Fog Light Enhancement

[bobsiopener]

Hi,
I recently decided to try and do a little upgrade to my fog lights by doing an LED conversion. I had just replaced the fog light bulbs but still wanted to try and get a bit more out of them. Some of the benefits are that they will last practically for ever, they draw less current then the stock bulbs, and i think they're cool
The only supplies needed were some plexiglass/lexan from the local homedepot, LEDs and Resistors. I think i ended up using about 48 LEDs per fog light, since they are only about 28 cents each that comes to about $13.50. You need the resistors to have the proper current flowing through them. I have more pics and can post detailed instructions on how to make them, if people are intrested.
Comments about the pircuture:
The first picture is how the LEDs are placed
The second pic is the mounting in the fog light hole
The third pic with with the cover and protective covering, excuse the mess from the silicone adhesive before i cleaned it up.
The fourth pic is from the front. The fog light on the right (drivers side) is the new LEDs and the light on the left (passenger) is stock. Its difficult to tell that its brighter.
The final pic is the lights shinning into my garage. You can tell here that the LEDs are a bit brighter then stock.

[sh0rtlife]

i was tempted to do something like this but honestly didnt think it would work...mind you my current project is going 95% led (everything but headlights)

[bobsiopener]

You could also use yellow LEDs if you so desired.
For Reference LEDs are listed in millicandels which are about 1000:1 lumens.
So at 13,000 milicandels per LED the total output is about 624 lumens

[alfettish]

GREAT! Yes please, detailed instructions.

[Gubi]

Bear in mind that it is not just about brightness. Fog lamps are supposed to have a low, flat beam with a sharp cutoff so they illuminate the near road and road edges but don't throw fog-reflected light back into your eyes. You're not going to get that with just a bank of LEDs.

[slyalfa]

also the shape of the fog/driving lights is to not blind oncomming cars too

[bobsiopener]

Hi Slyalfa,
I was worried about that problem as well. The last picture is a little deceiving, in fact they are quite concentrated and once outside of the beam they aren't that bright. Fortunately for other drivers it's not a problem. They don't seem that bright unless you got directly in front of the car and squatted down.
Gubi,
As i said before the picture is a bit deceiving, time will tell. The LEDs I selected only have a 15 degree dispersal angle. There hasn't been a foggy day where i live recently so i can't give any insight into this yet.

[Del]

Of course the other problem is that the wavelength of the light emitted by the LEDs is different (shorter) than the OEM bulbs. What's that mean, you ask. Well, the human eye doesn't respond all that well to the shorter wavelength (more towards ultraviolet) blue light of the LEDs or Euro headlights, meaning that they get more dazzled by them compared to the more "sunlight" yellow of the standard lights. Increased dazzling means that as a driver approaches an oncoming car with these dazzling headlights, he can't see as well while in that light from the oncoming car, esp if he is an older driver.

There are ongoing studies by the Feds on this phenomenon, and how it affects safety. So far, the effect appears to be significant. Something more to worry about I guess as we get older.

[superloaf]

how about using the OEM lens with the LED's behind it? that would give somewhat the same pattern as an original fog light (or at least similar cut off boundaries) but with brighter LED"S.

[Gubi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by superloaf how about using the OEM lens with the LED's behind it? that would give somewhat the same pattern as an original fog light (or at least similar cut off boundaries) but with brighter LED"S.