Rock Lights ~ kit or build your own?

[netrogue]

I have seen some kits anywhere from $100-200. If I go with a kit, any recommendations? If I build my own, any recommendations?

 

[Ron46]

X2! :corn:

 

[06 H3]

http://www.amazon.com/Vision-HIL-STW-Superwhite-Strobe-Light/dp/B000ES867C

My friend has these on his jeep and they are pretty bright.

 

[netrogue]

http://www.amazon.com/Vision-HIL-STW-Superwhite-Strobe-Light/dp/B000ES867CMy friend has these on his jeep and they are pretty bright.

I wouldn't mind something like that, just don't like the wireless remote. Just would like to wire to a switch.

 

[06 H3]

there is a switch panel and remote included the downside is that the panel is a big box...not very sleek, lol. Buy cheap lights and wire them all up to a single switch.

 

[h2005]

These are sick http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41512&highlight=rock+lights

 

[06 H3]

These are sickhttp://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41512&highlight=rock+lights

I think those are the ones my friend uses

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[Portager]

I'd say definitely go with LED lights because they have the lowest power draw for their light output and they typically have a 50,000 hour mean time between failure. That is ~5.7 years if you left them on continuously. They will probably out last your truck.

If there is any chance that you might ever ford any water, I'd get water proof lights.

The VisionX Tantrum lights http://www.visionxusa.com/Accent_Lighting-Tantrum/c125_24/index.html that others have provided links to are listed as weatherproof (not waterproof). I'd pass on them unless they promise they will survive emersion.

Here are some that are waterproof http://www.roundeyes.com/Products-LED_Lighting.html . I have not tried them so I can't make a recommendation them, but they do claim to be waterproof and they have a 30 day money back guarantee.

 

[Hans3T]

Good thread so far! :cheers:

 

[netrogue]

It looks like with the visionx kit, you need to silicone to waterproof.

I like the roundeyes, but $30 per light..for 1 LED seems a bit much. Looked like something I could put together at RadioShack, but from what it says, it would be waterproof, low draw. Plus the 6'x6 seems like a lot for just 1 LED. I can't tell from the photo's if they are using more than 1 light. If they are, that would be really bright with 4 of them.

I wonder what else is out there for one off spot lights that happen to be waterproof and also can take a little abuse.

 

[bebe]

Vision X Tantrums

 

[06 H3]

bebe you have those?

 

[Portager]

It looks like with the visionx kit, you need to silicone to waterproof.

I like the roundeyes, but $30 per light..for 1 LED seems a bit much. Looked like something I could put together at RadioShack, but from what it says, it would be waterproof, low draw. Plus the 6'x6 seems like a lot for just 1 LED. I can't tell from the photo's if they are using more than 1 light. If they are, that would be really bright with 4 of them.

I wonder what else is out there for one off spot lights that happen to be waterproof and also can take a little abuse.

I couldn't believe that the round eyes were just one LED. The current limit for 50,000 hour MTBF is 350 mA (0.35 Amps) at 3 Volts or 1 Watt per LED and they are consuming 4.7 Watts. I figured they had to have 4 LED's with voltage conversion to 3 volts and current regulation circuitry. So I asked an Electrical Engineer co-worker and he said if it is a very cheap application you they could be putting the LED in series with a large resister and just dumping the excess power into waste heat. So I called round eyes and asked and they only have one LED and they only produce 25 lumens. :roll:

Next I called Vision X and asked if their Tantrum lights are submersible and they said no. They also said adding silicone to the wires won't help. They will leak between the plastic outer ring and the clear plastic lens. Adding silicone to that would block some of the light output.

So far I have not found any LED lights that are reasonably efficient and waterproof.

 

[Ron46]

I was wondering about getting leds from west marine, I get almost a %50 discount from most stuff at west marine and their leds are waterproof. Im going to stop there later Ill let you guys know what I find, and how much it would be.

