Very good question indeed Robbie, one I believe deserves a lengthy response.
There are a few reasons why ................. The first one is down to cost, with other lighting technologies like LED and Xenon they're easily two to three times the cost for the units alone. Not to mention the extra cost for the extra technology required to run those sorts of systems. Such as, Headlight levelling and headlight washer systems.
When I began the project I had a decision to make, which technology would be a cost effective way producing a set of headlights good enough to be deemed an 'upgrade' for the T4. Unlike the expensive ( at the time ) DRL Audi type aftermarket headlights that everybody was selling, that I concluded were not an 'upgrade' at all, but just a pretty set of headlights that were worst than my standard lights already on my van !
When I began testing various units, with my very basic headlight support jig, it quickly became apparent that Halogen wasn't dead yet as most people were saying. All the who-ha of the newer technology of Xenon and LED lighting the way ahead, so to speak. The important thing here is, to have a precise beam pattern, a beam of light that' directed in the direction that you're looking. Think of it like a hand torch ................... you need that illuminated beam to be where you're pointing your torch, you don't need to illuminate the entire country side, you just need to see where you're going ! Look at any car that has LED headlights and you'll see that it illuminates everything ! like a sheet of white light. Ya, I agree, they're very bright, but there's no discernible beam pattern.
That simple mock-up you see in the picture there, is running off a 12 volt computer power supply and giving me about 17amps, just barely enough to run the test. So these units running at their optimal power will be even brighter. But when I took that jig out into the yard later that night, I knew instantly that these were the units I was going to use. And at less than half the price of the Xenon units, it was a no-brainer >>
As for the power .................... you have ( or should have ) 14.4 volts coming from your battery when engine running no matter what is connected to it, so why not use all that available power ?
TURK
There are a few reasons why ................. The first one is down to cost, with other lighting technologies like LED and Xenon they're easily two to three times the cost for the units alone. Not to mention the extra cost for the extra technology required to run those sorts of systems. Such as, Headlight levelling and headlight washer systems.
When I began the project I had a decision to make, which technology would be a cost effective way producing a set of headlights good enough to be deemed an 'upgrade' for the T4. Unlike the expensive ( at the time ) DRL Audi type aftermarket headlights that everybody was selling, that I concluded were not an 'upgrade' at all, but just a pretty set of headlights that were worst than my standard lights already on my van !
When I began testing various units, with my very basic headlight support jig, it quickly became apparent that Halogen wasn't dead yet as most people were saying. All the who-ha of the newer technology of Xenon and LED lighting the way ahead, so to speak. The important thing here is, to have a precise beam pattern, a beam of light that' directed in the direction that you're looking. Think of it like a hand torch ................... you need that illuminated beam to be where you're pointing your torch, you don't need to illuminate the entire country side, you just need to see where you're going ! Look at any car that has LED headlights and you'll see that it illuminates everything ! like a sheet of white light. Ya, I agree, they're very bright, but there's no discernible beam pattern.
That simple mock-up you see in the picture there, is running off a 12 volt computer power supply and giving me about 17amps, just barely enough to run the test. So these units running at their optimal power will be even brighter. But when I took that jig out into the yard later that night, I knew instantly that these were the units I was going to use. And at less than half the price of the Xenon units, it was a no-brainer >>
As for the power .................... you have ( or should have ) 14.4 volts coming from your battery when engine running no matter what is connected to it, so why not use all that available power ?
TURK
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