Headlight, driving lights.

[AuroraGirl]

I have birds / chickens, lights outside at night do not bother them, as long as they are not shinning brightly right into the house. Sodium vapor produces a kind of yellow / amber / orangeish light. The great thing about sodium vapor is they are almost as effect as LEDs but because there temp on the color scale is about 2,700 they wash out color pretty badly. So on the farm most of the lights in places we walk and drive have been converted or replace with sodium, but by the bird pens and barn we have kept the mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is 5,000 on the color scale so it's easier to work under. Maybe one day I'll give changing out the merc. vaps for LED a shot, but really bright durable LED outdoor fixtures ain't cheap.

I have no idea on the HID on the van, I think I'm going to start with new halogens and aiming the lights and see where that leaves me.

I also made a joke about the chickens. He had 6 chickens die in months and claimed our fat corgi/yellow lab maybe and the Mexican small dog breed thing(can’t spell for life of me) mix (cute and short legs who is midlife and has worn teeth) killed them. And has also wondered into his woods.

We apologized for her leaving the property and have since watched her. Well, I do. My gma lets her out and just trusted her again,and either him or his stupid kids took a pot shot at her and the worst part is that we put a reflective and bright vest on her because deer hunting. She’s the same color otherwise as the brighter coats of a deer. I know this because the shot sound was a small cartridge because that wasn’t a lot of pop for a very nearby round which also has a direct sound path to my open window. I’m talking less than a football field. And also less than that to the road from either of us positions.

Other guess is 410 with any number of loaded ammo types because he never and I mean never had any defensive firing of weapons to his stupid animals he lets roam in the woods with no watching or pens fences etc until middle or the summer when periodically a rifle and once a pistol are fired at who knows what hour of the night always once.

The pistol was 3 times. I was wondering if his domestic arguments with his wife had escalated more that time. They like to have those outdoors at 3am too. This was also around the time we had a lot of coyotes who would have just gotten old enough to prob start going out there into the big world who den behind and sorta between our properties. So I didn’t bother calling the police since he is one and the only other explanation was he killed the things actually able to catch his chickens unlike my dog who plays catch but will only go as far as a throw seems worth it. Like if it falls down the stairs she will stop at the top and look at it , then look at you to go get it. Lol.

I also know she was shot at because that was the only small round used and it wasn’t by the animals it was way way too close to the road, and he works opposite his wife who is days. He was home. And it was the first part of the year he could have legitimate claim because of foliage and fur. And she ended up being way too far back on our yard for it to be her wandering. She doesn’t go that far unless I do, and she wouldn’t react to a gunshot unless near it. (Hearing is kinda bad)

And he was intending to miss because he only threatened to shoot her months ago because he saw us conveniently at the mailbox when he was on an atv and she was with us leashed While putting a decoration out.

He also is the same LEO who was fired for conduct at a local pd for waiting outside the bars every night he could and the sherrifs department thought you’re not busy, we need heroes like you.

He didn’t wait for 6 chickens and months of seeing our dog who he knew was ours to ask us to keep her contained because it just slipped his mind. He thought about a moment that he had to input little effort to try and live his power fantasy of a life and make sure he had a captive audience that wouldn’t have any cameras or things recording. What are we gonna do? Report him? To his boss?

Yeah, that would go well, he would not only find anything and everything to harass but his boy toy would no doubt cushion his fall if he slipped up. He’s gonna be up for election and no one will run, they always find themselves losing their careers after doing so(less than 100 LEO in the county overall, most young, and far too many unfortunately are with him, a fair amount are quiet for understandable reasons, and the rest are not the people who go for that kind of position. )

Funny, that sherif was unopposed last election and he had a huge party celebrating. Never met someone so vain. He also runs as a democrat which isn’t logical but i think he did it because that was 2008 Obama year and sheriff isn’t something that should be “political” party based. I bet next one his better half will be outside waiting for it to finish to top it off.

