installed 2008 mirrors on my 2001 today (pics)
#61
05-13-2007, 01:10 AM
My aggravation has nothing at all to do with brightness. It has to do with optics.
LED lights project a beam in a fairly tight cone, from a flat plane. It's great for a beam, like for use in a flashlight. If you want brighter light, you simply add more LED's to the array. But the light only goes one way.
On the other hand, a filament bulb illuminates in a sphere, from what amounts to a single point source. You can place a reflector behind it or around it to convert that sphere into a beam. You can't add more bulbs, but you can add more wattage if you want more light. Without a reflector, the light goes all ways.
The problem comes in when you try to place the beam-only LED array into a reflector designed to be illuminated by a spherical-illumination bulb. Since the LED only projects light in one direction, it is unable to light the reflector. You're left with a quarter-sized spot of bright light in an postcard-sized unilluminated reflector. It doesn't matter how many LED's are in your bulb replacement; it only makes the "spot" bigger. I've seen 1157 sockets with LED arrays nearly 2 inches across; same problem.
This becomes an even larger problem in lights (like clearance lights, and the lights in the '08 mirrors) that are designed for hemispherical coverage, or specifically designed to NOT throw a beam.
(lawsey, it's hard to describe optics w/o pictures...)
-blaine
LED lights project a beam in a fairly tight cone, from a flat plane. It's great for a beam, like for use in a flashlight. If you want brighter light, you simply add more LED's to the array. But the light only goes one way.
On the other hand, a filament bulb illuminates in a sphere, from what amounts to a single point source. You can place a reflector behind it or around it to convert that sphere into a beam. You can't add more bulbs, but you can add more wattage if you want more light. Without a reflector, the light goes all ways.
The problem comes in when you try to place the beam-only LED array into a reflector designed to be illuminated by a spherical-illumination bulb. Since the LED only projects light in one direction, it is unable to light the reflector. You're left with a quarter-sized spot of bright light in an postcard-sized unilluminated reflector. It doesn't matter how many LED's are in your bulb replacement; it only makes the "spot" bigger. I've seen 1157 sockets with LED arrays nearly 2 inches across; same problem.
This becomes an even larger problem in lights (like clearance lights, and the lights in the '08 mirrors) that are designed for hemispherical coverage, or specifically designed to NOT throw a beam.
(lawsey, it's hard to describe optics w/o pictures...)
-blaine
#62
05-13-2007, 06:29 AM
#64
05-13-2007, 04:11 PM
#66
05-13-2007, 09:44 PM
Originally Posted by 110Dave
How do you get access to the bulbs in the 08 mirrors. I took a quick look at mine but haven't figured it out yet.
#67
05-14-2007, 12:35 AM
#68
05-14-2007, 12:35 AM
Originally Posted by Frankenbiker
Woah, wait a minute....
No LED'S???!??!!
BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The LED side signals are half the reason why I bought the whole truck!! (no kidding!)
Please tell me that's gonna change in a year or so?????
I was seriously debating this swap till I read this....
-blaine
No LED'S???!??!!
BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The LED side signals are half the reason why I bought the whole truck!! (no kidding!)
Please tell me that's gonna change in a year or so?????
I was seriously debating this swap till I read this....
-blaine
#69
05-16-2007, 10:55 AM
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#71
06-14-2007, 07:50 AM
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06-14-2007, 02:12 PM
#73
06-14-2007, 03:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Frankenbiker
My aggravation has nothing at all to do with brightness. It has to do with optics.
LED lights project a beam in a fairly tight cone, from a flat plane. It's great for a beam, like for use in a flashlight. If you want brighter light, you simply add more LED's to the array. But the light only goes one way.
On the other hand, a filament bulb illuminates in a sphere, from what amounts to a single point source. You can place a reflector behind it or around it to convert that sphere into a beam. You can't add more bulbs, but you can add more wattage if you want more light. Without a reflector, the light goes all ways.
The problem comes in when you try to place the beam-only LED array into a reflector designed to be illuminated by a spherical-illumination bulb. Since the LED only projects light in one direction, it is unable to light the reflector. You're left with a quarter-sized spot of bright light in an postcard-sized unilluminated reflector. It doesn't matter how many LED's are in your bulb replacement; it only makes the "spot" bigger. I've seen 1157 sockets with LED arrays nearly 2 inches across; same problem.
This becomes an even larger problem in lights (like clearance lights, and the lights in the '08 mirrors) that are designed for hemispherical coverage, or specifically designed to NOT throw a beam.
(lawsey, it's hard to describe optics w/o pictures...)
-blaine
LED lights project a beam in a fairly tight cone, from a flat plane. It's great for a beam, like for use in a flashlight. If you want brighter light, you simply add more LED's to the array. But the light only goes one way.
On the other hand, a filament bulb illuminates in a sphere, from what amounts to a single point source. You can place a reflector behind it or around it to convert that sphere into a beam. You can't add more bulbs, but you can add more wattage if you want more light. Without a reflector, the light goes all ways.
The problem comes in when you try to place the beam-only LED array into a reflector designed to be illuminated by a spherical-illumination bulb. Since the LED only projects light in one direction, it is unable to light the reflector. You're left with a quarter-sized spot of bright light in an postcard-sized unilluminated reflector. It doesn't matter how many LED's are in your bulb replacement; it only makes the "spot" bigger. I've seen 1157 sockets with LED arrays nearly 2 inches across; same problem.
This becomes an even larger problem in lights (like clearance lights, and the lights in the '08 mirrors) that are designed for hemispherical coverage, or specifically designed to NOT throw a beam.
(lawsey, it's hard to describe optics w/o pictures...)
-blaine
#74
06-14-2007, 06:11 PM
Originally Posted by CounterMaker
dfuser, do you sell the white caps that go over the top of the mirrors, or am i stuck with gettting them through ford and painteing them
I opted not to offer the mirrors that has the cap as an option due to the fact they need to be painted and they end up looking like crap from bugs any way.
#75
06-14-2007, 08:44 PM
