[jvw]

I've been buying cheap LED lights every time Princess Auto has some on sale, and replacing burnt out lights on equipment as required, or for adding more lights. Saves light switches, relays, burnt fuses, hot wiring etc, and in theory they outlast and outperform the halogen or incandescent they are replacing.
Performance is amazing the first time they are used, but they seem to get dimmer in a matter of hours, individual LED's start burning out, or the entire light quits working, the plastic lenses discolor within a year.

Some people claim you can't mix LED and incandescent, although I've never seen a compelling reason why not, and I doubt anyone changes out every bulb in the instrument panels, gauges, interior lights etc. But could this be shortening their lives?

Are the expensive LED's that much better to be worth the extra money? I've seen other reputable stores now selling the exact same lights as Princess Auto, at higher prices, so I'm not convinces paying more is going to accomplish much.

Are there any cost effective brands that you have had better performance from?

Not interested in spending $100(s) per light, I'll stick with halogens or sealed beams, and keep adding relays.

 

[DDF]

I don’t think there is a problem mixing incandescent and led. Any tractors I’ve added led to still run with the original lights without problem.
I would bet you have a cheap quality led performance.
Check out Larsen Lights online. He can guide you towards what if best for what tractor and situation. I would say his stuff is mid range priced. He has had many great reviews on the forum here over the years.

 

[9520deere]

Have had decent luck with Amazon lights. Have to do a bit of spec looking with them. Have been buying cree chip light bars and lights. Put 52" light bars on the combines at $98 each cant really go wrong. They have been just as bright as day one and have had them for 4yrs now. They do interfere with the music radios in the cabs and supposedly the expensive brand name ones don't. No issues with the 2 way radios, gps or equipment electronics from them.

 

[stevie]

QPOWER 60 Pack Clip-on Ferrite Ring Core RFI EMI Noise Suppressor Cable Clip for 60 Pcs in 5 Size(3.5mm/ 5mm/ 7mm/ 9mm/ 13mm) Diameter Cable-Black

These are supposed to help with static. Got some ordered from amazon

 

[bobofthenorth]

I've been buying them for years for RVs and boats - applications where extending battery life off the grid is important. My experience has been that there is a tremendous variation in quality and that price is no guarantee of quality. Generally I think if they're going to fail they'll do it right away. Over time my best luck has been with Princess Auto bulbs but I've bought some duds there too. I can't say I've noticed any of them dimming over time. Some of them just quit working and some of them start flashing or more like pulsing.

 

[lanwickum]

I have put a few LEDs on tractors to replace factory light. If you can get a bit higher quality with glass lens will help a bunch. Mine with plastic lens have all turned yellow over the years. LEDs don't really burn out. They just keep getting dimmer over time. Been changing out one cheap set of LEDs on my seeding tractor for another cheap set. Cheap as in less than $10 each. Much brighter than factory even with yellow lens and getting dimmer. I have purchased a few good USA made ones. They definitely kept their brightness longer. I would say worth all of 3 times as much. $30 easy. To bad they were over $100 each. 10-15 times the cost worth it?? I am willing to put in some time swapping a lights every 3-4 years. Just looked and Larson lights has them priced fairly reasonable.

 

[Dan Vanderwell]

I have been putting on the $12 48 watt square lights from Uncle Weiner and been very disappointed in them. After one year probably half are either dead or most of the individual LEDs burnt out.

Had great luck with the cheap HID conversion kits if you have a decent housing to work with.

 

[MountainviewTruck]

I carry LED's by Uni-Bond, they're a Canadian business. I can almost guarantee you that every LED you buy comes from China. That being said, as mentioned earlier there can be significant variation and price is not a reliable indicator of quality. If anyone wants some pricing info shoot me a PM with some idea of what you're looking for. You never know, I just might be competitive.

Uni-bond Home

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[torriem]

LEDs don't really burn out. They just keep getting dimmer over time.

Dimming is definitely a failure mode. But I've seen plenty of LED lights of various kinds with burned out individual LEDs. Heat kills LEDs. They may not produce heat like a halogen bulb does, but they still produce a lot of heat and if that's not adequately dissipated they will fail fairly early and frequently. Whether an LED "burns" out or stops working for other reasons, it doesn't matter. I am sure LED technology will improve, but currently my experience with LED lighting in general is that reliability is extremely variable.

In the house I've been buying LEDs in bulb form factor for several years and the failure rate is about 50% after a year for me, all brands. Like I said the heat kills them. They'll start flickering occasionally as an individual LED chip starts to burn, and then eventually it breaks the circuit and kills it. You can tell they run hot because the bases get discolored fairly quickly. On the other hand I have several bulbs from 6 years ago that are going great, although they are definitely a bit dimmer.

I've had xenon HID light kits from Larsen for quite a few years now, they work alright but I've had a lot of failures with the retrofit bulb kits too. Probably lost about 1/3 of them over the last 8 years or so, especially the all-in-ones (heat again perhaps).

All forms of lighting dim over time. Some are just more noticeable than others.

 

[CRToney]

I've bought some Nightrider lights from 4/44 services in Elrose. Good price, good lights, and good service.

I've also bought lights from 306 lighting in Hazlet. Dean Aliban sells them. Also good lights and good service. Like Larsen and Tiger lights his lights are plug and play with no radio interference.

I've spent too much $ on lights but I like to see easily.