Hopefully not too dumb an LED question

gtman

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I installed a pair of Cougar Motor LED headlight bulbs in my low beams today. The install literally took 10 minutes including adding some zip ties. I went to fire them up and had a total WTF moment.

Now, mind you this was outside in afternoon sun but they barely looked like they were lit up. I could see some small dots behind the projector so I know they were working. This is my first LED install so is this normal? Are they dimmer than the stock yellow-ish halogens? Or is it just because the LEDs I bought were crap?

For now I put the stock ones back.
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arsh88

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doesn't seem correct to me, although if you were in the sun maybe that affected it. Install on LEDs should be about as simple as a halogen, but i always do my installs inside a closed garage. You might want to try to find a less lit area to see if they're actually illuminating. the white light from LEDs might not seem as visible in the bright sun, but it should be very noticeable in any shaded environment.
 
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gtman

gtman

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doesn't seem correct to me, although if you were in the sun maybe that affected it. Install on LEDs should be about as simple as a halogen, but i always do my installs inside a closed garage. You might want to try to find a less lit area to see if they're actually illuminating. the white light from LEDs might not seem as visible in the bright sun, but it should be very noticeable in any shaded environment.
I wish I had a garage. I think I'll reinstall these on a cloudy day and see what happens.
 

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Why not turn it on during night time?

It should be similar to this.

Sorry bad rotation haha

Honda Civic 10th gen Hopefully not too dumb an LED question FF6433D5-02F6-498F-952A-2A99936EA171
 

xaviersayys

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I don't have a garage or even a driveway of my own to work on my car so I know your pain. I installed my LED bulbs in a lit, fairly empty parking garage. I’ve never tried the Cougar LEDs but I have the 2Stroke’s in right now and, so far, like them.

Honda Civic 10th gen Hopefully not too dumb an LED question AFAB77D4-D6FE-4554-A081-A64CDC65A151
 


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I installed a pair of Cougar Motor LED headlight bulbs in my low beams today. The install literally took 10 minutes including adding some zip ties. I went to fire them up and had a total WTF moment.

Now, mind you this was outside in afternoon sun but they barely looked like they were lit up. I could see some small dots behind the projector so I know they were working. This is my first LED install so is this normal? Are they dimmer than the stock yellow-ish halogens? Or is it just because the LEDs I bought were crap?

For now I put the stock ones back.
I have the Cougar Motor LEDs in my low, high and fogs. When I have all three on it's like a lit baseball field!
In my avatar pic I have the low beams on (the fogs are before I switched to LED).
I know polarity matters, but if they are plugged in the wrong way they usually don't work at all. You might try turning the plug anyway.
 
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gtman

gtman

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I reinstalled them and they work fine.

Note to self: Don't install led lights at high noon and expect them to be bright.
 

arsh88

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I reinstalled them and they work fine.

Note to self: Don't install led lights at high noon and expect them to be bright.
Was I right, was it just that the white light got washed out by the sun?
 
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gtman

gtman

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Was I right, was it just that the white light got washed out by the sun?
Yes. My house is southern exposure and the sun was blinding yesterday.
 

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something I did years ago was I took an old PC Power Supply and rigged it so it turns on whenever the switch on the PSU body is switched on then I stripped some of the black and yellow wires because the blacks are grounds and the yellows are +12VDC (reds are +5VDC) this effectively turned the old PSU into a 12 volt test bench so things like underbody lights, LED's and HID's can all be tested and confirmed working before installing in the car.

Also used it to test a side view mirror to make sure it moved in every direction from a car i'm parting out.

If you have any old salvage desktop PC's this is a pretty easy mod to do, not enough to run a 12 volt audio system but enough for testing basic lighting circuits and stuff like that.
 


UnoLobo

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I installed a pair of Cougar Motor LED headlight bulbs in my low beams today. The install literally took 10 minutes including adding some zip ties. I went to fire them up and had a total WTF moment.

Now, mind you this was outside in afternoon sun but they barely looked like they were lit up. I could see some small dots behind the projector so I know they were working. This is my first LED install so is this normal? Are they dimmer than the stock yellow-ish halogens? Or is it just because the LEDs I bought were crap?

For now I put the stock ones back.
Sounds like it was just the reflection because you ha e to reverse the polarity on most. Which just means instead of installing the way they click in and secure flip and plug in. That is how all of my leds have worked with the connection being reversed.
 

REBELXSi

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I reinstalled them and they work fine.

Note to self: Don't install led lights at high noon and expect them to be bright.
That's odd. Mine are still very noticeable in the sun light. Definitely more than the halogens ever were.
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