LIGHTS
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Fitting light-emitting diode lights (LEDs) rather than conventional bulbs adds around £80 to the price of a new trailer, according to General Trailers. That is enough to deter many hauliers, who prefer conventional bulbs. However, evidence is growing this could be a short-sighted policy because LED lights are virtually fit-and-forget items, with no service costs.
Concerns about the optical quality of LEDs have been resolved, say the manufacturers, with improved lens optics diffusing the pin-point light emitted by an LED over a wider spectrum. This also means fewer LEDs are needed per light (from seven five years ago to three today).
Flexible Lights uses a pink lens to produce a white LED light.
Costs vary, but typical LED lamps retail for 110-12 (less for an OE build) compared with about £3 for a conventional lamp. This might sound expensive, but on a whole-life cost basis LEDs win hands down. A heavy-duty filament bulb is guaranteed for 200 static hours before it burns out; LEDs have a minimum life of 10,000 hours—Hella's are tested for 60,000 hours.
Harlow-based Flexible Lamps says only a handfur of the half-million LED lights in service have been returned; usually because of mistakes such as fitting 24V LEDs on 12V systems.
General Trailers reports that LEDs are popular on skeletal trailers which are subject to constant shock loads. Police will usually pull over drivers with failed lights, it points out, resulting at the very least in longer journey times.
LED manufacturers have finally cracked the technical difficulty of producing white LEDs; front marker lamps are now available from TruckLite and Hella.
Flexible Lamps uses a slightly bluer LED, but compensates for this by using a pink lens which converts the blue into white light. The company says this approach makes it easier to retrofit white LEDs in place of its existing Rubbolite front top marker lamps.
Another kit for the rear light cluster replaces the 6W bulbs that are most susceptible to failure with LEDs, but retains 21W bulbs for indicator, reverse and fog lamps.