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Proxy alignment - led bulbs

396 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  DashCamSerbia  
#1 ·
Hi gents,

can you proxy align the car after replacing most halogen lamps with LED so it erases the error code due to change in voltage?
 
#7 ·
I'll keep this comment brief as this subject can get complex very quickly.

A lamp unit cares not for the type of light source. As long as it is the same size, shape and position it works the same.

Reflector degradation can be caused by UV and heat. I cannot quantify these effects but projector lamps seem to suffer more than larger reflector lamps.

An LED produces far less heat than a bulb. A halogen bulb emits 85% heat energy, 15% light energy. The bulb filament is just a resistor.

People are often too irresponsible with installation, maintenance and use of very bright light sources to make it wise to provide good advice.
 
#8 ·
That is where you are wrong. Firstly, it does care, because of CAN bus. It need minimal load or it will report a faulty bulb.
Secondly, halogen bulbs even though producing far more heat, emmit that heat as IR energy. They cool themselves by radiating heat away from the filament.
LEDs, even though producing far less geat, do not radiate any IR energy, meaning that all the heat energy remains inside the tiny LED. And since the tiny thermal mass of the LED, it heats up to high temperature. That heat is transmited to the socket.
If you take W5W bulbs for example. They will have a parallel resistor, to mimmic the halogen bulb current consumption, so not to triger the CAN bus error. That resistor alone will disipate a few W of power, and all of that evergy is going into heat, which stays on the resistor. And transfers it to the bulb socket and melts it.