Best MR16 LED to date?

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machineage

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Hi everyone!

Can anyone direct me to what is currently the brightest 12V MR16 LED at this time? I'm looking to replace four lights in a vehicle which currently has 50w halogen bulbs at present. Is there anything yet that comes close to a 50W Halogen MR16?

Also being a vehicle the voltage can range from 11.5V up to 14.6V when the alternator is running. I guess this will need to accounted for?

Thanks

Chris.
 

LEDninja

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This is the brightest I know. Unfortunately it has a flashlight type of beam - tight hotspot and spill light.

This is less bright but the hotspot is a much more useful big blob.

Neither beam is as wide as a halogen bulb.

---

There is a subforum on automotive. Mods please move.
 

machineage

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Anymore thoughts anyone?

I also just found these having done a bit more research:

http://www.ledwaves.com/Delphi-MR-16-LED-Light-Bulb-6-Watt-5x-Nichia-083BT-LEDs-p-19702.html


However - it would seem the average output of a 50W Halogen MR16 is anything from 900 - 5000 lumens depending on the angle of beam? That being the case - I'm assuming even the Delphi above falls some way short?

Am I correct in thinking then there aren't yet any LED versions that match the Halogens as yet?

Thanks to all

Chris.
 

videoman

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Try the Xleds Galaxy series as they are I beleive 8W and the beam angle is nice and wide. I use one of these as a Video light to replace my 35 watt halogen.. Nice..
 

videoman

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Chris, I forgot to mention, on the specs it says AC 12 volts, but I have it on a 14.5 volt DC battery and it works just fine. I think for now it's the brightest MR16 out there. It has it's own buck driver and a teeny weeny fan in it (inaudible). I also know a friend that uses 3 of them interior in his van. The cool white one is brighter than the warm white.
 

blasterman

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Am I correct in thinking then there aren't yet any LED versions that match the Halogens as yet?

50watt halogen MR16 = the out-put of two entire MC-Es...not a couple of Nichias. However, if their main client is jewelry stores than perhaps we have high CRI Nichias here. Different solution for a different problem, but the 400 lumen / 7watt claim is laughable. Must be one hellava efficient driver and an unobtanium heat-sink :cool:

I have a couple warm/neutral white Bridgelux arrays mounted on a test rig at home, and combined at 800 lumen they make the out-put of a 50-watt Halogen look stupid. Problem is they need a heatsink the size of a grapefruit, so you'll never see them in MR-16 size. That's the problem....handling the heat generated from that much light. Evolux has a bulb with active cooling to handle the issue.

Right now I don't trust *any* bargain LED MR-16 because I don't trust the driver.
 

videoman

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OK so what is the brightest MR16 out there for our friend Chris ??? anyone??
 

WeLight

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OK so what is the brightest MR16 out there for our friend Chris ??? anyone??

We have these made with Cree Q2 Warm white
http://www.cutter.com.au/proddetail.php?prod=cut927
you will notice the extra length of the body which allows these to drive to 500ma. These make 260 Lumen in warm and 320 on cold. Anyone making claims of higher lumens without at least this much heatsinking should be viewed with caution
 

mboni

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Do you have to have MR16? Does it need to be road-legal?

If you want some nice off-road LED light assemblies, someone here pointed me towards the products of Vision X. The Solstice Solo will match the output of a 50w halogen, it's a single 2" housing for a LED that draws 10 watts and puts out 800 lumens. They apparently can be chained together, making a pretty nice array. They aren't cheap, but seem to be a rugged and well-engineered setup.

I've been looking for a nice high-output MR16 LED, and they just don't seem to exist. The biggest problem is heat and size, if the MR16 LED assembly has any significant heat-sinking, it's far too large to fit into a reasonable sized MR16 housing. And if it didn't have any significant heat-sinking, it was probably lower output than I wanted. I decided that I'd be better off abandoning the MR16 housings I'd planned to use, and just order the Solstice Solo.
 

machineage

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Do you have to have MR16? Does it need to be road-legal?

They don't need to be road legal as such - they are for use in a Hovercraft! The MR16s are for use in fittings which I already have installed. I have two either side at the moment - although I also have two spare so I could up to three each side to increase the light output.

These are the fittings I have:

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/199170044.htm


WeLight - what is the length of the body on those lights you manufacture?

Thanks!

C.
 

WeLight

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They don't need to be road legal as such - they are for use in a Hovercraft! The MR16s are for use in fittings which I already have installed. I have two either side at the moment - although I also have two spare so I could up to three each side to increase the light output.

These are the fittings I have:

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/199170044.htm


WeLight - what is the length of the body on those lights you manufacture?

Thanks!

C.
59.7mm length, you really need an open end housing which most MR16 mounts seem to have
 

blasterman

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The biggest problem is heat and size, if the MR16 LED assembly has any significant heat-sinking, it's far too large to fit into a reasonable sized MR16 housing.

Yeah...the MR-16 format works great for Halogen, but it's severly limited in terms of LED because of thermal issues.
 

LEDninja

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Those look like 5mm LED arrays. I'd stay away from 5mm LED based lights even though in this case they are unlikely to be run 24/7.

Quote from ad "Approved for indoor applications only". Hovercraft runs outdoors OVER WATER no?

Over water requires waterproof enclosed fittings which Chris has, but they make heat removal worse, bad for LEDs and their power supplies.
 

clg0159

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Those look like 5mm LED arrays. I'd stay away from 5mm LED based lights even though in this case they are unlikely to be run 24/7.

Yeah, they do look like 5mm SMDs, but the heatsinking is supposedly "ground breaking". :eek::eek:oo: The entire site gave an interesting read...
http://www.arraylighting.com/


Over water requires waterproof enclosed fittings which Chris has, but they make heat removal worse, bad for LEDs and their power supplies.

Well, then that pretty much rules out the use of any LED product with significant output......so for this application then, nothing will match the original Halogens.
 

mboni

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Well, then that pretty much rules out the use of any LED product with significant output......so for this application then, nothing will match the original Halogens.

Not exactly true. It rules out LED in an MR16 housing, but there are LED products that use the housing itself as a heatsink. Like I said above, the Vision X products might be a good choice for this application, I know the Solstice Solo units will operate just fine while submerged in a bucket of water, and they are going to match a 55w halogen MR16 in output (800 lumens).


Edit:
Here's a link to a toyota forum where the bucket test was done:
http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/foru...7627-solstice-solo-s1102-spot-2-inch-wow.html
 
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machineage

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Thanks everyone for the replies and advice.

Well I'm currently overhauling the craft so I guess the lighting can wait and I will see what happens with the technology.

It's likely to be a year or so before she's back on the water so I'll have a look again at that time to see where we're at!

One thing is for sure - it's going in the right direction and I suspect it will only be a matter of time :twothumbs

C.
 
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