Post by sall on Jan 23, 2012 19:12:35 GMT -6
Since finishing the high power LED reverse lights I figure it's time to get back to the fog lights.
The Classic fog lamps really serve no purpose except aesthetics and I have personally never found them useful. Both pairs I have have are flaking and have burnt marks on them from the bulbs. Their age doesn't help. I have never ran an HID bulb in them or higher wattage bulbs than the factory 893(800series) which run at 37.5W. For sure will not EVER run HIDs in fogs with projector or not. HIDs simply are not made for fog lamps.
A few months ago I decided to buy a couple pairs of projectors to retro into the fog spot. Problem is the housing are so small there is virtually no projector to fit inside the reflector housing. The Morimoto Matchbox's(Mini H1's little brother) are even too small. So, I picked up a generic set of halogen fog lamps that run an 800 series bulb and a pair of Blazer projector fogs. No not the Blazer as in Chevy they are a lighting company. In fact they are the makers of our OEM fog housings. The Blazer projectors are also used in many vehicles including the Alero.
So, I tossed the OEM housings out and replaced with the Blazer projectors. They aren't very good and are notorious for burning the vapor deposit out of the bowls which leads to worse output and don't even think about putting HIDs in them. The UV will fry the coating.
Not satisfied with them I tried the generic projectors and I liked them a lot more and are slightly smaller. The Blazers are too tight of a fit for having any adjustment whatsoever. Satisfied with the output... it was too easy of a mod, getting to aesthetics later... Here is a shot of Quads + Generic Fog Projector with halogen bulb... and yes! Those are 4300k bulbs in the lows. Color flicker is beautiful!
I decided with my affinity for all things LEDs and efficiency it was a good opportunity to build... you guessed it LED Fog Projectors. Here is my first prototype(the aluminum tape is to prevent light leaking out as there is lots of open space on this projector):
Since these will be on for extended run periods the LED will produce quite a bit of heat(using XM-L LED here as well and virtual filament again). So that is the reasoning for the heatsink on the back of projector. The heatsink is bonded to the projector using Artic Silver Thermal Epoxy and the projector aids in wicking heat away from the LED. I think I will also add a small fan if thermal management proves to be a problem.
Anyways, here is couple of output shots of the beam pattern of my LED Fog Projector. This is one projector not both.
Over-exposed so you can see beam pattern better.
Now remember these are fog lamps so they won't be projected out like a headlamp but down for more foreground illumination. So the light will be ore intense than output shots above. I estimate the distance to the fence is 35 yards. I am very happy with results as such is pretty much uncharted territory even over at HIDPlanet.
Now to the aesthetics which is where I am at in the project. The projectors obviously don't take up the entire space left behind by the fog housing. So, what to do with the dead space? Going to mount the projectors up and align them where needed for straight cutoff and aimed appropriately for fog laps. Then remove the front fascia and custom mold a shroud to fill the area.
I'll keep updating this thread with progress. Right now I am waiting for some different LED drivers as I used my last two in the reverse build. I was seriously contemplating moving up to a 2300 Lumen SST-90 LED but runs at 8A and thermal management would be extremely difficult! Maybe save that for a high beam application!
Comments/suggestions always welcome!
The Classic fog lamps really serve no purpose except aesthetics and I have personally never found them useful. Both pairs I have have are flaking and have burnt marks on them from the bulbs. Their age doesn't help. I have never ran an HID bulb in them or higher wattage bulbs than the factory 893(800series) which run at 37.5W. For sure will not EVER run HIDs in fogs with projector or not. HIDs simply are not made for fog lamps.
A few months ago I decided to buy a couple pairs of projectors to retro into the fog spot. Problem is the housing are so small there is virtually no projector to fit inside the reflector housing. The Morimoto Matchbox's(Mini H1's little brother) are even too small. So, I picked up a generic set of halogen fog lamps that run an 800 series bulb and a pair of Blazer projector fogs. No not the Blazer as in Chevy they are a lighting company. In fact they are the makers of our OEM fog housings. The Blazer projectors are also used in many vehicles including the Alero.
So, I tossed the OEM housings out and replaced with the Blazer projectors. They aren't very good and are notorious for burning the vapor deposit out of the bowls which leads to worse output and don't even think about putting HIDs in them. The UV will fry the coating.
Not satisfied with them I tried the generic projectors and I liked them a lot more and are slightly smaller. The Blazers are too tight of a fit for having any adjustment whatsoever. Satisfied with the output... it was too easy of a mod, getting to aesthetics later... Here is a shot of Quads + Generic Fog Projector with halogen bulb... and yes! Those are 4300k bulbs in the lows. Color flicker is beautiful!
I decided with my affinity for all things LEDs and efficiency it was a good opportunity to build... you guessed it LED Fog Projectors. Here is my first prototype(the aluminum tape is to prevent light leaking out as there is lots of open space on this projector):
Since these will be on for extended run periods the LED will produce quite a bit of heat(using XM-L LED here as well and virtual filament again). So that is the reasoning for the heatsink on the back of projector. The heatsink is bonded to the projector using Artic Silver Thermal Epoxy and the projector aids in wicking heat away from the LED. I think I will also add a small fan if thermal management proves to be a problem.
Anyways, here is couple of output shots of the beam pattern of my LED Fog Projector. This is one projector not both.
Over-exposed so you can see beam pattern better.
Now remember these are fog lamps so they won't be projected out like a headlamp but down for more foreground illumination. So the light will be ore intense than output shots above. I estimate the distance to the fence is 35 yards. I am very happy with results as such is pretty much uncharted territory even over at HIDPlanet.
Now to the aesthetics which is where I am at in the project. The projectors obviously don't take up the entire space left behind by the fog housing. So, what to do with the dead space? Going to mount the projectors up and align them where needed for straight cutoff and aimed appropriately for fog laps. Then remove the front fascia and custom mold a shroud to fill the area.
I'll keep updating this thread with progress. Right now I am waiting for some different LED drivers as I used my last two in the reverse build. I was seriously contemplating moving up to a 2300 Lumen SST-90 LED but runs at 8A and thermal management would be extremely difficult! Maybe save that for a high beam application!
Comments/suggestions always welcome!
