Should You Paint Reflectors Black?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Would you paint your Turn Signal Reflectors? People ask me How Much for custom work like this all the time. Grab my guide to get the full breakdown for free: www.FlyRyde.co...
I've never taken the time to compare light output on a meter, between painted turn signal reflectors and stock "chrome" reflectors.
I was pretty shocked, not only at the different readings we took from the different bulbs, but just how different each scenario was.
After watching this, what's your opinion? Would you paint your reflectors?
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Honestly I employ a “good enough” rule when it comes to turn signals. I live in a state where they’re treated as optional accessories, so as long as you can see they blink, I don’t care
I think bright turn signals are kind of cool... right now I have 32watt turn signals with massive heatsinks and they're super bright but for my next project I'm planning on using a 1000W COB chip with a water cooling loop setup for each side with a big parabolic reflector. The goal is to have turn signals brighter than 10 or so modern OEM LED headlights 😂. Unfortunately I'm also going to need an alternator upgrade
@@sushigaming101 holy shit you mad man
I believe the black if I was running a very particular bulb, but chrome is more universal in your test.
I'd say that while the meter says the LED isn't as bright, especially with the blackout done, in actual use it would be better than the halogen because the perceived brightness is higher.
The halogen isn't making anyone squint and take notice of the bright flashy light.
But both LEDs were overpowering in how bright they FELT.
Awesome comparison and thought before modifying to certain degrees
Reflectors is pretty accurate thing, designed to reflect bulb light forward with mathematical parabolic mirror, which directs light and usually simulated with raycasting software to work as expected.
Common LED bulb tries to place leds as close as possible to ideal bulb coil, but still not close enough. That's why even if you see bright output from LED bulb - actual field measurements can be strange.
Maybe keep the chrome around the bulb, to have the best of both worlds?
When filming blinking lights you need to turn off automatic exposure if you want the video to compare accurately. The incandescent bulb blinking is handled fairly well by ae because that is one of the things that ae systems were tuned for all the way back to film days. But blinking LEDs are different. They are up to full brightness in well under 1/1000 of a second. AE does not handle that well. I don't think the LED turn signal actually looses as much brightness during each blink as it appears in this video.
Correct. This is why we see in many videos where more light is introduced to the existing ambient lighting, the exposure immediately adjusts to compensate for the added lighting. I once did a video of the NHK Gen IV with both projectors, switching them on one a time. After the second one was turned on, there was an instant whitewash of light for less than half a second and the camera instantly reduced exposure to accommodate the added light, leaving viewers wondering why the 2nd projector did not brighten the scene even more.
The sad reality is, it's massively less important that everything is technically "right" when producing ongoing content. The lighting could always be better, the words could be said clearer, research could be more thorough (if there even was any). Settings on cameras matter to about 1/1000th of the people watching, but the impact that even one extra little task takes when multiplied out over hundreds of videos, is insanity.
Just know, you're right. Also know, it doesn't matter.
One of the biggest breakthroughs I've ever had came from a dude that was already huge on TH-cam at the time, visiting my shop where I had terrible yellow lighting in all of my videos. I kept trying to dial it out, and get everything set, and wasted a ton of time before shooting videos, or in post. When he was there, I noticed his super nice camera (A7S3) was in auto. Dude shoots in auto. No yellow light.
We shoot in auto. I'm not trying to win awards, lol, just get more content out. Appreciate you bro.
Always so many variables with this custom stuff
For Tail, brake and signal the light only has to be visible from a specific distance.
For me headlights and reverse lights need to project light so I can navigate in low light conditions.
Many long Lasting leds like Sylvania zevo are not as bright as other led bulbs but they do produce light that is visible and compare to incandescent .
It’s crazy that just because the output is measured higher, the appearance to the naked eye doesn’t seem as bright. Thus proving that just because it has a statistic of output on the package doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better.
I agree man. Doesn’t make sense on paper, but it definitely feels and looks better in person.
These lights are way cooler looking than factory, but I have thought for a long time that the parking lights, signals and brake lights could be completely invisible when not illuminated. My idea originally (circa 1990) was to drill tiny holes and use fiber optics, but these days aligning the holes with the pitch of a led strip seems a better option. I imagined putting whatever optic element in the hole, painting the panel, sanding it down flush and then clear coating it before epoxying the LEDs on the back. I don't think we can make a headlight (yet) that would actually work this way, but DRL's would probably be possible. Just imagine no $2k lump of fragile and sometimes tacky plastic on each corner of every car on the road. What styles could we make if we didn't have that constraint? Not to mention that the space you free up could have bigger and better headlights, fog lights, cornering lights, and maybe things that don't even exist yet, such as pedestrian detecting and illuminating lights, high beams that automatically light up street signs, lights that don't shine bright at oncoming vehicles...
Eventually the aftermarket will have massive impact on performance. For now, we still have to find the little wins that defy massive budget tech moves, like high output, heat sinked LEDs designed in a lab to be reliable at the highest output. Pretty soon, we’ll just get to be creative and beat out those labs. Till then, they win, we get what we get (tech wise) and we do our best not to make it look cheesy.
