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TekNinja81

Dropped 194-marker bulb into headlight housing! (and various LED issues...)

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Had a real "OH S#!T!" moment today.

I've been trying my luck with LED bulb replacements, which I usually get from Pacific Mall here in the Markham Ontario area. Picked up some LED 1157s which were actually dimmer than my stock halogens. Same goes for a set of 10-LED 194s (the marker/parking bulbs up front)... Returned those, tried one of their projector-SMD kits for the 194's. This one was SUPER bright, maybe a little *too* much so, but definitely more what I was looking for.

EXCEPT for one thing. When I was reinserting the bulb and the light stock/fixture, I noticed the bulb was pretty tight, but went in. Then the trouble began: The length of the LED was such that it rested up against the inside of the housing, and made the bulb a bit crooked. Upon trying to remove the bulb, the damned thing got stuck and fell into my headlight housing, sending me into a panic/rage thinking I'd now have to remove the entire front panel of the car to try and get the thing apart. Luckily, the GF and I were able to "smack" the bulb over enough so as to catch it with an extendable magnet via my high-beam port and get it out... (whew!) But now that I'm back to the stock bulb, I miss the look of that white LED and can't wait to find one that fits properly!

Here's a shot of the bulb (on your right of course) compared to the stock (your left.) It's so bright you'd almost think I had my high-beams on!

post-15395-0-01435700-1422157201_thumb.jpg

And this is what the thing looked like inside the fixture, prior to me trying to remove it that is...

post-15395-0-46887200-1422157203_thumb.jpg

I'm going to try and find a smaller bulb that's not quite so wide... hopefully another projector-type but I doubt I'll find one with THIS much output, haha!

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Those are somewhat similar to the initial 10-LED bulbs I had purchased, though I suspect they'd actually be brighter compared to the tiny LEDs on that one.

I'm thinking of trying something similar to these, if they'll fit any better through the marker ports -- but they're a similar design to the other projectors I'd tried, so I'm a bit doubtful...

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+1 on that. The Philips ones work great but a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for. I've been running mutiple styles for multiple applications and haven't had a failure yet.

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I got these from Canadian Tire. I originally had a few sets off ebay but they burnt out ridiculously quick, get what you pay for I guess.

http://m.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/philips-t10-premium-mini-bulb-2-pk-0202933p.html

Interesting! I had been looking at a few of the Philips LED kits at CT, and was wondering what their light output was like. For some reason I had assumed they'd be pretty crappy compared to the ones I find at PMall, but looking at a few shots online, this one looks like it may be just what I'm looking for. I'm going to go pick up a set today -- thanks! :)

*EDIT* By the way, for the festoon bulbs for the license plate; I've read that these (as well as the dome light) are typically 36-39mm bulbs -- the LED I picked up for my dome was definitely longer than the stock bulb, maybe in the 42-44mm range, requiring me to bend/shift over the contacts. Would I be safe to assume 39mm is the longest I can use for the plate lights without requiring any bending etc? (And would a 36mm actually be too short?)

Edited by TekNinja81

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Dug into my IG here's some photos mind you different sizes all philps:

http://instagram.com/p/ddZRB4lYto/?modal=true

http://instagram.com/p/jCk3WulYn0/?modal=true

http://instagram.com/p/rayC-xFYtd/?modal=true

http://instagram.com/p/ydYZlplYuF/?modal=true

I don't recall the specifications for the smart. . the BRABUS is living in Aruba now.

Edited by dmoonen

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So I picked up a set of those Philips LEDs as recommended -- they're fantastic! Not as blindingly bright as that crazy set I posted above, but that's probably a good thing. :P

Here's a pic with them installed and turned on:

post-15395-0-00980100-1422670994_thumb.jpg

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On the topic of led bulbs, I changed my reverse lights in the summer of 2014. Got those bad boys off ebay for $10-$20, can't remember how much. I can say when I back up at night it's like a miniature sun is turned on though.

post-14895-0-24527500-1422738347_thumb.jpg

post-14895-0-82314400-1422738706_thumb.jpg

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