Let there be light (Review of Fellman SMD/LED lamps)

[Jeffrey Fellman]

I would strongly recommend leaving the factory plug intact, there is plenty of room if the plug is routed to the side of the fan housing.

[Ed Lawrence]

I have the same question Jim Hinde has, are these the same lamps Stoddard offers as part number 644-631-106-31-SMD?

http://www.stoddard.com/64463110631-smd.html

[Dave Wildrick]

I have the same question Jim Hinde has, are these the same lamps Stoddard offers as part number 644-631-106-31-SMD?

http://www.stoddard.com/64463110631-smd.html

The answer is yes.
Brad Ripley has acknowledged that Jeffrey Fellman is their supplier:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42597&p=274727&hilit=smd#p274727

[Ed Lawrence]

Fantastic, thanks for the confirmation Dave.

[Charles H Jacobus]

I have Hella in the 356 I just bought. Am I understanding correctly that Jeffery sends an entire lens assembly that I would replace the H4 socket and lens with an SMD combined lens and reflector unit?

ChuckJ

[Harold Singh]

The assembly plugs into the existing light socket.

[Martin Benade]

And the lens/reflector assembly replaces a sealed beam unit.

[M Penta]

I just bought a set of these, look forward to installing next week so I can go on a little road trip to Mt Washington hill climb with out worrying about night driving. My night vision is not so great and the stock lights just do not cut it for me!

[David Jones]

The light is not the biggest draw for these headlights, it is the huge reduction in power consumption. if you are driving at night in the rain and you only have a 160 watt generator then you are close to the limit with 55 watt headlights. 110 watts for the headlights and then the wipers and rear/brake lights. Combine that with a less than perfect battery and things can go downhill in a hurry. With the SMD's the wattage draw is reduced to 12 watts leaving a lot left for everything else. Now no need to worry about converting to an alternator or 12 volts. By the way I have not bought Jeffreys lights but I do have my own version which I made up before Jeffrey brought his to market and the SMD's are extremely bright though I feel they do not throw as long a beam as the H4's do. Not much of an issue unless you drive dark straight country roads at high speed. My country roads are max of 55 at night because of large nocturnal animals and many twists and turns.

[Charles H Jacobus]

Jeffery called and I bought a pair. I'm looking forward to installing them next week.

Thank you all for your comments

ChuckJ

[Ed Lawrence]

I had a pair installed when I had the interior of my car redone. It is really amazing at the difference, I love these SMD headlights.

[M Penta]

The light is not the biggest draw for these headlights, it is the huge reduction in power consumption. if you are driving at night in the rain and you only have a 160 watt generator then you are close to the limit with 55 watt headlights. 110 watts for the headlights and then the wipers and rear/brake lights. Combine that with a less than perfect battery and things can go downhill in a hurry. With the SMD's the wattage draw is reduced to 12 watts leaving a lot left for everything else. Now no need to worry about converting to an alternator or 12 volts. By the way I have not bought Jeffreys lights but I do have my own version which I made up before Jeffrey brought his to market and the SMD's are extremely bright though I feel they do not throw as long a beam as the H4's do. Not much of an issue unless you drive dark straight country roads at high speed. My country roads are max of 55 at night because of large nocturnal animals and many twists and turns.

Absolutely David, 2A instead of 16A is a huge benefit, and as you you mentioned there is no need to go with 12V conversion for lighting reasons.
I agree that in general LEDS do not seem to project as well as H4's, but in this case with such brighter lights it should still be a huge improvement. I will probably also change the tail lights eventually.

[Edwin Ek]

If they emit more light but don't project as well, isn't the problem that the focusing is suboptimal?

[Norm Miller]

M Penta,

Driving at high speed in VT at night builds character.
Not to mention doing it on a motorcycle.
I survived my teens on dirt roads at night.

You won't believe the improvement with the new lights but aim them lower or they will light up the moon.

Norm
ex: Windsor County

[David Jones]

Edwin I know that the focusing on my SMD's is suboptimal but that is because I bought offmarket SMD bulbs and stuck them in an offmarket reflector which originally had H4 bulbs. I believe Jeffrey said that his reflectors are configured around the SMD bulbs so may be have a better cutoff. I do not drive much at night but they are bright enough to attract attention when I flash them in daytime.