As someone with a now 15 year old car, I elected to put high quality LEDs in every single light I could. I’m suffering in light output but relishing in the fact that my car looks a lil more modern
Well, except the low beams. Those HAVE to be xenon
I think if you added a pattern into the lens around the turn signal (e.g. Ford's Fiesta headlight) then I think you'd be in good shape. Polishing the "honeycomb" into the lens seems to spread the light out and make it brighter.
Hi. Thumb up for your time, work and ideas you put in making these videos! Regarding the topic, I am just wondering and possibly giving you an idea, what if the reflector housing would be painted in arctic(or whatever the whitest pure white is called) or chrome gold? I am really curious to see the light output of it? Would the light be more uniformly distributed and enhanced or reduced significantly?
My theory is that both LED’s bulbs are brighter than the stock bulb it’s just they can’t mimic the throw of the OEM bulb.That’s why you you’re noticing at different viewing angles you see it being brighter.
OEM bulb throws light In every direction except the base.The LED bulbs just by looking at them you can tell there are certain spots that will be not as bright
A Led has a specific wavelength, as a normal bulb (even though it's coated) has a wider range. Perhaps that could be the cause of a different reading... Sensitivity of the sensor over the visible lightspectrum, where a bulb wil have an advantage compared to the led.
If you have a spectrometer, reckon that will explain why you could have a low reading on the lux meter.
chris can i paint the orang bulub black
What do you use to replace the shiny silver inside the dish, it comes off real easily? ANY RECOMENDATIONS
I prefer the black with the Flyryde Turn signal
You would
Yes
the black for sure. on a side note, my 96 mustang tail light project failed. i went back to an LED bulb. the OEM housings are too hard to open without warping or cracking the lens. I'll have to figure something out later
There's always later. The best part of DIY is that you always take what you accomplished or failed to accomplish, along for the next ride. I'm a huge believer in failing fast.
@@flyryde you are right, but at this point is like to know what i need to do to get that 2015 and up mustang tail light LED glow with the sequence. I don't want to keep trashing OEM tail lights from 96 trying.
Ok now do it with the switch back bolts!
I will 😉
I mask off designs and hydrodip them all the time 👍
And what we learned today, Never mess with your lights. The car makers put a crazy lot of time in those lights to design them. they need to be seen, but can not blind trafic. I would just stay with the stock reflector, and the stock light :) (the police does also not allow you hare to wrap, or mess with CE rated/allowed lights unless they get inspected again and you get a new CE sign for them)
I'm gonna say you're on the wrong channel then my man, lol.
@@flyryde Oh, sorry, I admit it looks really nice :)
@@Telhmaaa haha I’m just giving you a hard time. This channel is dedicated to messing with lights, so it’s a funny thought that never messing with them would be a viewer mindset. I welcome anyone interested to watch, so by all means, watch me break the rules and modify everything I touch 😬 Happy to have you 🙏
I have a semi-related question... I have some Crystal Eye Vulcan fogs for the BRZ/GT86 which come with a chrome bezel beneath the lenses... I want to darken those chrome bezels but I'm not sure of how to open them... any ideas... also want to change the led color...
Hmmmmmmmmm your video made me think and broaden my views on now experimenting "someday" on a focused-style reflector housing like you are doing. But definitely, I would say to leave the "Vaporized Aluminum (Chrome) reflector as the factory designed it for most effective light-output due to it having the highest reflectivity factor.
However, I found a "Scientific Coating" to refinish OLDER-STYLE reflector-housings that utilize prismatic focusing in the lens's vs. the reflector like modern day cars. This coating/material has the highest reflectivity factory known and far beyond Vaporized Aluminum, or even genuine silver-plating which has even a higher reflectance but will tarnish over time and very expensive to electro-plate........just not sure if this material would work on a housing with no lens optics like in your demonstration with modern-day reflector-housings.......
Someday, I'd like to send everything off to a photometric lab for confirmation of how this specilized scientific coating responds in different lamp housings.....then I'm going to start to sell this coating as a service or raw-material........!!!!!!! It was probably too expensive for the OEM to use this coating, or was not available, or durable enough, but most likely, exceeded allowable limits in light-output or, ALL OF THE ABOVE.......
💚💚💚💚💚Dude its Black all the way "experiment Fridays is poppion😆
Nice man this is awesome!
Best method for blacking out chrome is to use black chrome to maintain the reflective properties of the lights
How would I make the five led roof cab marker lights on my semi sequential ?
You need to understand how lights work and how you could be dazzling on coming traffic and be dangerous. All to do with how led shows light and the word done in the feign of the reflectors to take the light from a point of the standard bulb and not the led. That's why aftermarket led is banned in some countries in the world
Where or how can I contact you about doing a professional job on my bike? Its a single headlight for a 1999 Honda cbr600 f4. I currently live in a barracks on a base and will for the foreseeable future so I can't do the job myself as I dont have access to tools or an oven large enough to heat the adhesives.