But yeah,went way off topic so I made it smaller. Small men have some big egos.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@AuroraGirl I agree the science of light bulbs especially like MV & SV are cool FYI the some ballast noise during warm up of a MV is normal. After 20 mins or so it should be relatively quite a some humming is ok, anything more than that and either the winding is going or the rubber mount. I've got one near my goose pen that has been buzzing pretty bad for a few years but is still functioning normally, so I haven't replaced the ballast yet. Depending on the wattage would decide if a dedicated breaker is needed. Once warmed up the MV should produce a pretty white light, similar I'd say to an HID car light, a lot of green indicates a bulb that is way beyond it's life span. MV bulbs will often go well beyond their life span, but dim first and start looking a bit green eventually. Some newer bulbs will shut off momentarily when they get old which trips the ballast to cycle. I try to change out most of the MV bulbs every two years on the farm as they are run every night. And I will notice they are brighter. Spend the money for a good known brand like Philips, the cheapies seem to start the dimming process much sooner.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Ok, I'm going to try to tag everyone that made multiple posts on this thread but I'll probably forget someone cause my memory isn't what it use to be. Wait no,, it's always been terrible lol. @Ellie Niner @77 K20 @Grit dog @AuroraGirl @DoubleDingo thank you and those I didn't tag that had something to say, I appreciate all the help and advice on this. I got the fogs aimed at work today. I think I got it right, but I'm a little unsure of how they should be aimed left to right as there isn't really a strong hot spot like headlights have, but I think they are about right. I aimed the height so the top of the fog beam was just a tiny bit below the bottom of the low beam. As I drove it home I wondered if it should have been a touch higher, but don't want to be blinding anyone. So I did a little video of part of my drive tonight and ran though low beams only, low beams and fogs, and turned to fogs on and off a few times, fogs only and high only. Let me know if you think I've got the fogs aimed ok, and just in general I wanted to show of the light output of this combo, but video and pictures never seem to do lights justice as to how they really look on the road.

My thoughts at this point is that yes I'll use the fog lights, I see the down fall definitely not for high speed operation. Not for in town. I think they'll basically see use in bad weather and possibly on that slow twisting road I mentioned previously. If there were on my Jeep which has crappy headlights with not much side to side spread I'd probably use them more, but after the conversion on the truck the lights are so good now. I think at some point I'll try amber bulbs to see how I like that as well.

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[SirRobyn0]

I also made a joke about the chickens. He had 6 chickens die in months and claimed our fat corgi/yellow lab maybe and the Mexican small dog breed thing(can’t spell for life of me) mix (cute and short legs who is midlife and has worn teeth) killed them. And has also wondered into his woods.

We apologized for her leaving the property and have since watched her. Well, I do. My gma lets her out and just trusted her again,and either him or his stupid kids took a pot shot at her and the worst part is that we put a reflective and bright vest on her because deer hunting. She’s the same color otherwise as the brighter coats of a deer. I know this because the shot sound was a small cartridge because that wasn’t a lot of pop for a very nearby round which also has a direct sound path to my open window. I’m talking less than a football field. And also less than that to the road from either of us positions.

Other guess is 410 with any number of loaded ammo types because he never and I mean never had any defensive firing of weapons to his stupid animals he lets roam in the woods with no watching or pens fences etc until middle or the summer when periodically a rifle and once a pistol are fired at who knows what hour of the night always once.

The pistol was 3 times. I was wondering if his domestic arguments with his wife had escalated more that time. They like to have those outdoors at 3am too. This was also around the time we had a lot of coyotes who would have just gotten old enough to prob start going out there into the big world who den behind and sorta between our properties. So I didn’t bother calling the police since he is one and the only other explanation was he killed the things actually able to catch his chickens unlike my dog who plays catch but will only go as far as a throw seems worth it. Like if it falls down the stairs she will stop at the top and look at it , then look at you to go get it. Lol.

I also know she was shot at because that was the only small round used and it wasn’t by the animals it was way way too close to the road, and he works opposite his wife who is days. He was home. And it was the first part of the year he could have legitimate claim because of foliage and fur. And she ended up being way too far back on our yard for it to be her wandering. She doesn’t go that far unless I do, and she wouldn’t react to a gunshot unless near it. (Hearing is kinda bad)

And he was intending to miss because he only threatened to shoot her months ago because he saw us conveniently at the mailbox when he was on an atv and she was with us leashed While putting a decoration out.

