LEDs vs conventional bulbs / voltage draw

[andy_daytona650]

Happy new year guys.

Any guys here using LED bulbs? Looking at all possible ways to reduce voltage draw on my Triumph (2 x H4 headlamps).

Wondered if anyone has any experience or knows if the power usage is notably less with LEDs headlamps compared to conventional bulbs?

Cheers, Andy
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BMW 310 GS (2019)

[Nobby the Bastard]

[Polarbear]

As Nobby says, the voltage is the constant, the current is the variable here.

LED bulbs are very much lower current (and therefore power) however they give a very different kind of light and need a different reflector if you are talking about main/dipped beam.

I have all LED's on my boat and have to say I am not keen on the light they give off. My Jag has LED headlights but of course it was built like that so there are no issues.

As an aside, the MK council have been replacing the sodium (yellow) street lights with LED's. They are horrible. Dazzling when underneath and no light spread.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[weasley]

I just looked up a couple of H4 LED lamps and they both claimed 20W power draw. A H4 halogen bulb is 55W on dipped and 60W on main beam, so you're running at less than half the power draw. Lower current will also mean the cables are less resistive in use.
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE

[Fisty]

https://pics.me.me/people-with-led-headlights-everyone-else-on-the-road-0-43746378.png
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Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[stinkwheel]

The single H4 LED bulb I have on my big enfield draws 1.6A. So yeah, about 20w compared to 55w standard.

The light is good and beam spread is fine with a standard reflector.

Some things worth bearing in mind:

1) They often come with quite a bit of electronic jiggery-pokery which adds to bulk. Some have it on the bulb, some have it as a seperate "pack" (about half the size of a fag packet) which connects to the bulb with a flying lead. I'd recommend the latter for a bike where space can be tight, you can usually find somewhere to tuck the pack away.

2) They have a heat-sink and/or fan. The design of these can make the bulb stick out in places an standard one wouldn't. Again, in a tight space, they don't necessarily fit so be mindful of this. For example, the first attempt I had at fitting one fouled the speedo cable which runs directly behind the headlamp, I had to fit a wider headlamp rim to accommodate it.

3) the bulb itself may need to be focused. They sometimes have a detachable back-plate and you need to tweak the angle the bulb sits at in this plate to get a beam pattern. Mine was rubbish when I fitted it, I pointed it at a white wall and slowly rotated the bulb and it suddenly threw a perfect and sharply focused beam pattern.

4) [url=https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/collections/headlight-led-bulbs/products/latest-led-headlight-h4-motorcycle
The one I fitted and am happy with cost £33[/url]. You can get Chinese ones for a fiver on ebay. If anyone tells you LED headlamps are rubbish, find out which they had!
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[andy_daytona650]

Thanks all.

I'm aware the 12v remains the same, I meant the power draw, the root cause here however is the Triumph charging issues.

For example, when both headlights are on as usual, and the fan kicks in (as it often does in traffic), the bike cannot charge enough and cuts out. However if I pull out just one of the two headlamps, the bike can charge OK. Therefore seeking lower power use to the electrics.

Having two LED front head lamps may be a temp resolution before I buy yet another regulator and stator (4th since ownership!!!!).

Appreciate the input and views as ever.
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BMW 310 GS (2019)

[Riejufixing]

[Nobby the Bastard]

[WD Forte]

Yep, what he said.
If the charging system cant run the lights and fan without shitting
the bed, you have a bad charging system.
I'd fix that first

Even if you fitted leds to reduce current draw
the reg/rec would have to dissipate even more excess power
from the stator as heat and if the RRs are as flakey as rumoured this will stress them even more.

Heat is the enemy of most electronics
keep em cool keep em happy
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bikers smell of wee

[xX-Alex-Xx]

Unless you're running projectors and can focus the beam from those LEDs, please don't use them. You'll be blinding everyone coming the other way, same as those people who throw HIDs in their cars using normal reflector headlights. You'll likely fail MOT too
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DILLIGAF

[stinkwheel]

[Easy-X]

Personally I've had more luck with the "daymaker" sort than individual bulbs.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[MCN]

I changed all the bulbs in my hoose from halogen/tungsten filament to LEDs.
I measured the current via an econ meter clamped around an incoming phase before and after.
I can't even measure the current that the LEDs use.
Nothing to do with motorbikes. 🤣

https://youtu.be/CX_uFs5vKc0
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[ThatDippyTwat]

As said, find the root cause. However, if you have to replace your bulbs, then This.

