Check Those Headlight Bulbs..

[lemon]

So my 10yr old daughter says to me (after driving to ski resort and home at night, once in my 2006 RX400h and once in Mom's 2010 Equinox), Mom's high beams are brighter than yours.

Now, I know that bulbs deteriorate over time, and these are probably the original (since March 2005) high beam bulbs, AND we have daytime running lights here in Canada, so the bulbs are on continuously, so I decide to swap in some new bulbs. I have HID low beams, but the high beams are 9005. I grabbed some Sylvania Xtravision (cheaper than Ultravision, Nighthawk Platinums etc etc.)

When I took the old ones out, I quickly discovered why the output was so low.

Any idea why both bulbs would have done this, or is just and age/heat thing (or maybe when they were installed, someone's oily fingerprints were left on the bulb- I know that's a big no no with these bulbs, so I used gloves putting my new ones in)

Don't think I need to point out which are new and which are old...lol

[lenore]

Wow, I am impressed, Your daughter is quite observant....Wish I had her ears when I was trying to hear which wheel the noise was coming from....I asked my Grandson, but he was having dificulty also...

[lemon]

Thanks. She's quite something in the car - "How do you make the spray on the windshield? How do you make the high beams come on? Why did you shut them off? (approaching / following a vehicle) Can I put this in Drive, Reverse, Park? You're speeding....lol.

If anyone is interested in WHY my bulbs ended up like that (and why yours might too, if you have DRL) see this post where someone gave a detailed response

http://www.bobistheo...616#Post2529616

Evidently, it's an effect of using the halogen bulb high beams at less than full power, which doesn't allow them to run at the proper temperature. Most of the DRL systems I"ve seen use this method (though I have seen newer vehicles using the fogs, and even some using the marker lights (like the 1996 to 2000 or so Dodge Caravan) - I guess colour doesn't matter for DRL, only strength of the beam???

Anyway, I think DRLs are standard on the U.S. RX as well, so I'd encourage you all to check your high beam bulbs if they are getting on in years (and even if not, as I have no idea how quickly this problem crops up). You don't have to remove the bulb, you can just look into your headlamp at the high beam bulb and it should be obvious (I think)

[jaswood]

This is what happens when you operate halogen bulbs at substandard suppy voltages for long periods of time. These came out of my '01 RX300 high beam socket. My RX now has LEDs for DRL.

DRL voltage = <6VDC

Due to the positive temperature coefficient of the filament, the lower the voltage the lower is the filament resistance, and the glass encapsulation actually melts due to the excessive heat.

This

[lemon]

jaswood, the LEDs you put in replaced your high beam bulbs? Do they work now as DRLs and as high beams when you need them? If I can find a replacement LED for the 9005 that works I'll gladly swap them in and be done with the halogens.

So to be more specific, do the LEDs work as a high beam bulb or is the light all scattered (I would think the reflector in the headlamp would be designed to work with the beam pattern of a halogen bulb? Would the 18 different lights of the LED bulb cause some...weirdness?)

[cduluk]

lemon, i don't think using aftermarket LED bulbs is ever going to become more of a permanent fix, especially for DRL which are ON for long periods of time. No one's been able to produce a 9005/9006 LED bulb that has any sort of reliability, nor have the intensity to do anything when you really need light from high-beam mode. During the day LED's won't be bright enough for oncoming drivers to see as 1: LED bulbs do not produce enough light at the focal point which filaments are located, so the headlight reflector becomes rather useless for directing the light correctly. 2: the color of white LED bulbs is so "pure" (like HID bulbs) that it's impossible to contrast from the color of daylight. Halogens work well during the day since the yellow tint contrasts well from clear skies and pavement. And LED bulbs will be completely inefficient in high-beam mode (even though they will be brighter than day mode) because they simply aren't bright enough. Halogen headlight reflectors aren't designed to reflect output from the giant stalk of an LED bulb; only the tiny filament of a halogen bulb.

I tried them once in the Rx300 but didn't like them enough to pursue the avenue further. Not only was the color "too" pure white/blue to be functional in DRL mode, but they didn't provide any useable light at night in high beam mode. And after a few months time, more that half of the SMD's on the LED bulb stalk were burned out completely and the remaining were all but flickering... After that route, i tried direct halogen replacements called HIR, which are AMAZING! I still use them today. They're much brighter than the standard halogens and the glass is designed to focus light energy back onto the filament to get it to burn hotter. These bulbs are designed to burn hot and i have had great experience with them.

Here's the link:

http://store.candlep...irlighting.html

Believe me, if there was a better solution, i'd be doing it!

[jaswood]

jaswood, the LEDs you put in replaced your high beam bulbs? Do they work now as DRLs and as high beams when you need them? If I can find a replacement LED for the 9005 that works I'll gladly swap them in and be done with the halogens.