 

[Portager]

I did some research and I would recommend considering Oznium Waterproof Marine High Intensity LED Flood Lights. :link: Cost for a quantity of 3 or more is $17.99 each so they are a little more than the Tantrums. They claim, "This product is truly and fully waterproof; once you secure your wires, it can even be fully submerged for years of underwater brilliance." I have also heard that Oznium has very good product support.

If you go to the Tech Info tab they are 1.55" diameter x 0.777" high. They draw 1.87 Watts and they output up to 78.3 Lumens for the warm white color.

I called Vision X and they said their the output of the Tantrun LED pods is ~50 Lumens per pod.

 

[netrogue]

The oznium looks like the ticket. I'm going to order 4 of the warm whites.

I will make a build thread when I get them in and installed.

Thanks again!

 

[h2005]

I really like this idea
http://www.elcovaforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41512&highlight=rock+lights

 

[Hans3T]

Those look really good.

 

[DJinCO]

Shouldn't this be in the Mall Crawler thread? :no:

Really. I have seen this bouncing around for a while now. I guess I am just too old to understand.

1. You go off-road over large irregularly shaped rocks at night?
2. You don't ever get the underside of your wheel wells covered in mud/snowy slush? (Those little lights will be useless covered by 1/2 inch of dirt).
3. All for show = Mall Crawler

OK, flame away, but remember, I am old and crusty.

:corn:

 

[Scarsman]

I might agree. They are a cool idea, but around here if you had lights in your fender wells they would get covered over with mud/ dirt very quickly. I guess if you were somewhere like Moab, on dry rock it would be fine.

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[ReconH3]

Ozniums look like the ones to get. There were many a time that we wished we had had something like this when wheeling in the dark. I would get 4 that would point to the ground just in front of the 4 tires.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

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[Timgco]

I've seen the VisionX Tantrums go to hell on 3 trucks to date. If it wasn;t the control box, the lights themselves went due to corosion. You have to waterproof them if you plan to use them. If you are in dry climates only and don't run them through a winter of salt and dunk them in water crossings, you'l be fine with those. If you have them, pull them and waterproof them!!!! There are a couple writeups on one of the Jeep forums on how to do this.
Those that did waterproof them, also relocated the control box to inside the cab. the control box under teh hood had corosion issues. These were on JK's and the engine bay is a little more exposed than the H3 is prone IMO.

the roundeys are good! I feel those are worth money since they are not going to leak.

The best ones (my opinion/ for the money) are the ORO LiteSpotz: 100% waterproof. 6 of them for $189.00 in white, red, or amber. 3 LED's per disk. or you can buy them in pairs of 2. 1 3/4" diameter X 3/4" thick with a magnet built in. you can 3M them or screw them in through the center holes also. they are super bright in the white. I have not seen amber or red in person, just the white. The pigtails on each light are only 24" long, so plan to add wire, connectors and heat shrink to waterproof all connections.

 

[Timgco]

There were many a time that we wished we had had something like this when wheeling in the dark. I would get 4 that would point to the ground just in front of the 4 tires.
"Ex Umbris Venimus"
Sent from my iPhone

I have wheeled with a group at night. eveyone ends up turning their off road lamps off and running parking lights or their rock lights. the best setup I have seen to date, I still don;t know what set he was using. But he had 6 of them. 2 behind the rear axle, 2 in front of the rear axle, 2 behind front axle, 2 in front of front axle. he ahd them mounted up high enough where they were protected on his JK. they lit up the entire ground under and around the JK. you could see perfect where to spot this way and everything under the rig was clear as day. I plan to do the same, but am going to try the litespotz. I was going to use the Rigid LED lighting under there, but for this application, I think these will fit my use better. that, and I won;t feel bad about breaking one of these over a Dually difused lamp.

 

[Timgco]

UPdate from my last post. I picked up the ORO Lightspots. I plugged one in to see how bright they are. perfect IMHO! I'll do a full writeup on these when I install in the next week or so.

 

[Former User]

UPdate from my last post. I picked up the ORO Lightspots. I plugged one in to see how bright they are. perfect IMHO! I'll do a full writeup on these when I install in the next week or so.

I've been wanting to get these for quite some time! Looking forward to the write up.