The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

If this is a constant problem and heated LED headlights are not available for the vehicle, halogens are the answer. The heat emitted from the halogen bulb will prevent the headlight from freezing over.

 

Osram Super Bright 100/90w H4s FTW!

That said, the SmartHeat option is pretty neat.

 

Which is exactly why cities in Cold weather climates should never switch to LED traffic signal lights.

 

This begs the question; when are the benefits of LED eroded enough/completely by the use of heating elements to offset the lack of heat output?

 

Heating elements are not needed. The lights just need to be brighter!

 

"Bright" does not melt snow and ice. And brighter might just be more blinding for oncoming drivers.

 

I was referring to a higher output chip that would generate more heat.

 

Doesn't work that way.
The majority of the heat is generated by the driver circuit at the base were the power plugs in.
The visible light doesn't generate much heat

 

OMG! Last time I make a joke on this thread. LOL!

 

Correct! ^^^^^ But most folks don't know this. @crashnburn80 has the surface temperature numbers for all of the Diode Dynamics SS3 series (Sport, Pro, Max) both front and rear someplace. At the lens, there isn't an appreciable difference. At the rear / heat sink side though, there's a huge difference.

 

While the driver circuitry does produce some heat (and can produce a significant amount, especially if its trying to drop the 12-14v input voltage to the low 3v range for an LED), LEDs themselves also produce a signficant amount of heat. They are significantly more efficient at converting electrical energy into useful light than incandescent, but they sre not 100% efficient. I believe the theoretical efficiency limit for white light from led's is in the high 300-low 400 lumen/watt range. Typical LEDs now are about 1/3 of that, and their efficiency drops off significantly as they are pushed towards higher levels of power input/light output.

So they need a thermal pathway that can pull the heat they produce away from the fragile LED chip and phosphor layer, or the phosphor will burn off and the blue diode will burn itself out.

A higher output chip *can* produce more heat if it is driven harder. And if it is producing more light, then some of that extra light will also be going to heat the lens/optic. But white LEDs produce very small/insignificant amounts of IR wavelengths, which is the primary thing causing temp increases on the lens of a halogen headlight. So in places that have cold weather and lots of ice/snowy conditions, halogen remains the superior choice for a lamp. We tend to think of incandescent tech ology as being outdated because it is "inefficient." It is only inefficient if the energy it is producing in spectrums outside our ability to see as light are not being used. So halogens are less efficient in those terms in the middle of summer, because we don't need our headlight lenses heated. But then they are therefore More efficient in cold weather, because that "waste energy as heat" is no longer being wasted, it is serving a purpose that would otherwise have to be met by the addition of some other heating element in a "more efficient" LED lamp.

 

Halogen headlights vs DD SS3 Pro’s vs KC G4’s

 

Drove over the pass this afternoon on a windy 2 lane highway with moderate to heavy fog, with freezing rain and sticking snow. At times everything was just such a white fog it was challenging to identify oncoming vehicles even with their headlights on and with complete ground cover in compact snow and ice there were no lane identifiers. Here lighting performance was about being seen rather than aiding in seeing. All flat surfaces on the JT were caked in heavy snow/ice. Had I kept the OEM LED headlights and LED fogs I would have been all but invisible to oncoming traffic. But with the heated JW Speaker headlights and hot yellow SS3 Pro fogs, I was able to maintain light output to be sure other oncoming drivers could see the truck. It is reasons like this that a lighting solution that is unable to clear snow/ice is an unacceptable solution to me. I had never considered it being an issue in the daytime, but today it was and the installed lighting solutions were up to the task.

 

With a -47 W/C, there ain’t anythin’ heatin’ or meltin’ here. Be lucky if it works at all. I couldn’t agree more. See or be seen is what it’s all about.

 

My halogens clear themselves at -40 just fine. Must be a Canadian thing.

 

Hal can do anything, Right?........Dave.

 

Surprised you haven't stepped up to the Max SS3s yet! I am still trying to decide whether the cost/benefit is there for me yet. Maybe I'll make my mind up by the next sale.

 

The yellow Max SS3s are definitely going on, I need to get to that. Been struggling with getting the JW J3s properly aimed, which has been a pain with the 9”->7” adapter design.

 

Didn't realize that the JL/JT platform had 9" headlights. Who makes the adapter, is it fiddly? Would love to see some pics of the truck, even though many Toyota fans here think JEEP BAD.

 

The adapters are Morimoto, but 100% identical to JW Speaker. There is only one axis plane of adjustment, 45 degrees up right or 45 degrees down left. And the headlights must be removed for the adjustment to be made, then reinstalled to check it.

I started a build thread over here, still need to fill it out significantly more:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/crashnburn80s-supercharged-gladiator-mojave-build.700918/