Walmart Platinum Burner LEDs

[Ventureless]

I know people have posted about the 55watt driving lights. I bought a pair of the smaller LED ones for some extra light. Anybody have these and how well do they work. I figured for about $20 I might as well try. I went with LEDs so I would use less power as I want to still run my heated vest and glove liners. Anybody think this will be a problem with those 3 items running at the same time. Not all the time.

 

Also the way I am wiring the lights will be simple (probably not legal in VA, but for inspection time they will be popped off quickly and then reinstalled after). I am going to just run them back to the fuse box in the trunk and wire in a on/off switch to the fairing. They will not go on and off with the high beams or anything else. Just plain and simple on and off. They won't be used during the day so no worry of leaving them on. I should not need any kind of relay or anything right. Just going straight to the fuse box should work I would think.

[IronMike]

Been looking HARD at the same line of lights, what a deal and if one gets damaged, whooopeee, Cheap to fix.

 

On the wiring, More wire = less performance. Shorter wire you will get better lighting and less resistance, less drain.

 

Its not that hard to make them VA legal, just use the low beam hot wire as a trip for a relay and install an ON OFF Switch in line. I'm not up on 99 wire diagrams but going all the way back to the trunk and back forward is too much wire for me.

 

I'm just trying to figure a inconspicuous Place to mount them. And still trying to see if I even need em. Since my LED side lamp install, I can see pretty well out that way.

[Ventureless]

Its not that hard to make them VA legal, just use the low beam hot wire as a trip for a relay and install an ON OFF Switch in line.

 

 

So I would just tie the hot wire into the low beam wire and then run to the switch and then to the lights? Would I need an inline fuse or anything else? Not real good with electronics here.

[Wizard765]

I didn't know Walmart had the platinum burners in LED. Can you find a link? I have the halogen version and they work well. The 55 watt bulbs were replaced with 35 watt and they light up the road very well.. would be interested to see how well the LED version works and the cost

[Flyinfool]

The way you will want to hook them up is to;

 

Connect a wire to the low beam side of headlight.

Other end of this wire to your switch.

Other side of switch to the coil of your relay (85)

Other side of the relay coil (86) to ground.

 

Connect from the battery to a fuse.

Other side of fuse to the relay (30)

Other side of relay (87) to the lights positive wire

other side of lights to ground.

 

This will work so that the Burners will turn off with the hi beam, your switch will still decide if you want them active or off. and because it is powered from the headlight there will never be a chance to leave them turned on because the will turn off when the headlight turns off.

 

I have extra lights on every vehicle I have ever owned, I have never yet wired one up to turn off with the hi beams. But then Wisconsin does not have a vehicle inspection program. In 40 years and over 1 million miles of driving, I have never been stopped or even questioned about it. You could wire it so that it would be simple to switch a wire for your inspection rather than remove everything every year.

If I need the hi beam I am wanting as much light as I can get. The driving lights that I have are angled out to light up the ditches and not much light forward. Just because I turned on the hi beam does not mean that I no longer want to see deer coming out of the ditch.

[Ventureless]

I didn't know Walmart had the platinum burners in LED. Can you find a link? I have the halogen version and they work well. The 55 watt bulbs were replaced with 35 watt and they light up the road very well.. would be interested to see how well the LED version works and the cost

 

I don't see all of them on the website, but they had them in the store. I will send some pics when I get home. Then some more after I get them installed this weekend.

[Ventureless]

The way you will want to hook them up is to;

 

Connect a wire to the low beam side of headlight.

Other end of this wire to your switch.

Other side of switch to the coil of your relay (85)

Other side of the relay coil (86) to ground.

 

Connect from the battery to a fuse.

Other side of fuse to the relay (30)

Other side of relay (87) to the lights positive wire

other side of lights to ground.

 

This will work so that the Burners will turn off with the hi beam, your switch will still decide if you want them active or off. and because it is powered from the headlight there will never be a chance to leave them turned on because the will turn off when the headlight turns off.

 

I have extra lights on every vehicle I have ever owned, I have never yet wired one up to turn off with the hi beams. But then Wisconsin does not have a vehicle inspection program. In 40 years and over 1 million miles of driving, I have never been stopped or even questioned about it. You could wire it so that it would be simple to switch a wire for your inspection rather than remove everything every year.

If I need the hi beam I am wanting as much light as I can get. The driving lights that I have are angled out to light up the ditches and not much light forward. Just because I turned on the hi beam does not mean that I no longer want to see deer coming out of the ditch.

