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Last updated:
23 September, 2023
6V LED Sidelights and Headlights
On a very wet and dark November evening on a short drive of just a mile and a half the 6v lighting on the Box Saloon had to be augmented with a couple of LED torches held out of the windows. A bit of a laugh, but scarily impracticable. So, now that LEDs are making their presence felt on modern cars, what about the oldies - especially those in 6V?
Tail lights - no problem here. Paul Goff of Prestwood 1 has been selling flat LED panels to fit inside 'D' lamps and Pork Pie lamps for years. Several members use them, and they are very good indeed. They are bright, clear, reliable and use less than a tenth of an amp per pair, even on 6V.
So what about up front with the sidelights and headlights? A quick search on that well known auction site listed a supplier in Shanghai that has a range of 6V (yes, six volt) high brightness LEDs, happily with a BA15S connection. That means that they plug straight in to the reflectors on the Box Saloon. So, in the interests of experimentation, I bought pairs of differing types for evaluation. They were bought from “HANZI214”, 2 and arrived in about ten days, which seemed pretty good considering that shipment is included in the price of about £6 each.
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First - the “PINEAPPLE”. Sold as “2x 6V 1156 ba15s 12 SMD LED White
Car Bulb Light”, these are an array of six LEDs round the periphery,
shining outwards, with six more on the top shining upwards. When fitted
to the test reflector, the side firing LEDs completely fill the bowl, so
that the reflector shines over its entire 6 inch diameter. The six on
the top face outwards and give a very conspicuous white patch in the
centre that is easy to spot from a long way off. They are a bluish
white (think modern BMW) rather than the gentle warm glow of a tungsten
bulb. Best of all, the measured current at 6V is less than 0.4A.
Suitable as Sidelights / pilot lights? Yes. I shall leave these in the sidelight holder on the Box, as it reduces the dynamo load by a couple of amps.
Suitable as Headlights? No. They are bright enough but result in a beam which is very dispersed, so don’t form a concentrated patch on the road.
_1.jpg)
Second-
the “FISHEYE”.
Sold as “2x 6V 4 LED 5W SMD White Car Bulb Light”, these
have three outward shining LEDs around the edge and a brighter forward
shining LED under the lens. The advertisement claims them to be
5W, but again the measured current was less than half an amp. As
before, a cold, bluish light (about 6400K for the photographers amongst
you.).
As with the “Pineapple”, the side firing LEDs completely fill the bowl, so the light seems 6” across, not just a tiny dot. Slightly less even, (as there are just the three), they still give a big area to look at. The forward LEDs are under a lens, and they do have a carefully controlled beam pattern that shows as a cone of light. The snag here is that the cone angle is quite wide, (approx 90 degrees) so again, there is plenty of light but it spreads a bit too much just to use these as headlights for a car. Bicycles, certainly, as the range doesn’t need to be as great. This is a pity, as the forward LEDs obviously make no use of the reflector at all, so are unaffected by poor quality silvering. They are about the same size as a conventional Stop / Tail bulb, so don’t need a huge shell to mount them.
Suitable as Sidelights / pilot lights? Yes.- provided they face forward with respect to the car. They are less dispersed than the ”pineapple”, but would work brilliantly (sorry) in the wing-mount style sidelight, such as Lucas LD109 (Ruby etc)
Suitable as Headlights? No. They are plenty bright enough, and have a tighter beam than the “Pineapple”, but still a bit too dispersed to use at normal driving speeds. However, if you only use your Seven around town, then these could be a very practical alternative, with the advantage being the extremely low current consumption.
This article, written by Geoff Hardman, originally appeared in CA7C Seven Focus in December 2013, pp24-25.
1 Paul Goff, 62 Clare Rd. Prestwood Bucks. HP16 0NU Website: http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/ e-mail: norbsa02@aol.com
Supplies LED running lights for older cars and motorcycles and LED bulb replacements for cars and motorcycles
2 The bulbs were purchased from http://stores.ebay.co.uk/UWLLED-UK?_trksid=p2047675.l2563 but beware – the link has a non printing character in it as it is Chinese, or you can search for HANZI-LED.
Before UK enthusiasts fit LED bulbs they should be aware of the:
Regulatory Position on the Use of LED Light Sources in Historic Vehicles - Ian Edmunds
From FBHVC News. Issue 5: 2017 pp7-8 http://fbhvc.co.uk/members-pages/newsletter-archive/
Please see the original article for the full discussion on this topic.
The use of LED light sources has been of interest to the historic vehicle community for as long as LEDs have been readily available and not surprisingly many articles have been written on the subject in both club magazines and in the specialist press. Unfortunately, not all of the information provided has been accurate and FBHVC felt it should research the subject to enable the provision of definitive guidance to its members.
In addition to research by the FBHVC Legislation Committee an opinion was also sought from Department for Transport and the Committee were gratified to find their conclusions confirmed. However, we should repeat a warning from the DfT reply – “The guidance provided is based on the requirements of The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations and all vehicles must comply when used on the road, ultimately interpretation of law is the sole prerogative of the courts.”
