2013 Mustang fog light retrofit project for a 2004 Cobra

ttocs · Apr 5, 2014

Also curious, do you know the current drain these pose on the system? AKA -how many amps they draw? Just curious, the electrical tech in me wonders as you mentioned a heat sink which would leave me to believe they could possibly draw more current then an HID that does not need one. New technology, can't help myself....:tongue3:

JeremyAlan · Apr 5, 2014

Markings on the side say 12v 14w. I'm not sure if you can extrapolate any info from that. I have left them on for 20-30 minutes and the heat sink is still room temp, at least it feels that way to my fingers. So, I'm assuming Osram/Ford included it to protect it from over heating since they are mounted near the radiator and the possibility of being used in hot climates. I'm not sure tho.

ttocs · Apr 5, 2014

power(watts)= Voltage X current(amperage = I)
14=12 x I
Current should not be more then 1.16 amps then

JeremyAlan · Apr 5, 2014

[MENTION=11896]ttocs[/MENTION] - Do you know what a typical 35w HID ballast/bulb draws after firing? I know they have a sharp peak on ignition.

ttocs · Apr 5, 2014

from what I have read 7-10 amps

Standard halogen can go from 15-20 amps.

OnyxCobra · Apr 6, 2014

seems like the HIDs should spike higher than halogens at start up, hence the whole triggering the ABS light issue.

ttocs · Apr 6, 2014

Sorry might have read that wrong. It spikes at first from 12-15 amps and then settles down to 7-10 amps from what I have seen. Again surprised that it has a heat sink for such a small current drain but the way an led operates could not really be any more different then an hid.

Just had a thought about another possible source for the high powered led. I just added a super bright led light on an AR15 I have and it look like the same type of led and certainly brighter then any led I had seen previously. Runs on two 6v batteries that appear to be I series which would mean it runs on 12v.

JeremyAlan · Apr 6, 2014

[MENTION=11896]ttocs[/MENTION] if you go look at my other thread about the UK light conversion you will see where I used a high powered amber LED for a turn signal light. It got hot as effff without a heatsink.

ttocs · Apr 6, 2014

So your saying the heatsink is for the light itself and not the led driver? That would be the first time I have seen a heat sink on an automotive light then and the old halogens got really hot.

JeremyAlan · Apr 6, 2014

It was 3 led's on one plate. That could be why. The 700mA driver didn't get very hot.

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JeremyAlan · Apr 14, 2014

Got the holes cut out for the lens to poke through into the reflector.

In order to mount the lens I used a piece of PVC pipe cut to the shape of the back of the reflector bowl. That gave me a flat surface to mount the optic to. I will seal around it with black RTV to keep light from leaking out around it.

Almost there!

silverskoundrel · Apr 14, 2014

this is going to be totally cool when done

JeremyAlan · May 11, 2014

Quick update:

Got the hardware, not my favorite stuff, so I will improve this down the road. All I need to do is seal up everything and they are done. The car is at the exhaust shop currently, but I will have finished pics mounted in the bumper soon!

JeremyAlan · May 14, 2014

Finally done! They came out great! I'm super happy with the final result, the optic seems to have a clean and sharp output. The optic also is built to bounce light into the reflector bowl so that from a distance it looks stock! They are almost perfect. I will post output shots when it gets dark out, I was too excited not to share with you guys!

Photo from above the cutoff

Photo from below the cutoff, bright!

Looking good with the switchbacks in the headlights

From a distance, looks stock to me!