 

Ok like I said I am not good at all with electronics. I have not decided which way I will wire it yet. As far as the VA inspection goes, I am not really that worried about it. I had planned on using quick disconnect connectors so all I would have to do is unbolt the lights and undo the connectors. So maybe 5 minutes total taking them off and putting them back on. And I highly doubt I would ever get pulled over for it. So I may just still wire it straight to the battery and use an inline fuse and switch and be done with it.

With my little knowledge of electronics, if I did go with your wiring suggestion, what relays would I have to get. Or maybe I already have them and I just don’t understand at all.

[Flyinfool]

Here is the link to all of the LED lights in the Platinum Burner series.

http://www.optronicsinc.com/driving-new.html

Which one did you get?

[Ventureless]

Here is the link to all of the LED lights in the Platinum Burner series.

http://www.optronicsinc.com/driving-new.html

Which one did you get?

 

The 15 light round ones at the top. I looked at the 21 light oval ones, but the ones that go across have a weird ridge in the middle and it looked like I would have a hard time aiming them low enough not to blind people.

[Ventureless]

Here is the link to all of the LED lights in the Platinum Burner series.

http://www.optronicsinc.com/driving-new.html

Which one did you get?

 

Not sure how well they will light stuff up, but I figured I would try them. I would have gone with the regular 55 watt halogens, but like I said I worry about whether the charging system could handle my heated vest, glove liners, and lights at the same time. Not sure what the pull is on the LED lights either. I couldn’t find it anywhere on the box or online.

[Ventureless]

What is the total I have expendable for add ons?

 

I have 22 watts for heated glove liners. Either 45 or 71 watts for the vest (depends on the size apparently but I believe mine is the 45W). So without the lights I am up to 67-93 already. If I add the regular halogens, I will be at roughly 177 watts (assuming each lamp is 55 watts). I am sure the LEDs are much lower than 55 watts per lamp. I could probably put 4 of the LEDs on it and still come in under the halogens.

[frankd]

I wanted to replace my quartz driving lights with LEDs, so the first place I looked was Walmart. I saw the LED lamps you are talking about, but notice that the box doesn't contain any info about current draw, lumen output, or beam pattern. I sent an Email to optronicsinc, and asked them about this information. They replied that the lights weren't very bright, and were mainly just marker lights.

 

I decided to look around for others, and found tons listed on Ebay. I chose these

 

New 2X12W Circle LED Work Light Spot Beam Driving Tailer Boat ATV Super Bright | eBay

 

 

They aren't road burners, but they do add a lot of light to the road close to the bike. I've never had a car flash his lights at me to dim my lights, which means you can leave them on all the time. The pair only draws 1.2A. I had a switch/relay setup for my quartz lights, but actually you could wire them directly to a switch without a relay. THey have a 30 degree pattern, and maybe if I were doing it all over, I'd chose a 20-25 degree pattern. In the last 2 weeks, we put over 4,000 miles on them and everything is still fine.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Bumble Bee,

 

The lights you bought are low power visibility lights, they wont do much for lighting up the road, other than up close for reading signs at night, and might help with being visible to other traffic during the day.

 

The upside to this, is that you wont need a relay at all. You can do as you describe, and just have an on-off switch in the trunk, or the dash, wherever you like, and then turn them on and off as needed. Of course, you could end up leaving them on during the day and not knowing it, and come back to a weak or dead battery.

 

If you have a digital meter, you could hook one up temporarily to a battery with the meter inline, reading amps, and see what the result is. I'm betting its much less than one amp per light.

 

If that is the case, you can wire both up directly to your high or low beam or, to the accessory socket inside the fairing, (back side of the cigarette lighter port) and they will be on when the ignition or accessory is on, and then wire a small toggle switch, to turn them off if needed.

 

A relay will complicate an otherwise straightforward install. I dont see the need with what are essentially 'decorative' LED lights.

 

BTW the website calls them 'LED Burners'...not 'Platinum Burners'...of course, thats just the name and really means nothing as far as brightness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2013 by tx2sturgis

[Ventureless]

Bumble Bee,

 

The lights you bought are low power visibility lights, they wont do much for lighting up the road, other than up close for reading signs at night, and might help with being visible to other traffic during the day.

 

The upside to this, is that you wont need a relay at all. You can do as you describe, and just have an on-off switch in the trunk, or the dash, wherever you like, and then turn them on and off as needed. Of course, you could end up leaving them on during the day and not knowing it, and come back to a weak or dead battery.

