Brightest backup LEDs rated for continuous use

I am wanting to add a switch to my reverse lights to be able to use them for lighting purposes so I also want the decreased power consumption and heat of LED. The brighter bulbs all seem to be designed for short term use and overheat quickly. The better ones decrease light output when they do but I don't want to kill everyones night vision with a super bright light only to have it then dim down. Ideally they would be 5500k or less in color temp and decent CRI. Yes I know I want everything and no I don't want them to be a seperate pod light.

Any suggestions? The Triton V6s and Diode Dynamics both cut back the brightness. I would be fine with both of them if they just started at the cut back brightness.

Is there a good candidate for a bulb that could be modified? Remote driver is fine.

 

I have the MESO total tail stage 1 and love the backup light output. They are LED and I have parked the truck and kept it in reverse to keep the lights on for a while without any heat issues.

 

One-and-done. Better turn signals and brake lights, slightly modified behavior for turn/brake/backup. Comes with special resistors that balance and prevent "hyperflashing": https://www.vleds.com/featured-vehi...sions/3g-tacoma-vt-tail-light-conversion.html

Comparison:

 

Boost Bar!

https://www.morimotohid.com/Backup-Light-Boost-Bar-LED700?quantity=1

 

VLEDs tail light conversion

 

Is that brighter than the flashes on the traffic cameras? Asking for a friend...

 

Depends on the camera I imagine!

 

Since the bulb is the same size as a second gen for the reverse light (from what I just saw online) I thought I'd share this. This fit perfectly in the housing by drilling out the notches that hold in the reverse light's twist in socket. I have the old two color version. Mine came with three triggers. One I wired to my reverse wire, one to a separate strobe controller, and I always planned to have the third to a standalone switch in my bed but never got around to wiring it up. Backup is white only, strobes are white/yellow. If you watch this short vid on my thread you can get an idea of the brightness when the rear of the truck is visible. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...adventures-thread.553569/page-3#post-20222239





EDIT: Did a little digging, and sounds like the older version, like what I have most likely was 180 lumens per white LED. Only 6 would steady burn at a time (mine were 6 white & 6 amber) so max output was 1080 lumens per Cannon. Looks like new has six of each of the 4 colors, so I'm betting it's similar, running 6 at a time.

 

I know you said you didn't want an additional light, but this clips in the hitch receiver. It is plug-play, bright brake light (that's low and not blinding others directly behind you), and has a nice bright back up LED in white. I bought mine because I didn't want an additional bumper mounted light and I needed the extra light when back in to my narrow downhill drive that wraps behind my house.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/hitch...K__mu05HuN6X2WWWBBm9soEFfimWQleay118EEy98yBVC

 

Be careful about adding LEDs to existing lighting circuits (brake/turn/backup) that are designed for halogen. VLED provides special resistors for their package that turns off "hyperflashing" ... lights not working, flashing rapidly when they should stay constant or flash in a usable sequence. The balance in the halogen circuit was designed for the resistance that halogens provide, nor for the different resistance of LEDs.

 

your big issue here is going to be thermal effectiveness.

but you also have a misunderstanding of the power draw and heat outputs. incandescent bulbs output heat from their filments. led doesn't output heat from the light illumination side, but outputs heat as a byproduct that must be exhausted from the light.

led is more efficient in terms of electricity being converted to light, but when seeking out the absolute brightest led, there's eventually a point where the led draws more than the incandescent bulbs they replaced.

unfortunately, led's need to be kept as cold as possible. running them indefinitely, means that the heat they're outputting needs to be dealt with continuously, which means massive heatsinks. it's just not physically possible within the confines of any reflector.

that was why i needed to install massive pentium 2 heat sinks in my first iteration of reverse lights. i was also going to near-constant use as well, but focused my efforts in as few led's as possible, which further resulted in additional heatsinking needed-- the closer led's are pushed to their maximum, the more heat they put out.
https://hackaday.com/2012/04/17/he-blinded-me-with-backup-lights/
https://www.hidplanet.com/forum/gen...38857-high-power-led-reverse-lamp-build-rev-1


the next revision went much more realistic in terms of shorter 10 minute run times, got forced-air cooling, distributed the output across more led's, and driven at a lower level. it resulted in less immediate output, but used optics to better focus the output to a usable pattern. it ended up being far better overall.
https://www.hidplanet.com/forum/showoff/led-retrofits/45074-led-reverse-lights-rev-2/page4

my 3rd version stagnated-- life got in the way, and i had to wait for the optics industry to catch up. now bar-style optics are available, while they weren't when i started, and due to space limitations, i'll need to go water-cooled for the thermal capacity. again, i had to wait for the industry to start offering the right size water blocks for the idea to work out...


i know you really don't want light pods, but honestly for constant use, there really isn't any better option. the external design gets the passive heatsink in contact with outside air faster, which eliminates half the heatsinking issues, which is the main concern in this area anyways.

designing within a plastic reverse enclosure, which is confined within the sheet metal of the vehicle, which restricts airflow, is a massive pain to work around that only the most stubborn can overcome with not much less than bludgeoning with more money and time.