Idle Ivey

I had a pair of LED city lights from Azn Optics but one of the LED's started to fail. I pulled it out and noticed it had desoldered. I repaired the solder point but it started to fail again after another couple months.

Rather than pay $20 for a new set I headed to dealextreme and found a pair of 6500k t10 LED's for $3.20 shipped.

I'll post some pics when I get them but at that price ill order more for side markers, etc. assuming they don't suck.

AZN Optics

The reason for solder failure is due to current surges that are exhibited by some vehicles (due to low battery, flakey alternator, ac compressor overdraw, etc). This extra energy is converted to heat and the resultant heat spikes can reach the melting point of solder if the surge is high enough. All open circuitry LEDs will suffer from this same issue if the connector isn't properly shielded. This is the same principle why you need a surge protector between your wall socket and your tv/computer.

That said, we're always looking to improve and have released our V3 design which to help address the vehicle surging issue. We introduce a non-conductive gel substrate that has a much higher melting point than the solder so during heat spikes, you won't get any component shifting and the solder reforms in place ones the heat dissipates. This should help in all but the largest surge. You're also covered by our 1 year warranty policy, so we would have covered those LEDs for you BTW.

As for the ones you just found, those are not canbus LEDs and will throw errors. That's where the price difference comes in between the 2 tiers of LEDs.

Peydidy

I have always been very happy with AZN optics products and customer service. There 1 year warranty is great and very hassle free. I have AZN lights on both my w203s and they have been working great for more then 7 months

Idle Ivey

I don't have a problem with the lights I got from Azn Optics really. They worked fine for a couple years so I figure I got my monies worth. Just pointing out other options.

I didn't realize that non CANBUS LED's would throw errors and that does make a difference. DX has a handful of CANBUS leds but they are much closer in price to what you offer. Also they don't have 8500k.

This is closest to what you offer, they also have a 2.5w 13x led for a dollar more.

I grabbed a set of 1.5w 6500k 5x led for $4.30. The lumens are clearly overstated but I'm curious how much dimmer they are going to be. I figure if they are too dim they will work nicely as sidemarkers.

This also looks cool. I'm curious if you would have a mini halo effect or it will all just blur together.

AZN Optics

One thing to keep in mind when looking at LEDs, we use CREE components which are top of the line and does skew our prices a little, but for only a couple bucks more, we decided to offer our customers a higher quality product.

Also, when looking at LEDs, quantity of diodes is not as important as size of diode. What you want is as much surface area as possible. When you see LEDs with like 10 SMDs, but of smaller size compared to a design that has 4 larger size SMDs, the larger size often has more surface area as there's not as much space between SMDs and not as much dead space at the diode bezel area.

Just some food for thought.

Idle Ivey

OK so led's finally arrived

Brightness wise they are fine, They are supposed to be 6500k but they are pretty blue to my eyes. Not sure about quality as I've only had them for a couple hours but no codes so that is a plus.

DealExtreme 6500k LED is on the left, AZN Optics 8000k on the right.

phister

You should update to projectors or some clear OEM headlights. The frosted headlights don't do the leds justice

Idle Ivey

For sure, next on my list of upgrades.

Peydidy

+1

speed7

Why not just spend the money and pick up a set of PIAA led runners? I've never had an issue with their products. I run the extreme white plus wedges however they have LED ones too.

Idle Ivey

All these LEDs are coming from the same place, China. I don't know how much the PIAA bulbs are but mine were only $4 shipped.

speed7

Well.. the way I see it is from this experience.

My friend and I both had 3rd gen rx7's. She'd go the cheap way and fix it 3 to 4 times by going with home depot fixes and non name brand parts.

I on the other hand would save my money and buy 1 part and get the job done the first time.

Regarding piaa.. yeah may come from china but they are a reputable brand. I put them next to Hella personally. But hey if you want to deal with "fixing" products because they "desoldered" then have fun. But really.. we're talking about $20 from tirerack.

I don't know what your time is worth, but mines worth a hell of a lot more than $16 bucks to re-solder a cheap light. Thats just my $0.02.

C230 Sport Coup

I also have $3 LED's and no problems.
But already had resistors in place. Left 'em never tested to see of they
were actually needed since it worked 1st try. Had 'em for years now.

Now we will both suffer the wrath of the guru.
Our insolence cannot be tolerated! Prepare to be banned!!
If this gets out! Oh....

gogumadork

I cheaped out on LED City Lights too o:

Got these from Amazon marketplace:

Was about $10 after shipping


They were bluer than what I expected but they look better than the stock halogens.

C230 Sport Coup

Those look really bright!

Idle Ivey

The ones I had to re-solder were the $20 Azn Optics LED's. The $4 LED's have been fine so far...

And If 10 minutes of my time was worth $16 I would be in the AMG forums