Re: What to look for when buying LED's?
I am sure some armchair generals will find an argument but here is my .02.
Over 8 years ago I was trying to beat the high cost of buying the new LED 4" round sealed beam lamps I use on my 16 vehicles I run at a concrete batch plant, back then the common LED was 5mm and not too bright so you had to have 30-40-or more to duplicate the lumens of an 1157 type bulb. In going directly to the source I bought thousands of 5mm LEDs and made my own 4" lamps, every year now the light output almost doubles as they progress in output. I made LED flashlights and sold them locally and on the internet. About 5 years ago the Luxeon emitter came out and in the last couple of years the Cree emitter, these are super lux emitters, a new Cree emitter can put out over 100 lumens.
Trucklites are the best LED lamps available in the US, I use them on all my trucks and on the concrete mixers that get a daily acid bath they never get damaged as long as you seal the connectors with a good compund, I use nickel anti-seize. A red 4" LED lamp is averaged at about $20-25, maybe less in the lower 48, ambers go up and white is the most expensive.
Do not buy cheaper offshore made lights from China unless you use them infrequently as they are in my experience only 50% good as they claim.
To answer your question no more is not actually better when you can get more light from less more powerful LEDs with lenses. Most LEDs of the smaller 5mm have a narrow angle of light output, the larger emitters have a broader beam which is better as taillights. The only other problems is most vehicles flashers cannot "sense" the load because its practically none so the flashers go nuts, in that case you need to wire a load ballast or equalizer. LED lamps draw from one forth to as little as on tenth the current of the same amount of regular bulbs so you can have as many LED lamps as you want on a trailer and the load will not be heavy at all.
Best place to get LED lamps? Go to a truck stop or a truck accessory store, or EBAY.
