|
Bright Lights
by Ben Prince
The incandescent signal and brake lights on our T-cars tend
to be rather sickly. In bright sunlight, it is often difficult
to even tell if they are on -- a dangerous situation indeed.
When in traffic, it is imperative to drive defensively and
augment the lights with hand signals.
Many owners have installed halogen quartz bulbs. These are
indeed much brighter, but they draw lots of current and generate
considerable heat. I have heard stories about halogen lights
actually melting plastic lenses. There are also situations where
the generator is insufficient to support the halogens and other
electrical loads.
About four years ago, I happened to see a boob-tube news
special, reporting on a new type of light. These lamps,
consisting of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), were touted as the
lights of the future. Relatively dull LEDs have been around for
a number of years, but bright ones were new. The news bulletin
showed various LED configurations being testing at Hewlett
Packard labs. The brightness was indeed impressive.
Subsequent to the TV news report, Carl Cederstrand, the
Southern California MG-T guru, wrote a couple of articles on
LEDs. Carl was indeed excited about the promise of these lamps.
To paraphrase an old commercial, when Carl speaks, everyone
listens!
A typical LED unit is actually a number of LEDs, assembled
in an array or matrix where the transmitted light is carefully
controlled. Besides being bright, the beauty of these packages
is that they require very little current. If our T-cars had LEDs
instead of incandescents, the old and sometimes over-taxed
generators would become more than adequate to handle the load.
Another advantage is that LEDs are extremely reliable, lasting
thousands of hours without failure, even in a vibration
environment. And they light up virtually immediately, rather
than suffering the small activation delay associated with
incandescents.
LEDs have hit the market with a storm. I have observed
them on large trucks, seemingly "lighting up the whole town".
And a newspaper article recently reported that one of the
eastside cites (Bellevue as I recall) is purchasing LED
traffic lights, resulting in lower costs from reduced power
usage and maintenance.
It is my understanding that 3" diameter lights are available
from Peterson as a brake/tail/signal combination for about $50.
Some of these Petersons have been mounted on the rear of T-series
vehicles, attached to the luggage rack or to special brackets.
The TD owned by Liz and Dave DuBois has a tastefully mounted
brake light on the luggage rack, consisting of LEDs in a row.
In my view, the ideal solution would be to directly plug in
LED lamps as replacements for the current incandescents --
without modification or special brackets. These replacements are
indeed available for 1157 bulbs for about $9 each. I recently
observed them in operation, but it was a bit disappointing since
they didn't seem much brighter than the original incandescents.
The problem apparently is due to the difficulty in squeezing
enough LEDs into the limited space in a 1157 bulb. The way the
technology is advancing, however, I would guess that bright 1157
LEDs will likely be available in the not too distant future, as
will LED replacements for other lights on our T-series cars.
Perhaps now is the time for a little patience while the market
matures and further advancements occur.
If you can't wait and want bright LEDs today with minimum
fuss, there is another alternative. Gene Strunk recently sent me
some literature on a configuration made by a company named Boja.
They sell a LED fixture consisting of a bright stop light, tail
light and a pair of signal lights. The units are located on top
of the gas tank and held in place with padded magnets. The cost
is $95. If you don't have turn signal wiring, add another $35
for a control box. For information, write Jack Smittle, 10260
Covan Drive, Westerville, Ohio 43082-9295, or send an e-mail
message to mgt1jack@aol.com
I might mention that LEDs are not the only option. High
intensity discharge Xenon lights also offer brightness, low
current and reliability. These lights are whiter than
incandescents, but have a blue tint -- like the headlights on
some of the new expensive automobiles. We indeed live in
exciting times!
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||