 

If you have a digital meter, you could hook one up temporarily to a battery with the meter inline, reading amps, and see what the result is. I'm betting its much less than one amp per light.

 

If that is the case, you can wire both up directly to your high or low beam or, to the accessory socket inside the fairing, (back side of the cigarette lighter port) and they will be on when the ignition or accessory is on, and then wire a small toggle switch, to turn them off if needed.

 

A relay will complicate an otherwise straightforward install. I dont see the need with what are essentially 'decorative' LED lights.

 

BTW the website calls them 'LED Burners'...not 'Platinum Burners'...of course, thats just the name and really means nothing as far as brightness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So basically you are saying I need to return the ones I got, get the 55 watt halogens, and just learn to freeze my a^^ off all winter!!!!

I don’t think I will be able to do both heated gear and the higher power lights.

Also lets say I did go ahead and do the halogens. I would still want to just wire straight to the battery or my extra fuse box and have a toggle switch in the fairing for off/on. Not hooked up to either the existing high or low. Would I still need a relay? If so why? I guess my question is what does the relay do when it is hooked directly to the battery (with an inline fuse and toggle switch)? It wouldn’t be tied in to anything else but the battery.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

So basically you are saying I need to return the ones I got, get the 55 watt halogens, and just learn to freeze my a^^ off all winter!!!!

 

I don’t think I will be able to do both heated gear and the higher power lights.

 

Also lets say I did go ahead and do the halogens. I would still want to just wire straight to the battery or my extra fuse box and have a toggle switch in the fairing for off/on. Not hooked up to either the existing high or low. Would I still need a relay? If so why? I guess my question is what does the relay do when it is hooked directly to the battery (with an inline fuse and toggle switch)? It wouldn’t be tied in to anything else but the battery.

 

There are TWO reasons to use a relay with high power accessories:

 

One: they minimize voltage drop and heating across the vulnerable bike ignition switch that is not designed to handle large current loads. This also applies to any small toggle or rocker switch that has limited current capability.

 

Two: A relay, when properly wired, will shut off power to the accessory when the key is removed, eliminating the chance of accidently leaving it on and finding a dead battery in the middle of nowhere on a cold evening.

 

(relays are normally NOT needed for low power items like cell-phone chargers, small decorative lighting, and GPS units)

 

I would NOT use 55 watt driving lamps.

 

Find some that are 20 or 35 watts, OR...spend the money for a good set of quality 10 to 20 watt LED driving lights made for motorcycles. They wont be cheap...I assure you...but they may not need a relay, (some do) and wont kill your battery or stator...and you can still use the heated vest!

 

 

Heres one...not saying this is an endorsement, but they will be WAY better than $20 lights from a box store:

 

http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/denali-led-lights/

 

Here is what I mounted on my Ural Sidecar step, a single Rigid Dually:

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rigid-Industries-20111-Dually-Series/dp/B0040ZZ9CA/ref=cm_cr-mr-title]Amazon.com: Rigid Industries 20111 Dually Series 2X2 LED Flood Light: Automotive@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517fOE4qhcL.@@AMEPARAM@@517fOE4qhcL[/ame]

 

The three pictures on the left, of the light mounted on the sidecar, are my submissions to Amazon. They are BRIGHT, but not really sized or styled for touring bike use. (spot pattern is for 'driving light' use, flood pattern is for close in work while off-roading etc)

 

Or something like these might work for you:

 

http://www.customdynamics.com/billet_led_light.htm#Cool_Magic%E2%84%A2_Driving_Lights_

 

It comes down to this: If you cheap-out, you wont be happy. If you want to make a hole in the night AND run heated gear, youre going to have to open your wallet a bit wider.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2013 by tx2sturgis

[IronMike]

FlyinFool did a great job explaining the way to wire it up. Don't let it intimidate you. It's 12 Volts no one is going to get hurt. (less you run it through a coil LOL)

 

Basically your power to the low side is telling your relay it is allowed to deliver power and the actual switch completes the circuit giving the lights power and lights come on.

 

And that will let you pass inspection.

 

You can also get sneaky and run a second wire from the bright side, through a hidden switch and to the same post on the relay and when that switch is on, they will also work with the bright lights and no one will know but you. You just turn off the switch for inspections.

Just throwing that out there of what you COULD do.

[Peder_y2k]

I've got the 55w Burners on my VR, and replaced the 55's with 35W. The bulb cover is a snap-on design and can easily vibrate off and dissapear, so a small stainless sheet metal screw will correct this. Even with 35W, the pair will light up the road moderately, and as markers can be seen a significant distance.

