Downside of LED headlights

[jtphoto JK]

Well I guess only for the snow regions. LEDs produce no heat so they build up with snow and ice while driving and restrict light. A dangerous situation to say the least. As much as I love my LED spots I will be sticking with regular quartz headlamps.

[Goodysgotacuda]

Yep, I found that out when I ran them for awhile as well.

[JKCTAZ]

The plus side of running LED's in super cold environments is that they work more efficiently the colder they get. We see a higher luminousity from the CREE LEDs we use in our display case lights in the frozen food cases where I work. Small and interesting fact. As far as snow and ice, yep, found that out with my Rigid's when I went wheeling in the snow. All of a sudden the light seemed dim and thought I lost a couple of diodes until I stopped and realized they were fouled with muddy snow and had to clear them manually.

[just eric]

Dont the JW Speakers have a heating element in them to avoid this situation?

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by just eric

Dont the JW Speakers have a heating element in them to avoid this situation?

Not as far as I know.

[JeepinJon]

Originally Posted by just eric

Dont the JW Speakers have a heating element in them to avoid this situation?

They use a fan to blow the heat from the heatsink onto the lens.

[Badd Andy]

what temps are they rated for, up here in Northwestern Ontario it can hit as low as -40 without windchill, even colder in other places like Winnepeg and Saskatchewan

snow and ice covered lights are the last thing you need when theres only daylight in the winter months from 9 am to 5 pm

[nj jk]

LED traffic lights have the same icing issue. The issue was resolved by engineering heating elements into the traffic light housing.

[LeJerk]

Well that's bad news for winter. Are there any models that are warm enough not to have this problem? Maybe a switch or plug to unplug during the summer, and plug in to warm then in winter?

[usmcdoc14]

spray them with PAM every morning

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by usmcdoc14

spray them with PAM every morning

LOL the PAM may freeze before it gets out of the can! LOL

[Vince1]

I live with snow and ice half the year at 9000ft in a ski resort town. I have JW Speaker headlamps and six auxillary LED light bars from VisionX and Rigid. I will tell you this so called issue is a myth. Never had ice build up on any of these fixtures. All these LED lights have heat sinks and cooling fins.....it's because they do indeed get hot. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by Vince1

I live with snow and ice half the year at 9000ft in a ski resort town. I have JW Speaker headlamps and six auxillary LED light bars from VisionX and Rigid. I will tell you this so called issue is a myth. Never had ice build up on any of these fixtures. All these LED lights have heat sinks and cooling fins.....it's because they do indeed get hot. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

My Hamsar 1900 lumen LED spots iced over in -20 not a myth, thats why I questioned the use of LED for headlights... Good to know that some get warm enough, mine don't.. How cold does it get there?

[Vince1]

Originally Posted by jtphoto JK

My Hamsar 1900 lumen LED spots iced over in -20 not a myth, thats why I questioned the use of LED for headlights... Good to know that some get warm enough, mine don't.. How cold does it get there?

It's the circuitry, not the LED itself, that generates excessive heat. Read more about powerful auto LEDs and you'll see the challenge is to dissipate the heat generated, not retain it. We had -50 deg F in some of the passes the winter before last, but -20's are the typical Jan-Feb lows. We're no strangers to snow-pack around here:

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by Vince1

It's the circuitry, not the LED itself, that generates excessive heat. We had -50 deg F in some of the passes the winter before last, but -20's are the typical Jan-Feb lows. Read more about powerful auto LEDs and you'll see the challenge is to dissipate the heat generated, not retain it.

Possibly the reason these Hamsar worklights are expensive. Evidently they dissipate the heat out the back pretty good. They do not warm up enough up front to melt ice/snow off the lens..

[Vince1]

Originally Posted by jtphoto JK

Possibly the reason these Hamsar worklights are expensive. Evidently they dissipate the heat out the back pretty good. They do not warm up enough up front to melt ice/snow off the lens..

Likely so. I know their XWL800/810 series have cooling fins along the back surface, much like the other brands, but I doubt these would not have some warmth at the front lens.

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by Vince1

Likely so. I know their XWL800/810 series have cooling fins along the back surface, much like the other brands, but I doubt these would not have some warmth at the front lens.

Yup those are the ones. 6 - XWL800/HO 2 spots and 4 Hybrids..

[07unlimitedx]

I run Rigid LED's for my fogs... I run them as my daytime lights and never have an issue of them icing up. I'm sure everyone using the VisionX solos for fogs wouldn't have any problem

[Vince1]

Originally Posted by 07unlimitedx

I run Rigid LED's for my fogs... I run them as my daytime lights and never have an issue of them icing up. I'm sure everyone using the VisionX solos for fogs wouldn't have any problem

I did have a problem with the Solos getting moisture/condensation inside. Maybe bad seals or my high elevation, but I switched to Rigid Duallys and no issues since. Neither had icing issues.

[usmcdoc14]

Whould it not just be easier to install a couple of spray nozzles and a washer pump to spray de-ice washer fluid on the headlights instead of finding reasons NOT to run LEDs?
$20 and now you can hose the mud off them too

wrap the line around the radiator hose a few times before the nozzles and now they are HEATED washers.

[jtphoto JK]

Originally Posted by usmcdoc14

Whould it not just be easier to install a couple of spray nozzles and a washer pump to spray de-ice washer fluid on the headlights instead of finding reasons NOT to run LEDs?
$20 and now you can hose the mud off them too

wrap the line around the radiator hose a few times before the nozzles and now they are HEATED washers.

Whoa! I have no problem running LEDs as a matter of fact I would love to have LED headlights, especially if they work as well as my spots do, however, paying $600-$1000 for a set of LED headlights then having to fabricate sprayers to TRY and keep ice off all winter just doesn't make any sense..
Not a bad idea, up north here auto parts stores actually sell heater units for your washer fluid but in this case sprayers alone won't work, you'd need a flat lens with a wiper.

Good discussion fellas.. Didn't realize most LED lights produced that much heat..

[jtphoto JK]

A quote from JW Speakers rep on Fire House forum.. post #92

Hello to all,

My Name is Steve and I am the Director of Sales and Marketing for JW Speaker. We have been following this forum for some time, and have found the postings from the people in the fire and rescue world to be very interesting, and are impressed with the level of knowledge you all have. I do want to clear up a couple of issues relative to our LED 4x6 headlamps.

1) These lamps are indeed LED and all LED. There are no bulbs, no HID only LEDs as the source.

2) These lamps do not have or need a cooling fan. They do have an industrial computer grade fan that is used for de-ice of the external lens. In many climates this is a must- that can not be acheived without circulating warmer air from the back of the lamp (where LED heat is generated) past the lens. In all of the lamps we have sold we have NEVER had a fan failure - it is rated at 100,000 hours. If it does fail - the lamp will continue to perform - just without deice. I would be very curious to see how others without this feature acheive de-ice - given that LEDs emit very little to no heat in a forward direction.

This is an old discussion but You can read the whole tread here http://www.firehouse.com/forums/t113682-5/