[Easy-X]

[Nobby the Bastard]

Or you could fix the problem. The problem is the fucked stator plate.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[Teflon-Mike]

Fix the problem, not the symptom, again.
Though I'd start with a nice new battery, before looking deeper at things like the regulator or stator.
Batteries loose charge holding capacity with time, so if it's not staying charged, or devices are sucking more amps than genny makes, that's the most likely suspect.
As for LED headlamp bulbs... I was looking at these recently... a-n-d they is a mine-field.
An HID is essentially an arc lamp; the light comes from what is effectively a spark-plug in a neon tube; they generally have about a 35W power-draw compared to a conventional 55w tungsten, so a saving of around 30% on power draw, whilst they may make 10x the lumins of light, so be brighter. Problems come with the light colour and pattern, because the light isn't made in the same geographic location as a tungsten bulb, hence issues with beam pattern, particularly with reflectors designed for an incandescent bulb.
LED head-lamp bulbs suffer the same niggles multiplied, depending on the actual bulb design, and whilst they have managed to up the lumins that an LED may deliver to compete with incandescent or HID bulbs, most have employed an over-load of XS philosophy to the matter so that top get light where its wanted... they just chuck out more light... which brings issues with the electronics overheating, so that the lamps need big heat-sinks and or fans to keep them cool... and that rather defeats a lot of the efficiency saving, and they are having to draw big current again, to both get the light, and get the heat-out.
My conclusion, was that for all the hype... over how much 'better' an LED bulb may be.... I don't think that they are there yet.. a-n-d to work and work well, the whole lamp probably aught to be designed a) for motorcycle use and b) to be an LED type light maker from the off.... using after-market widgets and lens/reflectors.... you are having to start from scratch doing what the OEM would, without the luxuary of gazillion quid super-computers or the ability to make 'optimised' and matched bulbs or lens/reflector units....
I have had 'some' success in the past with HID bulbs, either in lens/reflectors designed for incandescent bulbs or in 'diamond' type lens/reflectors optimised 'better' for them.... b-u-t...
On 'The Pup' we used an HID headlamp to find 20W of power saving, LED tail-lamp and indy bulbs for some more... b-u-t.... almost hald the current draw saving we found came 'JUST' from swapping out the back-lights and tell-tale lamps behind the speedo and rev-counter for LED's..... I think that there are around 5 bulbs there each in OEM incandescent form sucking 15W each; off-the-shelf LED replacements drew something like 1W between them, compared to 60w for the incandescents, so saved as much power draw as having NO headlamp draw what-so ever!
B-U-T.... symptoms vs disease.... we did it on the Pup, because a) we were re-wiring the thing anyway, b) Snowie is a gadget freak, and we needed to free up amps for her Sat-Nav and phone, and c) its a little 125 with a pretty small genny and battery to start with, and she was using it for a lot of short hops between care-in-the-home calls, that didn't give the charging system much opportunity to bung coulombs back in the battery after each time she sucked them out with the starter-motor!
Soooooooooo
Whats the kind of riding regime? Does the geny have much opportunity to recharge the battery after its been sucked dry by the starter? It it a fairly east starter? Would you be best off starting there, and looking at things like a service and new spark-plugs so it don't take so much cranking to get going? How worn out is the starter? Would it benefit from new brushes and a bit of grease so its not sucking so many amps when it is cranking? What about the solenoid? Is that all pitted and corroded from having to handle so many extra amps sucked by a tired starter, and so higher resistance than it aught to be sucking more amps still, meaning more draw on start up and longer draw from longer cranking?
As suggested, reducing the headlamp draw could be a red-herring assumption, masking the real culprit here.
It 'Should' do the job and the battery shouldn't go flat; OEM has gazillion quids worth of computators and spent thousands of hours on R&D so it works when its in the show-room and for as long as the warranty is valid... are you trying to stick a band aid over a gaping arterial would but more, trying to re-invent the band aid to do so!
Start with the battery; give it a set of sparkers and a service, then work from there.... and headlamp conversions 'shouild' really be at the bottom of the list and icing on the cake IF everything else is working as it should first.. if not, it's likely just extra hassle and more problems on top of them you already have.
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My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
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[Luckyfish133]

[andy_daytona650]

To follow up on this, replaced the stator as burnt out again (third time).

Experimented with LEDs, whilst the draw was marginally lower, they looked terrible. Back to conventional bulbs.

Appreciate people's input.
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BMW 310 GS (2019)

[Easy-X]

[G]

[MCN]