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

[Guest tx2sturgis]

FlyinFool did a great job explaining the way to wire it up. Don't let it intimidate you. It's 12 Volts no one is going to get hurt. (less you run it through a coil LOL)

 

Basically your power to the low side is telling your relay it is allowed to deliver power and the actual switch completes the circuit giving the lights power and lights come on.

 

 

Fuses can blow, and/or fires can start...if the man says he has limited comfort working with electronics I personally respect that and try to help in other ways.

 

Speaking of that, BumbleBee, if you want to use relays, and feel a bit skittish doing the hookup, then look at these guys...they put out some good stuff...although....as I said earlier...its not cheap...it IS reasonable tho.

 

For a simple driving light hookup you can use the 30A Fusepanel kit and just hookup the driving lights directly to the kit instead of using a fusepanel.

 

They come prewired, but you will need to hookup the wires correctly.

 

That means: battery positive and ground, accessory or running light (or low beam) for the switching signal, and a lead running up to the driving lights...you could of course add a switch inline with the signal wire.

 

 

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/Fuseboxes/Wiring_Kits/wiring_kits.html

 

 

Or...you could use this kit:

 

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Wiring_Kits/H4_Kits/h4_kits.html

 

 

Scroll down to: 'H4 Single with Driving lights lead'

 

You choose the switching and they build it for you.

 

Easy peazy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2013 by tx2sturgis

[kantornado]

I have had these lights on mine for 10 years. I really like them you can see them in my pic gallery. I made the brackets and they look great and work extremely well....Ron

[k9cottage]

i just fitted a set of these cheap enough to play with they sure are bright http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2-x-High-Power-Xenon-White-LED-Bulb-7-5W-Fog-Driving-Lights-Bulb-Lamp-H3-6500K-/271083894558?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f1ddbf71e&_uhb=1

 

 

i also got a set of these they worked great but there is a feedback when in low beam the feedback powers up the driving lights and keeps the high beam light on the dash lit so a diode would have to go in to stop feedback on the high-beam wire, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-7-5W-LED-BULBS-HEADLIGHT-H4-FOG-LAMP-LIGHT-12V-REPLACE-HALOGEN-XENON-GLOBES-/190896214033?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c724d1011&_uhb=1 a friend has them on his suzuki gsx1400 and they work fine he doesn't mind the high-beam dash light being on

[Ventureless]

Ok I am trying out a different light instead of the Walmart ones. It was about twice the cost of the Walmart lights, but everything I found about them, they seem to be pretty bright and cover quite an area. They are "offroad" lights, but oh well. Now the only problem is I won't be able to get them on this weekend when I tear the bike apart. I also only ordered one for now. I plan on attaching it right in the middle of the light bar under the existing headlight. Once I see how well it will work, then I will order a second and position one on each side of the light bar. Below is a link to the ones that I ordered. I got the short 18 watt one.

 

http://www.carid.com/universal-off-road-lights/lumen-off-road-light-bar-9901541.html

[Guest tx2sturgis]

I plan on attaching it right in the middle of the light bar under the existing headlight .....I got the short 18 watt one.

 

http://www.carid.com/universal-off-road-lights/lumen-off-road-light-bar-9901541.html

 

It should be plenty bright but be careful when mounting that light under the headlamp because hitting large bumps and during hard braking, the fender rises and reduces the clearance there. Also, that type of flood beam will have a broad pattern, and might not be 'friendly' to oncoming traffic.

[Ventureless]

It should be plenty bright but be careful when mounting that light under the headlamp because hitting large bumps and during hard braking, the fender rises and reduces the clearance there. Also, that type of flood beam will have a broad pattern, and might not be 'friendly' to oncoming traffic.

 

I am really only looking to use them for my commute in to work. That is really the only time I ride at night. I worry about the back roads to the highway. I leave the house by about 4 AM so no other real traffic to worry about. If things were different, I would be more worried about the oncoming vehicles, but it is very rare I pass anyone else until I get to the highway in the mornings.

[Ventureless]

Ok got both my new LED driving lights on. Was able to mount them on the same bracket as the old driving lights in there place. 2 18 watt each lights and they are bright. Still have some aiming to do, but they are on and bright. Attached are a couple crappy pics showing just the regular light and then the 2 new lights. I will take some better pics tomorrow evening when I am not as tired and lazy (been a long day). I will show the distance difference in the next pics as well.

[Guest tx2sturgis]