Improve Reversing Lights

[trufflehunt]

Hi

I've got a 2000 HdI.

Where I live I have to drive up past the front door, turn into a dark unlighted parking area, reverse from there into
a stretch of equally dark lane, then drive down to park up in front of the building.

I've owned the 406 a couple of months, and have really noticed as the nights have drawn in, that the reversing ights
seem to be, well, rubbish. My previous car was a 106, and with its reversing light(s) I could see plenty.

But with the 406, it seems like a glimmer in comparison.

I've checked the bulbs, they were ok, no staining or smokedness. But I put new ones in anyway this afternoon. Same result.
They come on all right, though from looking at them , the red reflectors through which they shine don't seem to do much
for their effectiveness.

I've checked out some of the previous topics here on this, and there didn't seem to be a conclusive answer about
how to improve things.

Do LED bulbs produce , and cast more light, and are there any side effects... or are they more of a flavour of
the moment fashion accessory, ..or..?

[steve_earwig]

the red reflectors through which they shine don't seem to do much for their effectiveness.

Red reflectors? Oh, I see, that is a bit crap. My estate's shine through a smoked bit so I'd quite like a bit more light too, I could put more lights on it but that would look silly, so I'd be interested in this one too.

[jasper5]

Bolt on a spot or fog light to the bumper or somewhere convenient, wire it up to a switch near the lower dash on the car (you might need to go through a relay or a fuse in the fuse box) and problem solved.

I did this on my previous Nissan van, made a big difference

[steve_earwig]

I'd do it to the Toyoyoyo but I'm so not sticking a lamp on the back of my Pug I had a quick squint on ebay and it looks like Cree are the ones to go for (unless I give more money to China and I'm trying to avoid that). Trouble is I'm not sure they'll fit - one of the sellers had one of those compatibility fings and it said they wouldn't, but I'm not sure if that's bollocks or not. Time for some measuring I reckon.

[Doggy]

I very much doubt LED's will help - they can be very bright to look at but are notoriously poor at lighting things up.

[CBDSonline]

I tried LED bulbs a while ago but failed.. they stay on all the time as there seems to be residual voltage/current in the lines, not enough the light a fillament bulb but enough to light an led bulb (lamp cos its not really a bulb) as its an LED and requires only a tiny amount of current to light em up. The Cree bulbs might have enough resistance in them to kill the stray voltage/current and stay off but i ain't tried them.

[robb]

Bolt on a spot or fog light to the bumper or somewhere convenient, wire it up to a switch near the lower dash on the car (you might need to go through a relay or a fuse in the fuse box) and problem solved.

my mate did this he put one on the roof of his 1275 mini god help anyone who tailgated him on the motorway

[steve_earwig]

I tried LED bulbs a while ago but failed.. they stay on all the time as there seems to be residual voltage/current in the lines, not enough the light a fillament bulb but enough to light an led bulb (lamp cos its not really a bulb) as its an LED and requires only a tiny amount of current to light em up. The Cree bulbs might have enough resistance in them to kill the stray voltage/current and stay off but i ain't tried them.

Strange. What car was this on? Perhaps something with a system to test the bulbs

I have a couple of LED torches and they're pretty good, although the beam is quite directional, so perhaps not so good if you're after general lighting, rather that a specific area

[Doggy]

I know a little about this - we've got some LED floodlights in one particularly inaccessible location and have seriously evaluated LED factory lighting as a whole. The simple truth at this point in time, is that they're just not good enough, yet. Some Audis have LED headlights, which are supposed to be OK, but they cost £3k each.

[lozz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR1zSEwnUWc

[lozz]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-3W-High-Po ... 4ab1244f8a

[steve_earwig]

Nice find there Lozz

Thank you for visiting! We are currently performing scheduled maintenance and updates on the website.

Gah! Aint that always the way?

[lozz]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-3W-High-Po ... 4ab1244f8a

iwouidnt rely on the 3M tape on them,
perhaps slotting them in a Drilled hole, bonded in place Might make them last longer,

ibought something simalar from Halfords, and they where Mega bright,
idont think youd get out Brighter than led for lighting,

[steve_earwig]

Right, woke up with a miserable headache today, I didn't feel like doing much so I had another look into these Cree Q5s. Googling for results on other forums the chief complaint seems to be the standard reflector and diffuser are designed to work with filament blubs. I dunno about the saloon but the estate has no reflector, so over half the light coming out of the bulb just gets absorbed by the housing.

I had a look at the damaged clusters I had out the back of the D8 while I was at my house clearing leaves yesterday, the blub could be up to an inch longer but not much wider. These Q5s are more or less the same size as a standard fillyment blub.

Which blubs do I need? The reversing light blubs are listed as 382s, which also seems to be P21W. And, erm, 1156 and BA15S It's nice to get the standards all worked out...

Prices seem to vary a great deal, from 18 quid for a pair to more than 30, which I just can't justify for something that I don't even know will work. However I've found them on ebay for a couple of quid each, unfortunately from China, so I guess if I buy them anywhere else I'll be paying for stuff shipped from China anyway, plus shipping and whatever else they add to it for their own profit.

Look http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-1156-BA15 ... 337d14dc47 It even has free postage to Croatia

[Welly]

~~~~~~Croatian man (Pictured) sobbing next to burnt-out Renault 406 caused by cheap imported bulbs~~~~~~