H3 to LED

[John A]

Anybody have a recommendation for replacing h3 halogen bulbs with LED bulbs? I need to save the housings and reflectors and just want to change the bulbs. Advise anyone?

[Triple Jim]

I had a bad experience with Cyclops Adventure Sport's LED product and the guy who runs the place.  I heard good things about  ADV Monster on this board, so I plan to take a good look at their products next time I want an LED bulb for a quartz-halogen type headlight assembly.

[ITSec]

Anybody have a recommendation for replacing h3 halogen bulbs with LED bulbs? I need to save the housings and reflectors and just want to change the bulbs. Advise anyone?

Which bike is this on?

Projector headlights (i.e., the Norge, etc.) can't make good use of bulb conversions, since the projector lenses are designed for a point source in a specific location.

Also, space behind the bulb is critical since most LED units require a fair bit of space for their cooling, whether heat sink or fan. Some newer designs have more compact cooling systems If inside an enclosed housing, even if there is space there may need to be additional venting to prevent overheating.

[cloudbase]

ADVMonster is great.  I put in an H4 replacement in the Quota and am more than happy with it.
I haven't checked, but they should have something for an H3.

[ratguzzi]

ADVMonster is great.  I put in an H4 replacement in the Quota and am more than happy with it.
I haven't checked, but they should have something for an H3.

Give us a link!!
JB

[leafman60]

I've used several of the Cyclops products and they work great.  They have also been great on customer service. Just my experience as well as that for several of my friends who have used them.

.

[charlie b]

I have a Cyclops H4 bulb and not had any trouble with it.  I did make the mistake of buying the off road version (3600lumen) so it has basically no low beam cutoff.  Space behind the reflector is key.

The current H4 LED bulbs seem to have a little better cutoff than they used to.  But, I have not tried one to find out.  The hard part is to find a lower temp version (mine is 5700k and is on the blue side).

[Wayne Orwig]

Anybody have a recommendation for replacing h3 halogen bulbs with LED bulbs? I need to save the housings and reflectors and just want to change the bulbs. Advise anyone?

Did you really mean H3, or H4?

H3, as used in many driving lights don't have good LED conversions.  The mount is so small, it is hard to get a good heat sink on the bulb. As others mention, there are some good H4 conversions though.

[cloudbase]

Give us a link!!
JB

http://stores.advmonster.com/native-h4/

[jas67]

OP was looking for an LED to fit H3 applications:
http://stores.advmonster.com/h3-mesh-monster-led-headlight/

[John A]

It's for a cowl mounted hand controlled spotlight that I'm mounting on a sidecar if I can get it worked out. I don't want to butcher the housing or reflector, its an antique.

[Triple Jim]

OP was looking for an LED to fit H3 applications:
http://stores.advmonster.com/h3-mesh-monster-led-headlight/

Obviously I can't tell much from a photo, but the cabling and connectors of the ADV Monster product look a couple levels higher quality than the Cyclops bulb I bought.

[LowRyter]

I did the H4 conversion kit on my Bandit.  The kit wouldn't fit in the headlight bucket on my Guzzis which is where I really needed it.  The Suzuki had no problem with the electrical system running 100wt H4 but the headlight lens was getting a little brown. 

Seems to be real bright and white-blue.  With 80k miles on it, I think the Suzuki could use all beaks I can give it.  So it was fine to remove some stress on it.

Still, I could really appreciate an LED that would fit the Cali and Sport.

[jas67]

I did the H4 conversion kit on my Bandit.  The kit wouldn't fit in the headlight bucket on my Guzzis which is where I really needed it.  The Suzuki had no problem with the electrical system running 100wt H4 but the headlight lens was getting a little brown. 

Seems to be real bright and white-blue.  With 80k miles on it, I think the Suzuki could use all beaks I can give it.  So it was fine to remove some stress on it.

Still, I could really appreciate an LED that would fit the Cali and Sport.

The ADVMonster H4 "Mesh Monster" fits the V7 classic/stone/special headlight bucket, which doesn't have a lot of room behind the reflector.

Unfortunately, they no longer list it on their website.  It has been replaced by the H4 Rev3, which is brighter, and has a better beam pattern, but, according to another member here, is longer and doesn't fit.

The H4 native, linked earlier in this thread will fit anything that takes an H4 bulb.   I can't vouch for the pattern though, as I haven't tried one yet.

[kidsmoke]

this is a timely thread. Lost the highbeam on my jackal the other night, sadly, on a curvy back road with no street lights and no other cars to draft and borrow from....

I'll likely give the Native H4 a go, although the size difference as shown in the photo relative to the standard H4 definitely is significant. I'm a bit worried about the reflector.

Anyone done this in a the Bosch 7" buckets that are OEM on that vintage California? (2000)
 

[Wayne Orwig]

Quote from: John A on October 29, 2016, 09:57:36 AM

It's for a cowl mounted hand controlled spotlight that I'm mounting on a sidecar if I can get it worked out. I don't want to butcher the housing or reflector, its an antique.

People are still yapping away about H4 bulbs, not the requested H3.

From the ADVmonster H3 ad. It claims to be 20 watts. And it claims to operate at 13.8V 1.4 amps. Close enough.
If it is two 10 watt die on that post running near 10 watts each, that will be VERY bright. Hopefully, it has a temperature sensor to protect the LEDs, since there is no fan. I really suspect it is running at a fair bit less then 20 watts to prevent overheating. It will also only radiate light from the left and right, not quite like the normal H3 pattern.

For $35 I'd try it. Just make sure you keep it as cool as you can.