Does anyone make a decent LED festoon?

[TheIntruder]

After searching the archives, I'm aware of this one, as well as the Malkoff, but the latter is too short, and the former appears to be yet more short-lived, eBay-like stuff.

I still think LEDs, or at least the super-white ones so favored, are too harsh for the interior, so I'm sticking with the standard C10W and C5W Minixen for those.

This would be for the boot and bonnet mount, so the standards are lower, but the fixture is only about 1" wide and takes a C10W, so the three-panel one from the UK probably won't fit.

Philips has two versions, in X-treme and Vision, as well as 4000K and 6000K flavors, but if the specs are to be believed, they only produce 45lm, same as a C5W, and far from the 100lm of a C10W. They also appear to be the usual Asian-sourced stuff, but at least they'd have the backing of a real company and not some random seller.

Osram only makes a C5W, also in two temperatures, but they aren't rated to be any brighter.

Neither the Philips nor the Osram have glowing reviews (har har), nor am I aware of any plain incandescent "upgrades" for the C10W to consider as an alternative.

 

[Norm]

yet more short-lived, eBay-like stuff.

I replaced the interior light in one of My Daughter's cars with an ebay cheapy, still going strong after several years use.

Norm

 

[more_vampires]

Question, OP. What is something like a 12v 18watt LMP 6475 incan not doing for you? I tried to get LED replacement for that and they were all dimmer.

I have legit turn signals (hella) that take the LMP 6475.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

For battery life, the LED option would be the way to go. If you're changing a tyre and leave the boot open during the change, then the power savings from LEDs would pay off. Similarly, when trying to futz around under the bonnet (or even getting a jump start) an LED for the bonnet would be great. The LED light may light up well enough to light the accumulator terminals, even when the accumulator is too far down to attempt get a filament glowing. This could make finding and identifying the terminals much easier, preventing polarity reversal.

 

[-Virgil-]

After searching the archives, I'm aware of this one (...)appears to be yet more short-lived, eBay-like stuff.

In fact, if it'll physically fit your application this is the one to buy. In my experience it is a fantastic bulb, worth paying to mail to the US from the UK, though it sounds like you might already be in the UK. And it comes in warm white -- that's the type I've got in my own vehicle, and the light quality is (subjectively) extremely close to the incandescent; there's just more of it with less power draw.

Philips has two versions, in X-treme and Vision, as well as 4000K and 6000K flavors, but if the specs are to be believed, they only produce 45lm, same as a C5W, and far from the 100lm of a C10W.

Well, yes. The idea is to replace a C5W bulb.

They also appear to be the usual Asian-sourced stuff

Most based LED products like this are made in Asia. There is an enormous difference between the no-name garbage and the products sold by the likes of Philips.

You're probably better off getting an LED trouble light or "head light" (with elastic band for strapping aorund your head) for those times when you need to poke around in the engine or luggage compartment with extra light.

 

[TheIntruder]

Thanks everyone.

I was wondering about the existence of something like the 6475, but I'm wary of almost doubling the wattage, and its use in a small fixture.

JMG has a "10 watt" single-board version of their festoon that would probably fit. Does anyone have any experience with it, and does it live up to the larger one?

While I recognize that the vast majority of electronics are now produced in Asia, what I find odd about the Philips units is that they appear to be rather mundane, like they were just sourced from an ODM, instead of having their own design like Osram does with their LED festoons. They may be effective, and good quality, but it doesn't appear a lot of effort was put into them. I also thought they could have made the 42mm version brighter, rather than retaining the same design as the 38mm version.

 

[teslaguy]

I recently upgraded to a 5K VLEDS festoon and am very satisfied. http://www.vleds.com/bulb-type/festoon-dome-vanity.html

 

[Blue Sky]

I recently upgraded to a 5K VLEDS festoon and am very satisfied. http://www.vleds.com/bulb-type/festoon-dome-vanity.html

Not happy with my light output of my dome lamp has got me searching also. These look very bright. Is this just marketing claim like the others or are these the real deal worthy of $20 or more?

 

[Blue Sky]

Just in case someone else stumbles across this thread, I saw these They seem like they will fit the bill. I'll know in a few days.

 

[TheIntruder]

How did they turn out?


Still digging around, and came across this--

Separated at birth?

Osram LEDrivng

Philips Vision

I have one of the latter in front of me, and they appear to be identical right down to the laser marking.

Both must come from the same supplier in Taiwan. Osram is using the older Philips Xtreme-style packaging.

These companies seem to treat the Asian/AUS/NZ markets slightly differently, with stuff the rest of the world doesn't get.

 

[TheIntruder]

In the ongoing quest, I've acquired a few of the Philips XTV festoons in both 4000K and 6000K flavors.

