The Jaycar brand has not always been synonymous with quality or longevity. However, in this instance those lights have probably just been ordered in bulk from some nameless factory in China and rebranded. And that's not to say that they're going to be rubbish.
I'd be googling the part number and other search terms like "Jaycar driving light issues problems [and part number]" and see if there are other forums where people have posted their experience with them. There might not be much on the web (yet) if they're fairly new.
The photo that they have on the page shows a car, claimed to have 4 of these lights in front of it - and there's no way I'd purchase those lights based solely on the photo that's there. In reality there could be anything in front of that vehicle. Call me sceptical and I am! Because there are too many people out there who'll quite happily inflate their claims that the product does something it doesn't in order to sell junk. But it's good to see that Jaycar have indicated that there are 4 lights on the vehicle and not just let people assume there would be 2.
FWIW I have a bit of experience mucking around with LED lights in an emergency lighting context - I'm part of a group within my local SES that build and sell LED emergency lighting systems. We've used a number of brands/types/wattages/beam patterns over the past 3 years to meet our requirements.
But none of the lights we use are what could be considered a "driving light". We've certainly used "spot" pattern lights on a few of our setups but I think a close comparison of these lights and the ones you've linked to might show that there are subtle differences in the reflectors of each light. And this is one of the more significant factors IMHO.
I am yet to set them up but I have a couple of 70W Vision X work-lights to go onto my wife's Kia Rio (candles for headlights) and I'll post a few before/after photos for you. It might not be til next week though.
These are the lights. As stated they are really a work-light and will not give anything close to the throw and projection that an equivalent wattage driving light will. But they were "cheap" and anything additional to what this car currently puts onto the road will be a massive improvement. In handheld tests stood in the middle of the road with no streetlights one of these lights was still lighting up roadside reflectors, signs around 400m away. There was a fair amount of extraneous light being spilt upward/downward and that will be wasted of course when driving. A true driving light will have a sufficiently well engineered reflector to minimise this issue.
It's been a while since you posted. Maybe you've bought them and are now the guinea pig?
BTW they're cheaper
here and
here.
Where are you at with them?
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Originally Posted by s7000
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