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Homebrew HID

petehowell

petehowell

Well Known Member
Hello,

Has anyone found (relatively) inexpensive parts to make an HID landing light? Parts from a wrecked Audi or Acura? I'd be interested it what has worked or hasn't.
 
I havent looked into this, but alot of work has gone into retrofitting h1, h4, and h7 halogen bulbs in motorcycles with HID's. Several manufactures are making conversions kits. I would guess one of these kits would work fine, and all you would have to do is fab up a mounting plate, perhaps gut a cheap set of autopart store driving lights to get the bulb mounts. I would sniff around motorcycle websites for HID kits.
 
Click HERE I am doing the same thing. There is a link in that post that will show you the assembly I was thinking about. Unfortunately, no one has posted a reply as of yet.
 
Hey guys, I've done a bit of research on this and learned this... I initally was going to mount Hella FF200's in my leading edge. They were super bright and I would say quite a bit more than the Duckworks mainly because of the reflector. But I aborted that idea and went with the kit Vans offers for simplicitys sake.

You want a D1S ballast bulb setup. Mainly due to the igniter being at the bulb as opposed to high voltage through the lead. They claim D2S ballasts create more noise. This is mentioned on the Duckworks site. The cheapest I have found these items are on Ebay. You can get the Phillips Gen 1 ballast for about $60 ~ 80 and a D1S bulb will run about $75. But by the time you find a reflector and the mounting I'm sure you'll have about $200 in it. Not bad but it takes a little work. Shown here is what you get with the Duckworks kit form Vans.

http://www.jeffsrv-7a.com/HIDs/HIDs.htm

HIDs%20005.jpg


Shown here is nothing more than your typical automotive driving light with a machined adapter to attach the D1S bulb.
HIDs%20002.jpg




More info from Duckworks here.
http://www.romeolima.com/Duckworks/RVLightKits/rvlightkits.htm

-Jeff
 
HID - no wig-wag

I had considered using HID bulbs, but I read on the aeroelectric list that you can't use a wig-wag light flasher with them. Perhaps there will be workarounds for this in the future.

I agree that LEDs will be the future. It would be cool to have tiny LEDs built in flush with the leading edge.
 
Wheel pant LL's

rv8ch said:
I agree that LEDs will be the future. It would be cool to have tiny LEDs built in flush with the leading edge.
Click to expand...

Has anyone thought of having landing lights in the wheel pants? HID's would be too big, but LED's should fit and take the shock of even rough strips. I think it would be an ideal place for them. Hmmmm. . . Might be a product here someplace.

Hope all of you are having a great Christmas!

Bob Kelly
 
videobobk said:
Has anyone thought of having landing lights in the wheel pants? HID's would be too big, but LED's should fit and take the shock of even rough strips. I think it would be an ideal place for them. Hmmmm. . . Might be a product here someplace.

Hope all of you are having a great Christmas!

Bob Kelly
Click to expand...

I thought about it. Cut the nose of the wheel pants off and make a light cover. I was just talking to Dan C. about this on Friday.
 
rv8ch said:
I had considered using HID bulbs, but I read on the aeroelectric list that you can't use a wig-wag light flasher with them. Perhaps there will be workarounds for this in the future.

I agree that LEDs will be the future. It would be cool to have tiny LEDs built in flush with the leading edge.
Click to expand...

Sure ya can wig-wag em... Check out www.creativair.com and the setup he offers and the wig-wag option.
 
So far, I have done a little web shopping for the necessary parts, but haven't found a supplier cheaper than what Creativair is selling. I have to use the 2" light package for my installation, and have been considering it....just haven't decided to spend the money. If anyone finds a source for the bulbs and little power supplies cheaper than Creativair, I'm all ears....

Paul
 
HID in the tip?

Are the HID options out there strictly for the leading edge installation, or will they fit in the wing tips? I have the traditional duckworks setup on the RV-8 and they work fine, but I may pursue a wingtip option on the RV-7....
 
N130WN said:
Are the HID options out there strictly for the leading edge installation, or will they fit in the wing tips? I have the traditional duckworks setup on the RV-8 and they work fine, but I may pursue a wingtip option on the RV-7....
Click to expand...

If you go with the duckworks kit, then HIDs are a choice for the leading edge. CreativAir.com has HID's for the wingtips for the new RV7/8 wingtips.
 
Has anyone ever put HID landing lights into the older "bat" style wing tips (W-715)?
 
Not Yet, but....

Gsuit said:
Has anyone ever put HID landing lights into the older "bat" style wing tips (W-715)?
Click to expand...

Hi Clayton - I have the Bat Wing tips, and installed the Creativair landing light kit (before the HID's were available). The problem, of course, is that you have to use 2" lights. Creativair now has a 2" HID kit, and I am considering installing them....just haven't added up all of the Christmas bills yet!

If someone else does it first, I hope to get a report.

Paul
 
petehowell said:
If you like the geeky stuff this is pretty cool.

LED for Forward Lighting
Click to expand...

I bought a set of what was advertised as LED fog lights thinking that if a guy could adapt a fog light system to be aircraft landing lights, then a guy could adapt LED fog lights to be aircraft landing lights. I thought wrong. Nowhere near bright enough.

I think in 5 years or so there will be readily available automotive LED headlight system. From what I've read though, the power consumption of LED headlights will be very nearly the same as traditional lighting methods.
 
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