The report concluded that:
Lamps where the use of LEDs is legal subject to the conditions noted earlier
- Front Position Lamps. (Side lamps). Vehicles first registered before 1st January 1972. LED light sources in the original lamps are compliant.
- Rear Position Lamps. (Tail lamps). Vehicles first registered before 1st January 1974. LED light sources in the original lamps are compliant.
- Rear Registration Plate Lamps. Vehicles first registered before 1st April 1986. LED light sources in the original lamps are compliant.
- Stop lamps. Vehicles first registered before 1st January 1971. LED light sources in the original lamps are compliant.
Lamps where the use of LEDs is not legal:
- Stop lamps. Vehicles first registered after 1st January 1971. LED light sources in the original lamps are non-compliant. This is because LEDs will not meet the minimum wattages specified in the regulations.
- Direction Indicators. (flashing type). LED light sources in the original lamps are non-compliant. This is because LEDs will not meet the minimum wattages specified in the regulations.
- Headlamps. LED light sources in the original lamps are generally non-compliant. This is because LEDs will not meet the minimum wattages specified in the regulations. However, in some particular cases it may be possible to locate LED light sources of compliant wattage.
The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations, in addition to specifying which lamps are obligatory and the provisions they are required to meet, also permit the use of additional lamps, which are referred to as optional. These lamps are required to meet some but not all of the provisions specified for obligatory lamps with the result that there are no wattage requirements for optional headlamps, either dip or main beam.
A further article appeared in the FBHVC Newsletter Issue 2, 2021 pp 4-5 Legislation - Lindsay Irvine
Newsletter Archive | Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (fbhvc.co.uk)
How far that little candle throws his beams… …
So shines a good deed in a weary world. A rather apposite quote in this trying year which I link to the fitment of LED lights to historic vehicles. The following entry in the MOT manual for cars and passenger vehicles updated in January 2021 raised a few eyebrows:
4.1.4 Headlamps - Compliance with requirements - Changed sentence from ‘Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with HID bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.’ to ‘Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.’
However in an amendment issued by DVSA on 19th March and coming into effect from 22nd March these rules are changing so that not all motorcycles and vehicles will fail the MOT test if their halogen headlamp units have been so converted.
Class 1 and 2 motorcycles must not be failed for the defect ‘Light source and lamp not compatible’. Headlamps must comply with all other requirements of the test and headlamp aim. The motorcycle inspection manual will be updated shortly, and the ability to select the defect within the MOT testing service will be removed.
For class 3,4,5 and 7 vehicles, the defect ‘Light source and lamp not compatible’ only applies to vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986. Should a vehicle be presented for an MOT test with conversions before 1 April 1986 they must not be failed with immediate effect. Vehicles presented with converted halogen headlamp units first used on or after 1 April 1986 will continue to be failed. Headlamps must comply with all other requirements of the test and headlamp aim. The cars and passenger vehicles inspection manual will be updated shortly.
For reasons I briefly summarise below, the vehicles which will mainly be caught by any offending conversions will be those post 1986, the oldest of which are only on the cusp of becoming historic vehicles. Thus the majority of historic vehicles are not affected by this change to the MoT requirements.
The regulatory position on the use of LED light sources in historic vehicles has been covered so extensively and comprehensively before in this journal that rather than repeat that guidance verbatim here, I invite you to read an article in Newsletter number 5 of 2017 available in the Federation archives. In basic terms, for vehicles registered before the 1st of April 1986, there is no requirement for type approved headlamps as set out in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 (RVLR 1989) in Schedule 4 paragraph 5. However those Regulations require that where an approved lamp is required, an approved light source must be used. The date applicable depends on the lamp function. Based on a letter from the Dft in 2017, the article goes on to summarise the dates when lamp approval became mandatory for certain motor vehicle lamps.
For many older vehicles there is no specific prohibition in RVLR 1989 about the use of LED sources. However it should be noted from the article mentioned above that those Regulations also include a requirement that lamps (and specifically headlamps) should not cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other persons using the road.
“With particular reference to headlamps, a light source of a different type and in consequence of different physical size and shape is very unlikely to work correctly with the optical design of the lamp and the risk of causing undue dazzle or discomfort becomes a very real one”
In addition, given the fact that LEDs are greatly more energy efficient than their tungsten or halogen predecessors, the fact that the Regulations quote minimum wattages for certain lamps creates a barrier to their use across the board. LEDs are of too low a wattage to comply with the regulations even though the actual light output may be entirely adequate.
So whilst any change to government motor vehicle manuals can cause a frisson of concern, I think the change mentioned above will be of limited application to most historic vehicle owners. That said even those no longer taking their vehicle for a test, should ensure that any conversions to LED headlamps do not dazzle other road users which could fall foul of a roadside check. A more remote but still plausible issue could be the insurance implications of a modification which is alleged to have contributed to a road accident.
See also:
LED lights for Trafficators (semaphore signals)