He also is the same LEO who was fired for conduct at a local pd for waiting outside the bars every night he could and the sherrifs department thought you’re not busy, we need heroes like you.

He didn’t wait for 6 chickens and months of seeing our dog who he knew was ours to ask us to keep her contained because it just slipped his mind. He thought about a moment that he had to input little effort to try and live his power fantasy of a life and make sure he had a captive audience that wouldn’t have any cameras or things recording. What are we gonna do? Report him? To his boss?

Yeah, that would go well, he would not only find anything and everything to harass but his boy toy would no doubt cushion his fall if he slipped up. He’s gonna be up for election and no one will run, they always find themselves losing their careers after doing so(less than 100 LEO in the county overall, most young, and far too many unfortunately are with him, a fair amount are quiet for understandable reasons, and the rest are not the people who go for that kind of position. )

Funny, that sherif was unopposed last election and he had a huge party celebrating. Never met someone so vain. He also runs as a democrat which isn’t logical but i think he did it because that was 2008 Obama year and sheriff isn’t something that should be “political” party based. I bet next one his better half will be outside waiting for it to finish to top it off.

But yeah,went way off topic so I made it smaller. Small men have some big egos.

I don't mind off topic on my threads anyway.

your neighbor clearly has issues. I'd like to comment further, but can't seem to find the right words, but I sorry you have to deal with that guy.

 

[Ellie Niner]

@SirRobyn0 That looks pretty fair, best I can tell!

I think your frog lights should be aimed so that the top of their hotspot (at 25ft) is about 3 inches below their height on your bumper. You could probably go up to 1 or 1.5 inches below horizontal if you want a little more distance out of them. Since they produce more of a wide bar of light, horizontal aim isn't as critical... Do your best to get them straight ahead... I sometimes walleye them a little bit if needed to get a little more light off to the sides.

 

[SirRobyn0]

@SirRobyn0 That looks pretty fair, best I can tell!

I think your frog lights should be aimed so that the top of their hotspot (at 25ft) is about 3 inches below their height on your bumper. You could probably go up to 1 or 1.5 inches below horizontal if you want a little more distance out of them. Since they produce more of a wide bar of light, horizontal aim isn't as critical... Do your best to get them straight ahead... I sometimes walleye them a little bit if needed to get a little more light off to the sides.

Ok thanks, I may play with the aim a little more then. The thought in my head at the moment. I'd almost like them to be a touch higher, but in bad weather that might not be a good thing. I'll probably keep them as is and see how I feel after a few weeks.

 

[AuroraGirl]

(in reference ot the aim being off some bit) plus your fog lights shouldnt be used when Driving where the light cast will blind drivers, which I say to clarify you Can use themn while driving but not leave them on like some everyone around here likes to. also they love to lightbar their car and then not turn those off..

I was gonna get some Brackets for square and f150 to put a single LED meant for a ditch light but could be aimed how wanted if doing something maybe outside. Since I would kick them off when traffic comes I wouldnt be feeling so bad about not worrying about aim.


If the wiring wasnt yanked and the solar turn off sensor was good, I would prob look to replace the ballast and the bulb on my big one but I Dont think i could get anywehre up there And Im pretty sure it was installed by my gpa with a log truck and a hole he dug before hand so he probably had it sitting on the roof, installed it, and placed it on the spot. I say this because of the slack on the wiring and the fact he did the log truck stuff for many years, like 15 I think. Otherwise My next guess would be old fashioned climbing spikes and otherwise maybe those pegs they used to climb up

Its an old pole that was definitely something he got for free and was a power or just line pole somewhere lol.

Do you pay people to do those things? If they would be charging 100 or more to get up there, replace those things, and at best I wire in a inline solar sensor and do that myself , Im thinking I would just
confine it to work i can do without paying especially if Im having to do it... again

and yeah he is real grade a Chicken ****** and maybe if he slowed down or stopped he would see why they are not staying alive.

At least he could blame a fischer or two. Hell, a racoon would kill them before my dog. Especially if they are never supervised and I Dont ever hear a rooster, so not making any sexist claims ,but hens are ******* dumb and dont really contain their wandering and dont have a bird which acts defensively in a scare-inducing and piercing way. Ive been speared by a rooster, mr sherrif deputy, have you? of course not, you would shoot first at the sign of conflict to avoid the unpleasantness of fear or tense situation.