I have question, can you link me paint that you use for paint reflectors to black ?
Triton link? I prefer those and black reflector. I’ve always wondered how it would effect the brightness👍🏻
There’s a few types on VLEDS.com
I don't really understand the mega bright turn signal LEDs such as the V6 Triton. Fitting good LED turn signal LEDs are far more than enough in my opinion. I've had some customers tell me that the LED turn signals in their factory headlights are actually TOO bright. Great video as always though 👌
You don’t have lights(LEDs) for headlights??
By headlights, do you mean Low Beams / Highbeams? Those lights actually have LED projectors for low/high.
Where do you get your bulbs?
Black absorbs light though
Those headlights look like prius gen2 headlights
I’m sure GTR guys would love that lol
Blk w/H.Q Led
🥺
They’ll find it bro
@@flyryde I know it’s just so sad haha
Kinda touches on the email I sent you a couple days ago. Got it?
I don’t think it touches on your email, but I do think a circus is the norm. I think if someone is smart, and has a strong opinion (like you Terran) than the move is to minimize modification, and maximize impact. That means changing the look of the car, without silly strips or rings, or clapping monkeys, and improving aesthetics and performance with simple changes only.
The reason why I say it kinda touches on my email is largely about the impact of reflectors using different light sources. Just merely.
Might seem shocking that an incandescent bulb in its conventional "home" is outperforming a well designed, high powered LED bulb. The reflector bowl is helping to 'magnify' the light source (a comparatively weak one) that scatters the light a bit further and generates a glow, more so than the LED which, based on design can be highly directional-focused. My old Morimoto XSB halos were the only addition to the turn signals on my wife's car, and many times, I found my surprisingly jolted into thinking that something on the front corner of the car is on fire. The video is showing that the LED is bouncing light - without any help of a reflector - off the ceiling. Now think of an LED sequential strip appended onto the reflector bowl, and how does the effect appear? Is the sequential flow as distinctive as it is with a blackened background? Does it really have that "ooooohhhh, aaaahhhhh" effect? A reflector is going to interfere with that. These are just my thoughts about it. I don't necessarily think that one is better than the other, unless you are really just buying LED bulbs blindly and complacent about the orientation within the housing - chrome or painted - and how effective they are likely to be.
And one more thing - I do hope you can accommodate what I ask of you. I am very convinced this is impactful on lighting performance for the driver and others, and it seems to be overlooked. Otherwise, why do new vehicles that still come with halogen housings still employ a glare shield? I know you've got lots of work and probably a lot of requests too. You're not the only person I have asked, so I am spreading the thought amongst the community.
@@teligon so the video would be basically showing low beam reflector headlights with the little metal glare shields removed compared to a set with them installed?
Probably on a truck or something yeah?
I’ll be honest, it sounds pretty boring, so I’ll have to get creative to figure out how it’ll be much fun or interesting to watch. If I can’t do that, I won’t post it.
Yes, exactly as you put it - comparison with and without the glare shield.
Understood if its not practical to pull off. I've been told quite plainly by persons who removed the glare shields - whether they maintained halogen or switched to LED or HID bulbs - that they are so much better at night. Does the science support that? After all, its called a GLARE shield. How does this come across to other drivers? I've seen some halogen headlamps on pretty average cars with unremarkable headlamps that look far more intense and glaring. Never really sure how and what is creating this super and dazzling effect. I will always refer to my Osram/Sylvania Xenarc X1010 HID driving lights which I bought back in 2004 (I think), now discontinued They cost $400 at the time and I chose 5400K D1S bulbs over 4300K. On forums, users talked about opening them up and removing the glare shield to expose more light. I never tried it, but with the glare shields in place, everyone I know told me that I should NOT use them at night on city streets, and they were the brightest and widest beam patterns I had ever seen, even to this day. They're fairly large as driving lights. The glare shield was most oddly designed. It is completely black inside and outside, and looks like it rot away with very jagged lines around the edges. If with the glare shields they were so punishing to others at nights, I cannot imagine what then if I did remove them. I just remained focused on maintaining the beam pattern they were designed for.
Yes, I agree that it sounds boring. Its potentially hurting other road users when this is done, especially in fitting bulbs that were not designed for that housing. Is removing the glare shield a cheap and easy way of achieving more light without being offensive? We talk about retrofitting because the most practical and non-offensive means to enhance forward lighting, and we speak against the use of plug-'n-play kits, with the absolute belief we are right. What if this can be a solution, and if not, then we have an added reason to discourage this practice as serious and passionate builders. I refer to myself as an ambassador for change, and I plainly tell people and customers what I do not support. When asked why they want to retrofit, some have told me "to blind others who already hurt their visibility at night." That is NOT a solution; go find someone else to do your dirty work. I've even been asked to install the NHK Gen IV Plus in fog lamps. WHAT????
Theirs so many cars on the road with modded headlights or tail lights and they think it looks cool. When in fact it looks tacky ,trashy,. Ghetto. But if you have the right car it can look ok.
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ZEP em’…..
Just use a wrap don't paint it