While Philips' products are truer to their CCT rating than the typical no-name stuff, I still found the slight tinge of blue in the 6000K bulb not to my liking. To my eyes, the 4000K is more of a pure, but not warm, white.

In an interior that takes a mixture of C5W and C10Ws, I found the lighting to be adequate, but a bit uncomfortable, confirming that the colder temperature, and glare of the emitters aren't for me, at least in this type of application.

In the trunk application, the loss of half the lumens (vs. the C10W) didn't make as much of an impact as I thought. And since the fixture is shielded from direct view, glare wasn't an issue. The colder light was also less of an issue in this strictly utilitarian application. But the real limitation in this situation is the size and location of fixture, below the parcel shelf, and I suspect even a brighter source like a C18W or C21W wouldn't help much. I may keep the LED in this app, since the lighting isn't noticeably degraded, and the low current draw is helpful, but I wish Philips had a version with two emitters instead of one. Anything more than slightly wider than a standard festoon will not fit in the fixture.

I've never the appeal of lighting one's license plate like a Times Square billboard, but I tried the LEDs in the plate lighting just for kicks. Way too bright, potentially distracting, and rotating them slightly to address that resulted in uneven lighting. The only good to come of this was that I was made aware of the serious blackening of the existing bulbs, so I now know to replace them.

 

[Bogie]

I have asked Gene to produce longer units as I'm a Jeep guy and they need longer ones, ask on the website contact maybe if more peoplr do he will consider it. I have modified a few sets of his bulbs by braking off the end caps from a incan bulb and soldering them to the Malkoff

 

[Yoda4561]

I just went ahead and ordered that 15w equivalent festoon from the UK in warm white. Pretty sure it'll fit the dome light in my car, I'll update when it gets here.

 

[Bogie]

Here is what 2x of the Malkoff units look like

 

[TheIntruder]

A ~41mm Malkoff would be great for me.

For whatever reason, the big, legit manufacturers like Philips and Osram are only producing "5W" equivalents in the "10W" size.

It's doubly puzzling since a lot of the European OEMs, and their big customers, tend to favor C5W and C10Ws, while the Japanese and others like the shorter sizes.

Osram now has a 41mm LEDriving festoon, but it produces the same 30lm or so as their 36mm version.

Philips is the same, though theirs are a little brighter, at least for the XTV line. Their Asian markets did get a two emitter version, but only in the 36mm size. And Osram Asia is apparently sourcing their festoons from the same Taiwanese supplier that produces Philips' Vision festoon line.

I'm gonna roll the dice a try one of the 5630/5730 SMD-based Chinese specials and see how they do. They seem to be more efficient than the 5050s. The "Cree" XP-E, XB-D, and XP-G units are also interesting, but I don't know how well they'd do without any optics.

 

[boo5ted]

Top pics are 3 DDM 9 led festoons, bottom is just one of the dLights.

Specs:

Six Lite-On 5630 LEDs
Available in the following color temperatures:
3000K (warm white - very similar to incandescent)
4000K (neutral white - similar to OEM Lexus lighting)
5000K (pure white - no blue!)

Constant-current driven at 120mA
40 x 24mm
2mm thick aluminum PCB with 2oz^ft copper
Approximate lumen output @ 120mA:
3000K - 312 lumens
4000K - 330 lumens
5000K - 324 lumens
For reference, a standard 10W incandescent festoon bulb is around 75 lumens. The dLight 2.0 produces more than 4x the light at about 1/3 the power consumption!

 

[Alaric Darconville]

3000K (warm white - very similar to incandescent)

2mm thick aluminum PCB with 2oz^ft copper

I like that they still offer a near-incandescent color temperature. And it seems like they've covered heatsinking pretty well, too!

 

[boo5ted]

Heatsinking is definitely covered lol. I had them on for a few hours the other night and didn't get hot at all. They were still cool to the touch.

 

[TheIntruder]

Too bad there isn't a narrow rectangular version like you'll find in many Euro interior lights. 24mm is too wide.

Anyone one the pro's and con's of COB-style LEDs vs. discrete components?

 

[ameli0rate]

Osram LEDrivng

I put the Sylvania LEDriving (they're marked Sylvania here in Texas) in my license plate lights and as the City bulbs in my headlights and am amazed at how they look. I wouldn't hesitate to spring for them in other locations if I needed a reliable light that looks good.

However, in my 2006 Volvo V70, I needed nine bulbs for the interior and I wanted WARM white because I like that luxury library, wood & books feeling of the interior under that light.
I found these on eBay, cheap Chinese stuff, but I hesitate to call it "crap" (they work!), but for the price it was worth trying.

The light was actually just what I wanted. Warm and inviting.

Here are some pictures of what I swapped around. I like the side-by-side pictures the best as they best show the difference between incandescent and LED.