CREE headlights on a 2013 SV - problem

Well, my quest to duplicate the SL's superb LED lighting has finally ended. I have bought some CREE LED headlights to replace my halogen H13 hi-lo beam lamps. There were no instructions in the package. 3 wires to be plugged onto an adapter: +hi, +lo, -ground. Since there was no H13 tail to plug onto the car's socket, I just plugged each wire together, starting with the connection of the black wires together, and then switching the yellow and green ones around, so that the LO beam activates one CREE chip, and the HI beam activates both CREE chips. I put the wires together with electrical tape, no soldering.



Pretty much the same as these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9008-H13-CR...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19e91e6d6e&vxp=mtr



Now, I have a Canadian car, which has automatic daytime running lights. Those basically turn on the Hi-beam filament on an H13 bulb, but at a very low amperage. So of course, the DRL running on CREE LED bulbs turn on both chips, but at a lower amperage. So far so good, everything works. *ALMOST*

The DRL flickers due to amperage fluctuations, between normal and low amperage lighting. Sometimes that flickering occurs simultaneously on both headlamps, but most of the time they unfortunately alternate between the left and the right, and it looks like police car headlights flashing! Not good!!

Is there some sort of capacitor or something else that I need to fit between two wires to avoid having those fluctuations in current?

Any help appreciated!!

PS: those light are so bright, they are absolutely fantastic!! If I could just avoid the flickering, they would be perfect! Should work great on a US car.

http://www.amazon.com/Kensun-Conversion-Anti-Flicker-Resistor-Adaptors/dp/B00FOX5T6I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399426517&sr=8-1&keywords=h13+resistor+kensun" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just ordered these. We'll see how they perform:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HFK2R8G/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Can you comment on the "beam pattern"? Does it look like the pattern of the original headlights?

An easy way to see the pattern is to park the car 10 feet from a white wall or garage door with the headlights pointing right at it and observe the lit area at night.

Thanks!

Bob

The other newer cars in our driveway use the high beam filament for a DRL, but when in DRL mode the headlight wires pass through a resistor first to drop the voltage to the bulb to around 9V from about 12V. This is to reduce the output of the highbeam down to about 60% of highbeam brightness for DRL use. It is possible your non-LED Leaf is doing the same thing, and therefore not providing the correct current to the LED.

Afternoon project complete! Headlights installed into my non DRL Leaf. Note this is not a plug n play upgrade. Cutting off your factory headlight connector is required. Steps below:






The Cree headlights were very loose in the headlight housing. I added the additional washer which is secure albeit a tad too tight.






...routed externally to LED ballast

How good is the output? Comparable to a 35w HID kit do you think or close to it?

Heat issues with both LEDs on both bulbs being on at once for some time? Because, I think each of the 2 LEDs on each bulb takes 25 watts or so (I read this on an Ebay listing).

It's considerably brighter and in particular light up street signs very well. Also they look much better. Pure white light vs orange halogens.

Phatcat73 said:

It's considerably brighter and in particular light up street signs very well. Also they look much better. Pure white light vs orange halogens.

Click to expand...

which of these 3 choices did you end up using?

A. For bulb sizes H4, 9004 and H13 there are three choices; (1) Single beam. (2) Low LED / high halogen. (3) Bi Xenon. The single beam has no high beam. The low LED / high halogen has a LED bulb for the low beam and a halogen bulb for the high beam. The Bi Xenon bulb has a LED bulb that moves inward for high beam, so both the high and low beams are LED.

Does leaf have separate halogen bulbs for low/high beam?

Dual beam led.

1 bulb for h and l

This looks like a great upgrade. Do you need the Kensun anti flicker decoder as well or was that a suggestion to previous poster? Still happy with the amazon unit?

Anti flicker is not needed - Perhaps only for cars with daytime running lights. Very happy.

To fix the low power flashing, use a relay. Power the bulbs from a strong battery source and just use the headlight power lead to close the relay.

i did not need the flicker bypass. Standard LED kit Works fine on cars without daytime running lights.

I bought one of these units on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131120507239?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Installed it today. Took an hour after getting everything together.
Quite a bit brighter than stock halogen lights. I ended up leaving the ballast to bulb connections outside of the dust cap. I was not sure which way was better, but if I left them inside, I would have had to move the ballast very close to the dust cap. A couple of questions came up that someone may be able to help me with. Do I need to put some sealant or tape around the hole in the dust cap to keep water out? Do I need to tape up the connection that is not sealed (Ballast to bulb) that now sits behind the headlight housing?

Did you ever get the drl flicker solved, or find an easy way to disable the drl's? Personally I think that would be easier, and then just install some cheap led foglights to serve that purpose.

I went for the Bixenon option mainly because I am not crazy about the newer Cree option and it runs fairly hot because I use that on my bikes I can't put them on my helmet because it runs too warm.

I will wait for the newer gen Cree and have them fine tune that option till a later time
I have already wired and ready for the Bixenon lights which will be a plug and go option with no cutting or drilling. Will post picture when complete.

Cutting and drilling and permanent change is not an option for me as it's a leased vehicle.

LED vs HID debate is all over the www
BUt from my limited info i prefer HID because its a proven and stable technology for automotive use. as for flashlights i frefer LEDs. LED is emerging and eventually be on most cars but till then im going with the stable platform.

LED users pls make sure you provide sufficient cooling behind the LEDs

Looks like a great project. My car is a lease, is there anything irreversible if I turn my car in at the end of the lease, aside from the wires you had to splice?

It looks like the same procedure in reverse to remove them.

How have you liked them? Will you give us a Long Term Update?

brentcd said:

Looks like a great project. My car is a lease, is there anything irreversible if I turn my car in at the end of the lease, aside from the wires you had to splice?

It looks like the same procedure in reverse to remove them.

How have you liked them? Will you give us a Long Term Update?

Click to expand...

I did not install the Cree light so I can't comment on the requirements of it but for my Bixenon light you will need to drill a fairly large hole 30mm on the cap where it suppose to seal moisture (but not after you drill a 30mm hole in it). Hence if you return the car the potential of the inspector seeing it may be low for minor items but for a 30+mm hole that to me is too close for comfort so i designed an adapter to avoid the drilling and still provide a seal

I am considering using these LED H13 units:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...e-tinned-copper-braid/2219/4994/#/tab/Reviews



I think the cup shrouds would have to be omitted? Has anybody else already used these, or something similar?