# 100 watt LED help



## thughes3

So i came upon an idea for my car last night, I am wanting to modify a (car)projector housing to accommodate a 100w LED. The led's i've found are rated at 10k Lumens each. getting it into the projector is not a problem, the problem is, I have NO idea how hot these are going to get. I am assuming I will need a heatsink of some sort, how hot does a 100w led get? air cooled vs water cooled? run a detour from the radiator through small piping for the "heatsink"? I would also like to put in a dimmer dial for them. this will be quite the project but im excited! these will be the main light source for night driving, in a projector with a clean cutoff.

any links or personal experience would be very helpful, just trying to really grasp what im getting myself into. the end result would be 2 low beams and 2 fogs = 40,000 lumens. 
My current set up is 55w 5,000k HID's, which are very very nice, lows and fogs, total producing around 5500-6500 lumens

but why settle for that when you can have something ridiculous and unnecessary right?:naughty:


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## AnAppleSnail

thughes3 said:


> These will be the main light source for night driving, in a projector with a clean cutoff.


Your current setup may not be legal; modifying your main lighting from OEM-stock surely is. Let me just quote an earlier post:



AnAppleSnail said:


> So the reason the movers and shakers of the auto lighting board are telling you that this is a bad idea, is that it is.
> 
> _1. Humans are bad at telling how well they see._
> Really, the only way to tell if headlights work well is to use a simulated driving course to match changes in reaction times to changes in headlights. The things that make you feel like you see well are the things that prevent you from seeing: Bright splashes of light nearby are comforting, soothing, and keep you from seeing far ahead.
> 
> _2. All road lighting is a compromise between seeing, being seen, and letting others see._
> Putting giant HID lights on the front of your car might let you see a long ways straight ahead on a level road. But with turns, highly reflective road signs to dazzle you, varying truck loads to point the lights at the ground or sky, and hills, you might just blind yourself or send all your light into the sky uselessly. Further, these spotlights will keep other drivers from seeing. If someone can't see due to your lighting and runs off the road (or into you), then it's on you. And if you're involved in a wreck, I wonder what your insurance company (And the other guys' lawyer!) will have to say about the illegal modification to your car's safety lighting?
> I hope that you have HIDs in appropriate housings, not just HID bulbs in halogen reflectors. But even then, federal lighting standards require extensive analysis of the setup you have in your car. Also, I think 55w HIDs are not permitted in the US for cars - but I could be remembering wrong.
> 
> _3. All safety vehicle lighting in the US is federally regulated_
> The DOT does not certify lamps, car makers do. They go to a lot of trouble and expense making lights that are safe and reliable enough for use on the road, with lab analysis to show that the lights comply with federal law. It is illegal to drive with a lighting system that is not certified. Changing any lamp parameter (Height above road, aim outside aim points, bulb type, major change to bulb output, or bulb position) un-certifies the lighting system.



Without knowing what car you have, I can't tell you if your present setup is legal. But I CAN tell you that the LEDs won't work well.

Large sources require large reflectors and do not have sharp cutoffs without massive optics. Rolling your own headlights is complex, expensive, difficult, and not legal for safety reasons. Ask your insurance company what they think of your present setup and planned modifications to safety lighting. What you've got now may be dazzling or it may be made right. Using the bridgelux will be unhelpful, not reach far enough, and make your car less safe.

You shouldn't focus on lumens. Lumens only help close up. You're looking for lux, and you want it way far down the road, with a little bit of spill up close and to the sides.

Edit: Most of those 100W LEDs are rated for 30v and 3A. Making a driver for that is difficult at best. I hope nobody makes a 12V one (12V at 8A), because these things don't belong in cars.


