Light strips

[whippit]

fog in april !!!!!!,
if you stick it in reverse by mistake you dont deserve to drive a car !!!,

i'm not being a smart arse but the amount of cars around with head lights out of alignment is a joke
ive lost count the number of times ive been blinded by on coming cars, slightly more dangerous'

every one would like to abide to the letter of the law all the time,
but a fog light slightly not bright enough and at the wrong alignment,
i know what id'e do

[Blue_Bullet]

Quote: RIP

Blue Bullet hasn't got one

Good to have though, just in case you head backwards under boost. :cry

LoL yer just incase!!!

[Blue_Bullet]

1: I don't intend to break the law, being a law abiding citizen!

2: I don't intend to use a neon as a fog!

3: Neon's are illegal.(depending on which direction any emitted or reflected light comes from/goes to) so they are not illegal !

4: Neon's or LED's would never be bright enough to blind you!

5: Not that i have tried or would be stupid enough to, but I don't think its possible to stick it in reverse while driving forward and if it happened how would this ever cause anyone to crash into the back of me unless there brakes are dodgy!

6: I will make sure you are never behind me in a convoy if I ever am in one, just in-case you stick your flashing blue neon light on and pull me over or decide you are going to stack into the back of me!!!

7: I can not get my hands on a set of Kia reverse lights for my car, not sure if they would have a Kite mark on them either and also I would of thought having reverse lights is better than no reverse lights?

8: I think these will look proper and neat when fitted on my car filling up the voids I have and will be situated in the correct position, they will only light up when reversing not when moving forwards so I cant see NASA or PC Plod having a problem or even noticing them!

9: Thanks for your interest and information you always help I appreciate it!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LED-SLIM-LINE-REV ... 3a5404cffd

[dapinky]

but a fog light slightly not bright enough and at the wrong alignment,

That's the whole point If it is bright enough to count as a fog light, then it is bright enough to dazzle if at the wrong angle. If it isn't then it ain't a fog light, so you don't have one fitted

1: I don't intend to break the law, being a law abiding citizen! good to hear

2: I don't intend to use a neon as a fog! never thought you would

3: Neon's are illegal.(depending on which direction any emitted or reflected light comes from/goes to) so they are not illegal ! Yes they are (the 'depends' bit only refers to the colour of the light emmited.

4: Neon's would never be bright enough to blind you! Never said they would - it's the colour that causes the problem

5: Not that i have tried or would be stupid enough to, but I don't think its possible to stick it in reverse while driving forward and if it happened how would this ever cause anyone to crash into the back of me unless there brakes are dodgy! Not sure where this one comes from - but you can stick it in reverse when going forward - it just makes a horrible noise and breaks things.

6: I will make sure you are never behind me in a convoy if I ever am in one, just in-case you stick your flashing blue neon light on and pull me over or decide you are going to stack into the back of me!!! Rest assured, I neither have blue neons (flashing or otherwise), nor would be close enough to shunt into your rear.

7: I can not get my hands on a set of Kia reverse lights for my car, not sure if they would have a Kite mark on them either and also I would of thought having reverse lights is better than no reverse lights? Kite marks don't come into it (they are British Standard), it's the 'e' number you need ('B' on a fog lamp) - this is why many imports to EU countries have to have the whole set of lights changed to use them on the road (Jap imports via Eire, Trabants from the old Eastern Germany etc etc etc) The reversing lights aren't the issue, really - but they still have to comply.

8: I think these will look proper and neat when fitted on my car filling up the voids I have and will be situated in the correct position, they will only light up when reversing not when moving forwards so I cant see NASA or PC Plod having a problem or even noticing them! May look good - but it's your car, so make it look how YOU want. VOSA or Plod may NOT notice them, but then again........

9: Thanks for your interest and information you always help I appreciate it! Always happy to help those who request it (or otherwise)

[speed-demon]

Never off duty!

[Dico]

What a great thread. Both informative and entertaining.

[Blue_Bullet]

ok thanks, I will keep that in mind when I get round to putting reverse lights on!

I am still a little confused though!

I quote: Anyway, I've now told you what the law requires, what you do is up to you, but I'd rather NOT be following you on a convoy into Malvern - it could be either embarrassing, dangerous or very upsetting for one of us.

Why would it be embarrassing, dangerous or very upsetting then?

3: Neon's are illegal.(depending on which direction any emitted or reflected light comes from/goes to) so they are not illegal ! Yes they are (the 'depends' bit only refers to the colour of the light emitted.

