Re: Does the BF falcon have LED tail-lights??

"Trevor Wilson" <trevor@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:


>"Saab C900 Viggenist" <c900@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
>news:fuodkt$5dv$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> the_dawggie <the_dawggie@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>>
>>>David Z wrote:
>>>> Was behind a Falcon today and noticed the tail-lights had an
interesting
>>>> pattern.  Instead of a bulb or bulbs, there were lots and lots of
little
>>>> bright dots arranged in a circular pattern (picture rings around a
>>>> planet to get an idea).  Although the BA/BF "shape" has been around
>>>> since '02, I've never really noticed it until now.  Are these
actually
>>>> LED tail-lights and if so, were they a recent addition or have they
>>>> always been there?  I think it was a base XT model too.
>>
>>>All sorts of aftermarket products are available ...
>>
>> And LED replacement lights are really good for reducing energy usage 
>> (which
>> means less current draw in wiring, etc.),

>**Not so much. UNLESS you are using the very latest and very expensive
LEDs, 
>typical high efficiency white LEDs are approximately as efficient as 
>halogens. The big problem, of course, is operating temperature. LEDs
cannot 
>be allowed to exceed 150oC.

Yes that's one of the major problems - the current crop of
commercially-available high-power LED's (Luxeon, etc.) require special
power
supplies to drive them (though that isn't really much of a problem), and
even though they're extremely efficent, they still produce a fair amount
of
waste heat that has to be dissipated somewhere.

Then again, if you had to generate the same light output using any type of
filament lamp, the waste energy produced due to extremely increased
current
comsumption compared to LED's would result in a fire very, very quickly!

It would be like trying to use a 500 watt halogen spotlight to get the
same
light output of a modern 10 watt high-effiency LED. Or somewhere in that
order of magnitude.

Craig.
-- 
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.au
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