 

[SirRobyn0]

(in reference ot the aim being off some bit) plus your fog lights shouldnt be used when Driving where the light cast will blind drivers, which I say to clarify you Can use themn while driving but not leave them on like some everyone around here likes to. also they love to lightbar their car and then not turn those off..

I was gonna get some Brackets for square and f150 to put a single LED meant for a ditch light but could be aimed how wanted if doing something maybe outside. Since I would kick them off when traffic comes I wouldnt be feeling so bad about not worrying about aim.


If the wiring wasnt yanked and the solar turn off sensor was good, I would prob look to replace the ballast and the bulb on my big one but I Dont think i could get anywehre up there And Im pretty sure it was installed by my gpa with a log truck and a hole he dug before hand so he probably had it sitting on the roof, installed it, and placed it on the spot. I say this because of the slack on the wiring and the fact he did the log truck stuff for many years, like 15 I think. Otherwise My next guess would be old fashioned climbing spikes and otherwise maybe those pegs they used to climb up

Its an old pole that was definitely something he got for free and was a power or just line pole somewhere lol.

Do you pay people to do those things? If they would be charging 100 or more to get up there, replace those things, and at best I wire in a inline solar sensor and do that myself , Im thinking I would just
confine it to work i can do without paying especially if Im having to do it... again

and yeah he is real grade a Chicken ****** and maybe if he slowed down or stopped he would see why they are not staying alive.

At least he could blame a fischer or two. Hell, a racoon would kill them before my dog. Especially if they are never supervised and I Dont ever hear a rooster, so not making any sexist claims ,but hens are ******* dumb and dont really contain their wandering and dont have a bird which acts defensively in a scare-inducing and piercing way. Ive been speared by a rooster, mr sherrif deputy, have you? of course not, you would shoot first at the sign of conflict to avoid the unpleasantness of fear or tense situation.

I have seen a dog kill a chicken, but also dogs that are around chicken no better. I've never had one of my dogs kill a chicken, and they are allowed to be in the same space unsupervised. I have had cougar, and coyotes take birds before.

I do the lighting myself on the farm, but I don't think any of them are as high as your light is. Most are reachable by a latter, a few of them are on "poles" not traditional poles, but pole that attach to my fence line, and are my own creation. Those poles I can strap the pole to the backhoe on my tractor, take the bolts out and set the pole on the ground to service. Those are my favorites! The worst one is over the building I just put the roof pictures up in the farming thread, and basically I have to put my extension latter all the way out, and then the light is on the wrong side of the pole so I have to reach around it and do what it needs blind. I can do a bulb like that but not sure what I'll do when it needs a ballast.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Ok I'll knock it off with the update posts for a while after this one. I had to do about 3 hours of driving tonight after work. No rain, clear and cool. Started out in the city and then hit a divided state route, then two lane roads of varied speed from 55 down to a 25 with curves that must be taken more around 15. So I did a lot of turning the fogs on and off to see the effect under different driving conditions. I see exactly what you were talking about @Ellie Niner, they are great for added side visibility at lower speeds, and not good at higher speeds, because of potential to limit distance vision.

Then as I got into the valley, FOG! I actually got a little excited to get to try them in fog. It's kind of funny how the fog lights will light up the road, and it's almost like I had to look around the beams of the headlights, because they were just lighting up the fog.

Well anyhow I'll definitely make use of them. Kind of wish I had tried a good quality fog light sooner. My Jeep is wired for them, so one of these days I'll have to get a set for it too. Thanks again ya'll for the help and advice.

 

[77 K20]

Make sure you post if you ever try yellow light bulbs in them. When I was a kid we had a Wagoneer and it had yellow fog lights. But that was a long time ago. My dad said even if the fog was so thick it may not help you see, but others will be able to see you earlier.

I haven't read on the truth to that- and I just yesterday got yellow covers for my rigid LED lights. Not sure if those help at all.

 

[Ellie Niner]

Ok I'll knock it off with the update posts for a while after this one.

