for a clean look.
 
Last edited:

4x4junkie

Explorer
900 lumens is close to that of a single 55W halogen fog or driving light.

I've always had a tough time with LED lights such as those because of their far too high color temperatures (5000-6000°K). This gives them a distinctly bluish color, which creates more glare and diminishes contrast farther out, making them about worthless next to a good quality halogen incandescent lamp or many HID lamps. Your results may vary however, seems different people's eyes respond differently to LED light. :confused:
 

Jay H

servicedriven.org
I am a total LED lighting geek and have been building my own battery powered lights for night riding on my mountain bike. The LED used in that is a seoul P7. Its pretty old as far as LEDs go. It will probably be a bad color temp 6000 or more and in reality its wont be 900 lumens. The focusing optic will not be 100% and as soon as it heats up the efficiency will go down. Its probably about 700 real out the front Lumens. At least they are not claiming 1000 like the china manufactures. Most of what you are paying for is the die cast housing which does look good.

I run a helmet mounted light that punches out 1200 real measured lumens and is about the size of a deck of playing cards and has a 4000K pure white beam. I like it a lot. LEDs are now subject to moores law like computers so expect to see some small cheap crazy bright stuff in the near future.

I really like 4000-5000k color provided its a nice neutral tint and not shifted to blue or green.

Some time in the future I may post some about home brew LED lighting systems. I am even considering producing kits. Something in the realm of 400-500 dollars with 4000k color and 10,000 lumens in a 1" x 1" x 35" form factor should be possible.

I am shocked no one here on the portal seems be building lights.
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
I am shocked no one here on the portal seems be building lights.

Funny you say that... I'm currently putting together a rechargeable LED lantern to hopefully put an end to hassles with mantles & the noisy consumption of whole bottles of propane every night (all while still not having enough light at times too :Wow1:).
Started with a Malibu landscape (tier) light (a good metal one) and am building it out of that.


I've considered purchasing lights similar to those the OP posted, and then change out the LEDs to something more reasonable like the 4000°K you mention. Of course this requires you have some experience working with SMDs though (not to mention it would certainly void any warranty on the light too :( ).

Those 4000K LED light kits do sound interesting though.
 

Mitubitchy 3.5

Adventurer
Hi, I got four of these on my Roof, two wide and two medium.

Here some Beamshots, first without any lights, second Pic only LEDs and the last with two Hella FF500 and
the standart light of my Truck.

N8ZeO.jpg


CXlOx.jpg



ZJ2i9.jpg

From the front
yz7yB.jpg

Close up

kjUbK.jpg

Im very happy with the performance...

Stephan
 

Jay H

servicedriven.org
I have never even tried to solder a surface mount led as surface mount soldering with out air re-flow is a risky proposition. That and a new cree xt-e has solder pads that are about 1mm x 3mm and if its off by move than .05mm the optic will not work right. When upgrading I just measure the diameter and height of the LED, optic or reflector and the board the led is soldered to. I then find a suitable replacement consisting of a LED pre-soldered to an aluminum board and a new reflector or optic designed for the LED. The current best lumen per dollar is the cree xt-e, the flat out best single chip device is the cree xm-l. The XM-L is rather large and can handle big current and would be a great replacement for a SSC P7 like in the light mentioned above. Just choose a suitably sized optic from carclo or ledil.

Here is a pretty sweet housing that is not at all expensive, just add electronics, led and optic.
http://www.easy2led.com/index.php?m...id=181&zenid=c1e19898e43429d6835307291315e597

It fits 22mm led and optic combos quite well.

I know its annoying to those of us in north America that this company is the only place to buy bleeding edge LED technology from cree, a us company since this company is in Australia. But unless you want a box containing a reel of 1000 devices this is the only way to go.
cutter.com.au

ledsupply.com has a few options how ever.

This is the place to get awesome american made electronics that are unrivaled in quality and function.
taskled.com

I think I will eventually post a whole lot more on this subject if folks are interested.
 

4x4junkie

Explorer
XM-Ls are what I'm using for my lantern.

I've yet to attempt changing an LED in a manufactured light, but I have done so with other SMDs, either by warming the PCB, or in the case of some two-contact devices (resistors, etc.), I've been able to do it using a soldering iron with a modified tip. Working with SMDs is no fun though (I've destroyed a few in my early experiences lol). A magnifier of some sort is obviously mandatory if you want to be able to see what the heck you're doing.


www.digikey.com sells a number of Cree LEDs singly or in low qty., though they don't appear to have them pre-mounted on aluminum discs, just the straight LED emitters themselves.
 

DR1665

Gearheads United
I, for one, would definitely be interested in learning more about how to DIY some quality, LED lighting.
 

Jay H

servicedriven.org
I, for one, would definitely be interested in learning more about how to DIY some quality, LED lighting.

I may be able to find some time after the overland expo to write up a decent article. I have been home brewing diode lights for a while. In the mean time there is an absolutely over whelming amount of info here : http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-diy-do-yourself/

I know exactly what i want and what most want when it comes to mountain bike lighting and moto lighting but learning what people want for expedition and general off road use will will be neat.

I should also add that there are some ok chinese made light heads for mountain biking that are not unlike the one in the link above but with a charger and battery pack included for quite a bit less money.
 

DR1665

Gearheads United
Thanks for sharing, Jay! Very nice! You have to register to see any of the locally hosted images, but those hotlinked from other sites still show.

The beamshot thread is particularly useful for finding neat projects to consider, as it looks like people share pictures of the beams produced by their DIY LED lighting projects out in the field, then link to their project build threads, where you can often see the specific hardware used.

I think this sort of tech would be particularly useful to overlanders, as LED is lighter, more efficient, and more durable than other forms of lighting. These guys are designing lighting solutions which they mount to their helmets, often reporting weight in grams, and coming up with powerful lights that reach upwards of 100ft on rechargeable battery power. I suspect a lot of the technology would be useful for house and exterior lighting on "expedition" vehicle, as well as portable lighting needs like lanterns and flashlights.

Very useful links, sir. Thank you!
 

t4rman

Adventurer
These solstice pods look like they would be great for aux lighting. Does anyone have experience with their flood lights? I'm a little weary of LED floods but love the low amp draw.
 

Jay H

servicedriven.org
Actually it's very easy to get a flood from an LED. Getting a narrow focused beam is a little tougher. Most led out there are 125deg with no optic or reflector. It's very easy to get that down to 40 to 60deg. I use Cree xpg with an optic that makes for a 10mm x 10mm x 7mm foot print and that gets down to about a 24 deg beam. To get a 5 to 10 deg I would need a massive 35mm reflector. Even with a larger XML LED all that is needed for a flood is a 20mm optic.
 

t4rman

Adventurer
Actually it's very easy to get a flood from an LED. Getting a narrow focused beam is a little tougher. Most led out there are 125deg with no optic or reflector. It's very easy to get that down to 40 to 60deg. I use Cree xpg with an optic that makes for a 10mm x 10mm x 7mm foot print and that gets down to about a 24 deg beam. To get a 5 to 10 deg I would need a massive 35mm reflector. Even with a larger XML LED all that is needed for a flood is a 20mm optic.

Thanks for the reply. Good information to know.
 

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