Exact name is Philips H4 6200K X-treme Ultinon LED. Part Nr. PH-XULED-H4-12953BWX2. Agreed - they are not cheap.
LED Headlights
- Thread starter Richouse
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Ordered mine last Friday and they arrived today....I figure at $42 shipped, the risk was low. I've been watching the various LED threads for a while and with the endorsements above, it was time to upgrade my '05!Regards, Mr. BR
Got mine installed....trimmed back the rubber boot as others have described but I could not get the bulb to lock into place with the boot installed. It seems the clip that holds bulb's base in place is very close the heatsink and putting the boot in place just wouldn't let it engage. So I simply trimmed back more boot and it worked great. I noted that the little cooling fan blows air IN toward the LED unit but I think I still have enough of the heatsink still exposed to allow the heat to escape. Took a ride around the n'hood last night and results match what others have said... good light pattern, bright color, road signs are very bright.... was expecting to possibly adjust the beam lower but for now, I'm leaving it as is.
Regards,
Mr. BR
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Mr BR's are the same as the ones I installed, except for the color of the units. You should be able to get the boots to fit without removing that much of the boot. A little silicone grease on the boot edges when fitting makes everything seat together a bit easier. With the longevity of these LEDs I'm hoping these are a one-time replacement. Once you get them installed they should be set for the life of the bike, or until the cooling fans burn out.
The eBay ads claim 50,000 hour lifetimes, which I'm sure is just a number they pulled from thin air. But if that were true, and you managed to only average 25 mph whenever the bike was running, which seems pretty reasonable, that would mean they would last 1.25 million miles.
One thing about fitting those boots is you want them to be as clear of the cooling fins as possible. As you can see in the below photo the fan just pushes air through the fins to get rid of the heat that is conducted out to the fins through the body of the bulb. The more of those fins that are blocked off by the boot the less cooling you'll get, which may reduce the longevity of the bulb.
I do like the design of the Phillips LED units as they made the stalk thinner, which should result in a more uniform beam at the top and bottom. But looking at the night time photos it's pretty clear that they did not design it so that the high and low beam LEDs are both on when in the high beam position. That seems like it is a good idea and something that I liked about the ones that I got.
The eBay ads claim 50,000 hour lifetimes, which I'm sure is just a number they pulled from thin air. But if that were true, and you managed to only average 25 mph whenever the bike was running, which seems pretty reasonable, that would mean they would last 1.25 million miles.
One thing about fitting those boots is you want them to be as clear of the cooling fins as possible. As you can see in the below photo the fan just pushes air through the fins to get rid of the heat that is conducted out to the fins through the body of the bulb. The more of those fins that are blocked off by the boot the less cooling you'll get, which may reduce the longevity of the bulb.
I do like the design of the Phillips LED units as they made the stalk thinner, which should result in a more uniform beam at the top and bottom. But looking at the night time photos it's pretty clear that they did not design it so that the high and low beam LEDs are both on when in the high beam position. That seems like it is a good idea and something that I liked about the ones that I got.
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lnewlf
Well-known member
did the Fred W. LED conversion on my '06....got tired of buying Silver Star Ultras every year...these ^^^ work great and are @ the same price as the Silver Stars.. would be easier if my hands were smaller and every time I take the 4 dash panels off I revile the guy who designed them....
eflyguy
Well-known member
I'll just report again that I am leaving mine on high beam day and night, and have yet to be flashed. It *must* be the fact that the yellow tint of the provided filters does not distract oncoming drivers. I'm going to add some additional LED lights, that will be directed lower and wider, but I'm super happy with the coverage and throw of the ones I bought for the main headlamp assembly.
Fred said..
"The biggest negative of those HID lamps to me was the heat that they generated inside the headlight buckets corroded the reflective coating on the reflector just above the lamps over time. Bad enough to happen on the $300 first Gen headlight bucket. Inconceivable to take that risk with the $800 3rd Gen headlamp bucket. Otherwise, they were definitely brighter and had an equivalent beam cast to the stock halogens, <a href='https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/30636-h4-telescopic-hids-w-super-slim-ballasts/page-4?do=findComment&comment=369902'>which I could make even better by leaving one lamp in low beam all of the time</a>. I'm hoping these LEDs give similar performance without the reflector heating problem. "
While I don't think it is heat, the dulling of the reflector is happening due to some sort of discharge from the bulbs.