The updates are cool... It's good to find out how things are actually working out in the real world, as a lot of stuff that looks good on paper doesn't perform the same when you actually have to use it out there, or vice versa.

@77 K20 I'd like to hear your take on the yellow lenses for your LED lights in use, too. I've only seen yellow LED lamps in passing out on the road, so have never driven with them. They often appear sorta yellow-green when you're looking at them head on... probably more of a byproduct of the combo of cool white LED's (blue emitters with a phosphor to make white) and the yellow lens, though I think some use yellow phosphor LED's too.

 

[SirRobyn0]

Make sure you post if you ever try yellow light bulbs in them. When I was a kid we had a Wagoneer and it had yellow fog lights. But that was a long time ago. My dad said even if the fog was so thick it may not help you see, but others will be able to see you earlier.

I haven't read on the truth to that- and I just yesterday got yellow covers for my rigid LED lights. Not sure if those help at all.

The updates are cool... It's good to find out how things are actually working out in the real world, as a lot of stuff that looks good on paper doesn't perform the same when you actually have to use it out there, or vice versa.

@77 K20 I'd like to hear your take on the yellow lenses for your LED lights in use, too. I've only seen yellow LED lamps in passing out on the road, so have never driven with them. They often appear sorta yellow-green when you're looking at them head on... probably more of a byproduct of the combo of cool white LED's (blue emitters with a phosphor to make white) and the yellow lens, though I think some use yellow phosphor LED's too.

Ok will do guys. Kind of my plan in the back of my head is to run them as is for a month or so, so I can get a good feel for them and then try the yellow bulbs, just to see. I mean they are cheap enough so why not.

 

[SirRobyn0]

So I'm about a month since the installation of the hella conversion kit and the 550 fogs. They just work so much better than the sealed beam halogens ever did. I can see so much better in all conditions, I cannot think of one time in the last month that I thought I didn't have enough light or that I couldn't see properly in the dark. The fogs have been great to though of course we have not had a good thick fog, which is not typical at all of this time of year, but we have been getting some good rain. The fogs do seem to help in heavy rain where it limits visibility and I have used them some on slow curvy roads. Over all my only regret is that I didn't do this sooner.

I still have not installed the LMC relay kit. Basically it comes down to the headlights work so well without it that it just hasn't been a priority, but I will get around to it.

So I just ordered the Hella H3 55W in yellow, so we'll see how I feel about those!

 

[SirRobyn0]

A couple little updates on the lights. Ever since I installed the Hella fog lights (remember I reused the PO's wiring and switch for the fogs) He had it on a rocker switch would get hot every time I ran the fog lights. I knew I needed to do something about it but never got around to it. Well a couple weeks ago that switch went out, so I replaced it with a 20 amp toggle switch, over kill I know but guess what, the fogs are a little brighter! Still haven't installed the headlight relay kit, I did order the yellow bulbs, but still have not installed them.

Just yesterday I learned a new use for the fog lights. I was in the next town over picking something up off Craigslist, and was driving though a very poorly light neighborhood and realized the house numbers were painted on the curb, a quick flick of the fog light switch and I could read them. Get to where I'm suppose to pick up at and pop the maglight off the charger load up what I'm picking up thank the man and leave.

 

[AuroraGirl]

A couple little updates on the lights. Ever since I installed the Hella fog lights (remember I reused the PO's wiring and switch for the fogs) He had it on a rocker switch would get hot every time I ran the fog lights. I knew I needed to do something about it but never got around to it. Well a couple weeks ago that switch went out, so I replaced it with a 20 amp toggle switch, over kill I know but guess what, the fogs are a little brighter! Still haven't installed the headlight relay kit, I did order the yellow bulbs, but still have not installed them.

Just yesterday I learned a new use for the fog lights. I was in the next town over picking something up off Craigslist, and was driving though a very poorly light neighborhood and realized the house numbers were painted on the curb, a quick flick of the fog light switch and I could read them. Get to where I'm suppose to pick up at and pop the maglight off the charger load up what I'm picking up thank the man and leave.

you may be interested in switchback LEDs for your turn signals too if youre liking that so far