So if they are the right colour they are not illegal?

If i get a ticket by NASA can I just say I know you and get let off?

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

I guess you liked the Meerkats Dico?

[dapinky]

I quote: Anyway, I've now told you what the law requires, what you do is up to you, but I'd rather NOT be following you on a convoy into Malvern - it could be either embarrassing, dangerous or very upsetting for one of us.

Why would it be embarrassing, dangerous or very upsetting then?

If you need me to spell it out.......
Embarassing - if I end up seeing something illegal when you know damn well that it is so.
Dangerous - dazling lamps
Very Upsetting - that you may feel that you can flagrantly dismiss the Laws of the land which you dislike.

3: Neon's are illegal.(depending on which direction any emitted or reflected light comes from/goes to) so they are not illegal ! Yes they are (the 'depends' bit only refers to the colour of the light emitted.

So if they are the right colour they are not illegal?

They dont actually make any with the correct colour temperature to be legal on UK roads

If i get a ticket by NASA can I just say I know you and get let off?

Not a chance - if anything, it'll get you in really deep poo.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

Happy to do so. But it's a bit like Sat Nav -you know its right, but you still want to go a different route

Just as a final thought, remember that this is a public forum, and neither Old Bill, nor VOSA are computer illiterate - so if you do go ahead and fit something you shouldn't you won't be able to claim that you didn't realise. Because if you do, It'll be Fraud, or Attempting to pervert the course of justice - And for the sake of a minor Trafic Violation, you could Criminalise yourself.
And if your MOT man passes the car with illegal bits on it, it ain't difficult to do a check on the forum to establish your index plate - then a quick computer check will soon have someone to chase to remove a testing license - and, trust me on this, VOSA DO actually do that (round here, if not where you are), because I set the idea up with them a number of years ago when I was in the relevant department

[Blue_Bullet]

OK Point taken!

I have had seconds thoughts and I will forget this project!

Sorry that this has upset you so much!

[Elanlover]

Just jumping in here having done a fair bit of LED work on my car (and doing a lot of research in the process), my experience has been that almost all of these off the shelf LED light packages are worthless. They don't put out near enough light to do anything worthwhile. I have come across and am using a set of LED bulbs in the rear clusters that work quite well but that was after a lot of trial and error (and expense).

If you're looking to do something like driving lights or foglights in the front I don't think you'll find anything worth the money out there in a pre-packaged form no matter how good they look. As an example, the LED driving lights that Audi uses are each 0.5 watt LED's and, depending on the model, there will be between 5 and 8 per side. Now, wattage is only one thing that goes into determining the light output and if they'll be seen or not. Audi doesn't publish the output per LED (but I'm guessing they are using one of the Phillips Luxeon Stars at maybe 40 lumens each) but its typically measured in Lumens or candella. The average househould 100w incandescant light bulb puts out about 100 to 120 lumens which is roughly equivalent to 100 - 120 candella (or 120,000 mcd - millicandella - which is often used in LED light specs instead of lumens). The problem is that LED specs in mcd's are not equivalent to lumens at all.

Stand in front of a standard bulb and it radiates consistant light in all directions. LED's are unidirectional and often have lenses fitted to them to expand the area of light. You stand anywhere near (in front, behind, etc.) a standard bulb and you get 100 lumens. You move to the side of an LED bulb and your lumens decrease dramatically down to zero. A lens can allow a greater angle (5, 10, 25, 140, degrees, etc.) of light but its the same quantity of light spread out over more area thereby reducing the amount of light at any given point. Here's a good link to a converison calculator to help figure out how much light you actually get from a 10mm, 140,000 mcd LED with a 140 degree viewing angle (not very much!).

So, bottom line is that most of these packaged LED products out there either don't tell you what their output in mcd's is or do tell you but don't tell you the lens angle so you can't figure out how much light they REALLY put out. Usually very little - which is why they don't publish the specs. I think the only way to go is to build your own using better (non chinese) components with the proper light output. And that's a future front end remodelling project for me

[Gee0]

[rip]

OK Point taken!

Sorry that this has upset you so much!

I don't think you've upset anybody. Sounds like he was just trying to stop you dropping yourself in it.
& if you've decided NOT to fit anything you now know is illegal, then job done.

