PIAA LED replacement bulbs coming soon!

Discussion in 'Prius v Accessories and Modifications' started by jzchen, Aug 3, 2014.

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  1. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Sounds like you've tried them, and I'm sorry to hear your experience has been less than ideal. Strange that the basic shape and position of the LED seems to be similar to the PIAA. CREE has a great reputation for LEDs, I first heard about the from a solar energy seller/salesman.....

    The sample picture from PIAA looks very promising. I hope discount places may have them for cheaper than list price like I've found their bulbs in the past.

    Still haven't completed the OE DRL project. Started in a rush, then realized car was not in a good position to access the inverter coolant drain. Had to put the car back together to move it into a good position. Then we had to leave to come here. May not dare try again after my orange HV service grip scare!


    iPad ?
     
    #21 jzchen, Aug 5, 2014
  2. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    We use a significant quantity of CREE LEDs in non-automotive applications and are impressed with them.

    I am disappointed in the H11s, not because of the output, but because of the amount of stray glare.

    Halogens in the same housings are fine, so it's not the housings, it's the point-source location of the H11 LEDs.

    The amber Triton V3 type 7440 lamps were fabulous in lighting output, but didn't fit the Prius v lamp housings, so those went back too.

    Sort of disappointed in V-LEDs at this point. YMMV.
     
    #22 Air_Boss, Aug 5, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2014
  3. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    #23 xliderider, Aug 5, 2014
  4. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    #24 Air_Boss, Aug 5, 2014
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    It's 5000k, so it should be bright white. I believe it's just the pic that makes it look purplish. If you scroll to the later pics, theres a cutoff pic that looks bright white against the wall.
     
    #25 xliderider, Aug 5, 2014
  6. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    That's actually a change. The earlier ones were in fact 6000k 'purple', and when I asked about 5000k or 4300k, was told 'nope'.

    On the earlier issue, I just had a call from V-LEDs who explained that their H11s are indexed for headlight use, such that the aluminum mounting arm presents the LED upside down, which yields the desired cutoff. Unfortunately, the Prius v fog light housing indexing is off by 60 degrees (which doesn't matter with an omnidirectional halogen lamp), meaning the lamp drives a load of stray light upward and to the lft into oncoming traffic. Not good. As is their practice, they'll accept them back as incompatible, with no restocking fee. They are developing a polycarbonate lensed H11 (like the Triton V3) that would be compatible with the foglight housing but are months away from releasing it.
     
    #26 Air_Boss, Aug 5, 2014
  7. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Interesting that the PC lenses are designed with directionality.
     
    #27 xliderider, Aug 5, 2014
  8. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Their whole purpose is beam forming and focusing a diffuse LED source.
     
    #28 Air_Boss, Aug 5, 2014
  9. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I've seen those before from a previos note of yours. That said:

    I wish they'd all post a pic like PIAA did about how the beam pattern/brightness looked as compared/next to a regular bulb. Then one could tell more clearly. PIAA has had a long standing reputation. I'm not sure I want to take the risk of trying something from an eBay seller that, although claims to have a patent, which is impressive, I'm not sure about. Our house has too much stuff already. I can't afford to say I don't like it and have to keep it somewhere. (I'm not very good with dealing with returns either.)

    Do you have any good experiences with the seller's products?

    (BTW- I have no idea how to compare Lux with Lumens, even after trying to research just like you. It seems the best way for them to show their product's prowess is to show a pic of a regular bulb beam pattern on a wall and then their pattern. Lux is a measure of light/area, but that does not seem to be defined unless you take into consideration at what distance from the surface you have placed the bulb. I could place my bulb 1 mm away and extrapolate a huge lux it seems. That said, even though Lumens seems more defined, I have no clue what a Lumen meter might be!)

    SCH-R530M ?
     
    #29 jzchen, Aug 6, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2014
  10. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    Hmm. Sorry about the complaint about pics in the previous post. It seems it is difficult to see eBay listings on my phone because I just saw the beam pattern on a wall comparison in the eBay listing....

    So I took a little closer look at the beam. Looks like it is nice and wide but has little depth. Maybe it would be better if they pointed it down more like a true fog lamp is usually aimed, ie. right in front of the vehicle.

    SCH-R530M ?
     
    #30 jzchen, Aug 6, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2014
  11. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    #31 jzchen, Aug 24, 2014
  12. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    #32 Air_Boss, Aug 31, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2014
  13. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Attached Files:

    #33 Air_Boss, Sep 3, 2014
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  14. prmp945

    prmp945 Member

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    Has anyone tried out the PIAA bulbs yet? It looks like they are available for just over $200 now.

    I'm not sure if this page was available or not when this thread was originally posted:

    PIAA | LED Bulbs
     
    #34 prmp945, Oct 25, 2014
  15. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    I don't see how PIAA can claim that their LED bulbs have sharp cut lines/cutoffs, as that would mostly depend on the optics (reflector, lens, etc) of the lighting system the bulbs are installed in.

    The Prius oem foglight is reflector based and simply lacks a sharp defined cutoff. If you are willing to spend $200, then a good projector or the LED foglights above would be a better buy.

    SCH-I535
     
    #35 xliderider, Oct 25, 2014
  16. jzchen

    jzchen Newbie!

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    I haven't tried them, I'm afraid. It's much more reasonably priced at $200 than the $299 listed direct from PIAA.

    MT2L03 ?
     
    #36 jzchen, Oct 25, 2014
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