Re: How to install DRL/High Beam LED Conversion Kit
Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 8:30 pm
Update:
I grounded the capacitors outside the headlight. There was no place within the headlight to ground them. I drilled two holes in the high beam dust cap and ran two sets of wires out. One rubber grommet for the bulb fan and LED driver wires and the other for the power input wires from the factory bulb harness. The LED drivers and the entire capacitor harnesses are now outside the headlight, much like my HID kit. The components are water resistant much like HID components.
The capacitors work. How do I know? Because the LEDs are now on full power high beam mode in DRL. Doh!
Some of you guys hypothesized this would happen but I was told by VLEDS in direct email correspondence that this should not happen. They also stated in the inline capacitor harness description that it would not cause the DRL to go to high beam mode.
They write:
"The capacitors do not change the voltage of your DRL system. You will still have the same factory effect of a low output DRL, and high output high beam."
I contacted VLEDS about the issue and they apologized and said that the bulbs and the capacitors were not tested for my car so they could not control for that. They then offered a full refund for everything. Their response was much nicer and more sympathetic than I expected. I replied saying that despite the issues, I wanted VLEDS LEDs in my car because I liked the performance. I then asked if I could exchange the old bulbs (CXA) for the new MT-G2 kit that they have out now with the hope that the new LED emitter and new drivers may handle the issues better than the current kit. They then replied with this since they know about my flickering issue:
"No problem, you can send the product back for a refund. If you'd like to purchase the new MT-G2 that would be great, but we cannot guarantee it will work on your vehicle.
We did test the new bulbs and the controller/LED would operate below 4V where the CXA would shut off just below 6V. We did find that the MT-G2 is still very bright at 6V-7V and is slightly less bright than at 12V-14V. This is due to the constant current driver that is keeping adequate power supplied to the LED at that specific operating voltage range.
Hope that helps a little bit in making your decision.
Thank you,
Customer Support"
So the response makes it sound like the flickering is less likely to occur but the new LEDs will probably be very bright even in DRL mode. I'm still eager to try these new bulbs out given the new drivers, the new LED emitter, and the new design of the entire bulb. The fan and heat sink looks better made on this new one and I believe it will fit in the headlight (as I've spent hours recently with the Kizashi's headlights and have a good sense of clearance inside).
Another thing to note is that the MT-G2 bulbs have one LED emitter for the H7 while my current CXA has two. I believe the dual LEDs output a good amount of light vertically, but cause a lot of glare to oncoming traffic. Perhaps the new bulb is better in this regard so despite having a bright DRL output, it won't be as blinding.
Also, despite having only one LED, max output is 2100 lumens vs. the CXA's dual LEDs outputting 2000 lumens.
I'm most likely going to return the CXA and go for the MT-G2 but wanted to run it by you guys here to see what you all think. Many of you have better knowledge of electrical systems therefore can better hypothesize likely outcomes. I also know many were simply interested in this project as well.
Regardless of all the time and effort the bulbs take, it's kind of fun for me to experiment with this stuff. I've been using my Makita impact driver on the bumper screws anyways and can get the bumper and headlights off in just several minutes now.
I grounded the capacitors outside the headlight. There was no place within the headlight to ground them. I drilled two holes in the high beam dust cap and ran two sets of wires out. One rubber grommet for the bulb fan and LED driver wires and the other for the power input wires from the factory bulb harness. The LED drivers and the entire capacitor harnesses are now outside the headlight, much like my HID kit. The components are water resistant much like HID components.
The capacitors work. How do I know? Because the LEDs are now on full power high beam mode in DRL. Doh!
Some of you guys hypothesized this would happen but I was told by VLEDS in direct email correspondence that this should not happen. They also stated in the inline capacitor harness description that it would not cause the DRL to go to high beam mode.
They write:
"The capacitors do not change the voltage of your DRL system. You will still have the same factory effect of a low output DRL, and high output high beam."
I contacted VLEDS about the issue and they apologized and said that the bulbs and the capacitors were not tested for my car so they could not control for that. They then offered a full refund for everything. Their response was much nicer and more sympathetic than I expected. I replied saying that despite the issues, I wanted VLEDS LEDs in my car because I liked the performance. I then asked if I could exchange the old bulbs (CXA) for the new MT-G2 kit that they have out now with the hope that the new LED emitter and new drivers may handle the issues better than the current kit. They then replied with this since they know about my flickering issue:
"No problem, you can send the product back for a refund. If you'd like to purchase the new MT-G2 that would be great, but we cannot guarantee it will work on your vehicle.
We did test the new bulbs and the controller/LED would operate below 4V where the CXA would shut off just below 6V. We did find that the MT-G2 is still very bright at 6V-7V and is slightly less bright than at 12V-14V. This is due to the constant current driver that is keeping adequate power supplied to the LED at that specific operating voltage range.
Hope that helps a little bit in making your decision.
Thank you,
Customer Support"
So the response makes it sound like the flickering is less likely to occur but the new LEDs will probably be very bright even in DRL mode. I'm still eager to try these new bulbs out given the new drivers, the new LED emitter, and the new design of the entire bulb. The fan and heat sink looks better made on this new one and I believe it will fit in the headlight (as I've spent hours recently with the Kizashi's headlights and have a good sense of clearance inside).
Another thing to note is that the MT-G2 bulbs have one LED emitter for the H7 while my current CXA has two. I believe the dual LEDs output a good amount of light vertically, but cause a lot of glare to oncoming traffic. Perhaps the new bulb is better in this regard so despite having a bright DRL output, it won't be as blinding.
Also, despite having only one LED, max output is 2100 lumens vs. the CXA's dual LEDs outputting 2000 lumens.
I'm most likely going to return the CXA and go for the MT-G2 but wanted to run it by you guys here to see what you all think. Many of you have better knowledge of electrical systems therefore can better hypothesize likely outcomes. I also know many were simply interested in this project as well.
Regardless of all the time and effort the bulbs take, it's kind of fun for me to experiment with this stuff. I've been using my Makita impact driver on the bumper screws anyways and can get the bumper and headlights off in just several minutes now.