The discharged can be cleaned away to restore a shiny reflector.
I have pics somewhere I will post later..
"The biggest negative of those HID lamps to me was the heat that they generated inside the headlight buckets corroded the reflective coating on the reflector just above the lamps over time. Bad enough to happen on the $300 first Gen headlight bucket. Inconceivable to take that risk with the $800 3rd Gen headlamp bucket. Otherwise, they were definitely brighter and had an equivalent beam cast to the stock halogens, <a href='https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php/topic/30636-h4-telescopic-hids-w-super-slim-ballasts/page-4?do=findComment&comment=369902'>which I could make even better by leaving one lamp in low beam all of the time</a>. I'm hoping these LEDs give similar performance without the reflector heating problem. "
While I don't think it is heat, the dulling of the reflector is happening due to some sort of discharge from the bulbs.
The discharged can be cleaned away to restore a shiny reflector.
I have pics somewhere I will post later..
That's great. Wish I knew that back then.
I guess we'll also have to keep an eye on the reflectors with these LEDs in them for any similar such dulling.
draco_1967
Well-known member
I just installed a set of these last night, and they seem great so far. The cutoff was clean, and matched the halogen cutoff almost exactly. I will be testing them on the road tonight to see how they are in the real world and not just on my garage door.
mikerider
Well-known member
This is on my Vstrom. Left headlight with the dulling. You can see it looks like some kind of gaseous discharge/deposit. Both left and right headlights had this issue with the HID on the Vstrom.
Right headlight after I cleaned it out. Used Novus plastic clean/shine liquid, and a lint free cloth.
Right headlight after I cleaned it out. Used Novus plastic clean/shine liquid, and a lint free cloth.
eflyguy
Well-known member
Interesting.. I'd think it would be more like ionization due to the voltages involved..
Whatever the cause of the clouding, that's great that it will buff right out!
Read all of the reviews before you commit.
Read all of the reviews before you commit.
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draco_1967
Well-known member
It does have a small fan (at least the description says it does).
I've been reading a lot of reviews on different H4 LED options. All of them have negative reviews, but most of the negatives on this particular bulb were regarding fitment of the bulb in the housing (seemed to be H7 and H11 reviews). For the price, and with relatively hassle-free returns from Amazon, I'm not too worried.
Viper Pilot
Well-known member
I just replaced the headlight assy. on my '05 after running HID's for almost 10+ years. Lots of that lens clouding or damage. I'll try to figure out if I can get into the lens area and try to remove and polish the damaged area just out of curiousity . The prices on the replacement headlight assy. have come down considerably ($about 271 at Partzilla) so I bought a new one and installed the Philips LED H4 bulbs. Looking forward to checking it out at night.
Viper Pilot
Well-known member
Well my success at polishing that damaged lens turned out less then stellar. Trying to polish thru the small hole where the H4 fits was about impossible. I can tell no difference in removing the damaged plastic reflector. Also, the damage to the top of the reflector (just above where the HID bulb was) looks more like the reflective coating is completely gone. Much more damage then just some deposits left on the surface. Glad I bought a new light assy.
Killjoy!
The FJR reflector damage may be more severe than puppychow's Vstrom reflector.
The FJR reflector damage may be more severe than puppychow's Vstrom reflector.
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Viper Pilot
Well-known member
I'd say that's the case. Possibly if I separated the two halves of the light assy. I could try to polish more vigorously but that just doesn't seem worth while. The reflective surface just looks very badly damaged. The assy. might be a good candidate for someone to try cutting it open and installing some of those projector beam type of lights. Just hoping the LED s I installed in the new light assy. don't get too hot and cause similar damage.
As we all know if it is published on the Internet the information has to be true and accurate.
I found the following statement that some here might want to dispute.
I found the following statement that some here might want to dispute.
I would imagine 10+ years of baked in deposit would take some elbow grease.
My vstrom reflector had it for 2 years before I decided to clean it up, if I had waited few more years? Who knows.
I suppose with all things in life YMMV.
Bummer!
My vstrom reflector had it for 2 years before I decided to clean it up, if I had waited few more years? Who knows.
I suppose with all things in life YMMV.
Bummer!
What they might mean by that is that the HID lights generate less heat per lumen so that with two light sources of the same brightness the halogen would throw off more heat. But the HIDs we have all been using make considerably more light than the stock H4 halogen bulbs do. So do they actually run hotter? Maybe, maybe not.
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