Joined
·
643 Posts
OK, so here's the backstory...
My $69 Sylvania SilverStar zXe headlights burned out in a little less than a year, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the mega-expensive Philips LED headlights. These: H4 Philips X-treme Ultinon LED Bulb | 12953BWX2
I got the $23 DRL upgrade option as well. This is an extra box that goes before the LED driver. So it's:
Original Headlight Cable -> DRL Box -> Philips LED Driver Box -> LED Lamp
I did some comparisions during and after installation and my findings were:
With DRL Box: LEDs work, DRL is exact same brightness as low beam.
Without DRL Box: LEDs work, DRL is exact same brightness as low beam.
So I write the following to the folks at XenonDepot:
So I responded:
The LED headlights are fantastic, but I feel I spent an extra $23 for snake oil.
Thoughts???
My $69 Sylvania SilverStar zXe headlights burned out in a little less than a year, so I decided to bite the bullet and get the mega-expensive Philips LED headlights. These: H4 Philips X-treme Ultinon LED Bulb | 12953BWX2
I got the $23 DRL upgrade option as well. This is an extra box that goes before the LED driver. So it's:
Original Headlight Cable -> DRL Box -> Philips LED Driver Box -> LED Lamp
I did some comparisions during and after installation and my findings were:
With DRL Box: LEDs work, DRL is exact same brightness as low beam.
Without DRL Box: LEDs work, DRL is exact same brightness as low beam.
So I write the following to the folks at XenonDepot:
Their response was:MattM said:Hello!
Can you explain the intended function of the DRL upgrade box you offer with the H4 12953BWX2 PHILIPS X-TREME LED bulbs?
I purchased a set of these with the DRL upgrade for my 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser a couple weeks back. After installing, here’s what I found:
Without the DRL box - Lights function correctly, DRL is exactly the same brightness as low beam.
With the DRL box - Lights function correctly, DRL is exactly the same brightness as low beam.
So, It appears to do nothing at all and was just $23 that didn’t need to be spent.
Thank you,
- Matt
CANBUS is the "Controller Area Network Bus" that allows the various CPUs on a car to talk to each other. But this DRL box is just connected to the headlight wires, which according to the FJ wiring diagram, only go through simple relays to +12V and ground. There is no connection to the CANBUS.MattM said:Hi Matt,
The DRL option will come with a Canbus fix that will allow the LED bulbs to function at fill power when a vehicle has daytime running lights. Normally DRL functions at half power which LED bulbs can’t do and this can cause them to flicker or not turn on at all. The canbus fix is meant to fix these issues.
In some cases the flickering may be so quick that it may not be noticeable to the human eye. If your vehicle does have DRL I would recommend installing the canbus fix in order not to damage the LED bulbs.
Thanks,
Danny
So I responded:
To which they said:MattM said:Thanks for the reply.
Not sure how the CANBUS gets involved. On this vehicle, according to the wiring diagrams, there is a resistor between the bulb and ground which causes the lights to be always on in DRL brightness. Turning on the headlights switches a relay that causes the resistor to be bypassed, making the lights come on full brightness.
Not clear how any box, which is downstream of that resistor, could restore full voltage.
My inclination here is to tell them they have no idea what they are talking about. Then maybe to open up one of these boxes and see what's inside.MattM said:A canbus reserves power which then sends full power to the LED to ensure it does not flicker in DRL mode.
The LED headlights are fantastic, but I feel I spent an extra $23 for snake oil.
Thoughts???