Wiring loom upgrade for Nolden LEDs?

[manic]

Im about to fit some nolden LEDs and considering a wiring loom upgrade to compliment. But im not sure its worth the extra expense/hassle, would there be a visible improvement?

Less voltage drop results in brighter burning incandescent bulbs but with LEDs you need 12v+ and a fused feed that can handle the current demands.

Will boosting the voltage above 12v (less drop) improve the brightness , I dont think it will, and the factory loom should be good enough for the current demands of the LEDs. So perhaps no need to upgrade the loom.

Also I have a brand new genuine replacement headlight switch to replace the old one which started to act up. The old one looks OLD with faded decal and finger worn plastic, certainly over 10 years old, perhaps original 1989! So I dont think the switch contact issue would bite any time soon when running Noldens. Relays also wear out, but I suppose they might be easier to source in future.

Thoughts?

[MarkM]

Thoughts?

I agree with your assumption that more volts does not mean more lumens for LED.
Also LED will not be higher current than standard, so no absolute requirement to upgrade.

BUT...

I think the remaining reason to upgrade the loom to take the current through relays rather than through the switch is for the long term reliability improvement. Still a valid reason after LED's.

[bee utey]

The LED auto lamps that I've experimented with do slightly increase brightness with volts, but it's a small effect. A 10% increase in volts may produce 1 or 2% extra brightness due to the way that the current drivers work. But you will see a modest decrease in current which may be worthwhile as the current can be used elsewhere.

[AK83]

I replaced my D1 H4 inserts with Philips Ultinons, and they are brilliant!(pun intended).
No change in loom and it was obvious my wiring was past tired, in the way the old halogen were performing(compared to other cars I get access too).

So my thoughts were I'm going to change the globes regardless of whether I do the wiring or not .. so I'd just try the LEDs first .. then if there wasn't a noticeable improvement, then I'd do a wiring upgrade as well.

turns out, the added cost of those Philips LEDs saved me a lot of work

[Andrew86]

I fitted a set of Noldens to my 110 before Christmas and I've been very happy with the plug-and-play results. I'll be following with interest if you decide to upgrade the wiring loom.

[manic]

Found this vid which is good reference for checking the headlight loom.

Checking voltage drop at the headlight earth circuits - The Fine Art of Land Rover Maintenance - YouTube

Interested now to see how bad my loom is!

I guess I better do the checks and then test the lights on the loom vs a direct 14v supply feed to see if I can pick up any difference in output.

If no determinable difference in light output and voltage drop is less than 1.5v, I might aswell stick with the factory set up.