[Alan_C]

While I have had a chuckle at reading these posts, all BB wanted to do was fill a gap he has between his Kia lights and the number plate plinth on each side. The Kia lights already have fog lamps in them, but no reversing lamps. There is nothing available that is E marked as a reversing lamp that will fit, so what better than to fill the gap with an white LED stip. It would provide safety for himself and others in that when reverse is selected it can be observed that he is intending/is reversing, which otherwise couldn't be indicated. In doing this, BB would break the law as these lamps are not E marked. Big deal! Yes, he's broken the law, but hardly in any major way. As Dapinky has already stated, most Police officers wouldn't be wise to the extent of E markings, the reverse lamps would emit white light, not at a brightness that's likely to dazzle either. They wouldn't be useful to illuminate behind the car, but they are at least serving 2 purposes, providing a safety warning and an aesthetic gap filler. As I may have said previously, I build kit cars and have to pass the SVA test (super MOT type test). The SVA testers handbook is almost 3 inches thick, and I have to ensure my cars comply, down to E marks. I have also discovered that a few production cars would fail this test, mostly due to small technical breaches, but even so, that means that there are already some production cars on the road that break the construction and use rules, and not to mention how many cars have been chaved up with all manor of lamps, loud exhausts, blue lamps on the bonnet etc. I appreciate Dapinky taking the time to point out any pitfalls with modifications we are thinking about fitting, and armed with all the pros and cons we can then decide whether to fit them or not.

Keep up the good posts, it's all very informative, and a bit amusing!

[Blue_Bullet]

I need a website like http://www.comparethelegalneonandledlights.com

[Blue_Bullet]

Exactly!

I don't care really how much light they are going to put out, its never ever going to be Dazzling, really I just wanted to neaten up the two gaps I have on either side of my number plate plinth!

I do appreciate your help dapinky but theres need to go OTT

You said I quote: If you need me to spell it out.......
Embarassing - if I end up seeing something illegal when you know damn well that it is so.
Dangerous - dazling lamps
Very Upsetting - that you may feel that you can flagrantly dismiss the Laws of the land which you dislike.

I dismiss and I Dislike!!! oh and dazzeling !!! And as i said I am not stupid enough or would try or think for any person is going to force a car in reverse during traveling in a forward direction and the lights are not going to be dazzling either!!!

Why would it concern you anyway if I was in a convoy or otherwise? I am not going to be embarrassed or very upset unless my gf's just dumped me and I do not dismiss the law or dislike this country, I'm only asking for help and advise!

ps. and my satnav is often wrong!

[dapinky]

As I'm now bored with trying to educate or inform, I'll just finish by saying that in my first post, I explained that it may well be a neat solution to the gaps, and explained the difference between OBLIGATORY fog lamps and OPTIONAL reversing lamps.

It's up to you what you do - but don't cry when it goes wrong.

All references to 'undue dazzle' are for fog lamps which may be on when going forward - not for reversing lamps which you don't need anyway

If you want to keep trying to twist it so that I am the bad guy, go ahead......

....as i have stated, I don't make the law, but I am happy to try and explain it and stop people from falling foul unnecessarily.

If people continue to chose to disobey it, then I am paid a pittance from the public purse to enforce it, and will do so.

As you have now removed your earlier posts which were quite relevant to the subject, this entire thread has become somewhat worthless (there are plenty of other threads if you just want to pick an argument, state an opinion, or make me out as the bad guy).

Have a happy Christmas XXXX

[Nige]

I've deleted the posts where the text had been removed, so this now makes even less sense .

There is good advice available all over this forum, choosing to follow it, or not is a personal choice, as is the responsibility.

Happy Christmas.

[Blue_Bullet]

Merry Christmas to all, and a even merrier new year!



All your advise is very informative, I have learned a lot from you thanks! I am neither trying to make you out as a bad guy (obviously you are not one) or trying to have a argument with you , there are plenty of pubs and bad guys around here where i can do that if I wanted! You are right about the fog, so I have aborted that idea and decided to put in two lights for reverse instead! You are also right of course about the approval mark thing, so I am looking for a set of lights which will have the approval mark and are also thin enough to fit! I am thinking of something along the lines like in the link I have added below! It is going to be hard to find some with the approval mark, because its not something that manufactures really advertise when selling there products, but i will try its always the best policy to be honest and legal!

http://shop.aeswakefield.com/12v--24v-m ... -787-p.asp

or like these on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HID-Bright-16-Wh ... 9001r22308