So to be more specific, do the LEDs work as a high beam bulb or is the light all scattered (I would think the reflector in the headlamp would be designed to work with the beam pattern of a halogen bulb? Would the 18 different lights of the LED bulb cause some...weirdness?)

I found the DRL voltage/current limiting power resistor on the underside of the battery platform and wired a 12 volt relay in series with it. The relay coil has a high enough resistance that virtually no current flows through the high beam, DRL, bulbs in DRL mode.

Then I used the N.O. contacts of the relay to provide switched power to the 2 3W LEDs I installed in those outside corner lights inside the headlamp housing/assembly. The 3W LEDs only drop about 3 volts at full illumination so each has a power resistor in series to drop the additional ~9 volts. The new LEDs are centric mounted within a new reflector surround so the LED beam is aimed for distance visibility as are the high beam bulbs used as DRLs.

[cduluk]

How long have they lasted you? Can you take some shots and post them for us?

[jaswood]

DRL relay is at the bottom left, red and blue spade lugs...

LED driver module is the white box in the upper right.

The relay only energizes in the RX300's DRL mode. When energized the relay supplies power to all street/parking/marker/tail lights and the LED driver module.

The LEDs are 3W with a 140 degree pattern and are mounted rearward facing the reflector and at the proper reflector focal point. The LEDs are "overdriven" by 50%, 450 milliamps, but the voltage dutycycle is only 10% at 10Khz. Human eyes cannot discern flickering above >40Hz.

[jaswood]

No sure how long these have been installed, probably bac in about 2008 when I discovered the problem.

But with only a 10% dutycycle they most certainly will NEVER fail due to overheating.

[jaswood]

Night time picture and after many tries, camera settings, I just couldn't replicate what I was actually seeing.

Brightness of the DRL LED is much more pronounced in the picture that in real life.

[cduluk]

... Where are the DRL Led's? All i see is an LED in the parking light.

[jaswood]

... Where are the DRL Led's? All i see is an LED in the parking light.

The headlights are NOT on.

In real life that BRIGHT white light is a relatively tiny narrowly focussed beam. Camera (lens?) made it "splatter".

[cduluk]

So what you're trying to say is that you are using a white LED in the parking light as acting DRL? What do you have in the actual DRL reflector?

I don't think this is what lemon was inquiring about when asking for direct replacement LED bulbs for DRL's...

[jaswood]

The high beam socket has a standard high beam bulb and operates as so.

[cduluk]

The high beam socket has a standard high beam bulb and operates as so.

Then why did you say your "RX now has LEDs for DRL" in post #4 above?- what was the relevance of that comment (to the OP) if you're still using factory DRL bulbs?

[jaswood]

Due to the relatively high resistance of the relay coil the high beam bulbs are not illuminated in DRL mode, only high beam mode.

[cduluk]

Ohhhh, ok...

[lemon]

I kind of like this, since it doesn't use the high beam bulb as a DRL, so does away with the deposit/melting problem associated with that system. Plus it lights the tails up as well, which I like.

jaswood, what happens to that LED in the parking light when the regular lights are activated? Does it just remain the way it is, get dimmer? Brighter?

[cduluk]

I still don't see how this is helpful as the RX400h doesn't have this light...

[jaswood]

I kind of like this, since it doesn't use the high beam bulb as a DRL, so does away with the deposit/melting problem associated with that system. Plus it lights the tails up as well, which I like.

jaswood, what happens to that LED in the parking light when the regular lights are activated? Does it just remain the way it is, get dimmer? Brighter?

The relay is energized ONLY in factory DRL mode so DRL LED extinguishes with headlight activation.

[cduluk]

I kind of like this, since it doesn't use the high beam bulb as a DRL, so does away with the deposit/melting problem associated with that system. Plus it lights the tails up as well, which I like.

jaswood, what happens to that LED in the parking light when the regular lights are activated? Does it just remain the way it is, get dimmer? Brighter?

The relay is energized ONLY in factory DRL mode so DRL LED extinguishes with headlight activation.

So at night that side wedge light is off completely? Doesn't it look weird?

[jaswood]

The fog and turn signal lights are off also....as are the high beams in low beam mode.....does THAT look weird..?

[cduluk]

The fog and turn signal lights are off also....as are the high beams in low beam mode.....does THAT look weird..?

Actually i do think the RX300 looks empty at night without the fog lights on, but it looks much worse without the wedge lights on- they look broken. No one expects directionals to be on unless you're turning (so i have no idea what you meant in your post) however the empty wedge looks like it should be lit. I did a little photo editing, let's see what the differences are. Note that the "white" used in your white led in the wedge is actually pure white, without any tint of gray- it's the brightest it could ever be in real life. This is exactly what i was talking about earlier when i said how the factory yellow DRL contrasts better in daylight than a white LED.

[eximius]

I arrived to this after playing around with several options and spending quite some money around the high beams.