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## thughes3

AnAppleSnail said:


> Your current setup may not be legal; modifying your main lighting from OEM-stock surely is. Let me just quote an earlier post:
> 
> 
> 
> Without knowing what car you have, I can't tell you if your present setup is legal. But I CAN tell you that the LEDs won't work well.
> 
> Large sources require large reflectors and do not have sharp cutoffs without massive optics. Rolling your own headlights is complex, expensive, difficult, and not legal for safety reasons. Ask your insurance company what they think of your present setup and planned modifications to safety lighting. What you've got now may be dazzling or it may be made right. Using the bridgelux will be unhelpful, not reach far enough, and make your car less safe.
> 
> You shouldn't focus on lumens. Lumens only help close up. You're looking for lux, and you want it way far down the road, with a little bit of spill up close and to the sides.
> 
> Edit: Most of those 100W LEDs are rated for 30v and 3A. Making a driver for that is difficult at best. I hope nobody makes a 12V one (12V at 8A), because these things don't belong in cars.



Well if its not legal than every cop i've seen for the past 2 years just doesn't care. Legal or not I love it, night driving is greatly improved. and the led's are going to be in a projector, not a reflector. it has a lens infront of it that aims the light and doesn't blind people. is there something with LED's that im missing? im looking for more light output, i know how led's differ from HID's but that doesn't mean that the light still can't be focused through a projector.

I've retrofitted headlights before, many times. full of led's and projectors and hid's and whatever else the person wanted in their car. I've just never used LED's. so its not complex. "expensive" is relative.

Can you enlighten me on lux though? whats the difference, how does lux provide distance and lumens dont?

and as far as powering it, i was planning on just running it off the 12v already in my car, maybe a secondary one, but i've been doing some more reading and i might need a "driver"?

thanks for the info 

and my car with the HID's is a scion tc.
This project is for my Lexus is250 with after market FX-R projectors from theretrofitsource.com


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## SemiMan

AnAppleSnail should have worded his advice to you another way.

You are a colossal idiot with no respect for the other drivers on the road (obviously). The fact you can be an *** does not make it right.

I believe that was what he was trying to say.







thughes3 said:


> Well if its not legal than every cop i've seen for the past 2 years just doesn't care. Legal or not I love it, night driving is greatly improved. and the led's are going to be in a projector, not a reflector. it has a lens infront of it that aims the light and doesn't blind people. is there something with LED's that im missing? im looking for more light output, i know how led's differ from HID's but that doesn't mean that the light still can't be focused through a projector.
> 
> I've retrofitted headlights before, many times. full of led's and projectors and hid's and whatever else the person wanted in their car. I've just never used LED's. so its not complex. "expensive" is relative.
> 
> Can you enlighten me on lux though? whats the difference, how does lux provide distance and lumens dont?
> 
> and as far as powering it, i was planning on just running it off the 12v already in my car, maybe a secondary one, but i've been doing some more reading and i might need a "driver"?
> 
> thanks for the info
> 
> and my car with the HID's is a scion tc.
> This project is for my Lexus is250 with after market FX-R projectors from theretrofitsource.com


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## Bullzeyebill

SemiMan take a few days off to read Rule 4 . You comments were not appropriate, no matter how strongly you felt.

Bill


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## Optical Inferno

What the police enforce is based on what they know. In some cases they either don't think about it or have better thing to do. Up here where I live they have roadside blitz's where they pull over vehicles on off ramps that look like they may have issues (i.e. lots of rust, bald tires, etc.) that could be unsafe for other drivers. I have seen them ticket guys for having LED strips as their DRL's, those blue marker lights on their hoods, and even ground effect kits on their sports cars (saw a cop ticketing a vette). 

Either way, what you are suggesting is illegal in most states and up here in Canada for sure. If you are willing to design the projector with the LED from the ground up, have it tested and certified by a third party, then you may be on to something. The problem is the cost associated with this, not to mention tooling for the part. Your looking at $100K minimum.

P.S. I know about the ticketing thing because my buddies are mostly cops as is a few family members.


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## CfabStudios

Awesome!!! How did it turn out???


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## Norm

CfabStudios said:


> Awesome!!! How did it turn out???


The op has not logged on to CPF for over 12 months.

Norm


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