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Has anyone used specialist high power halgen bulbs in the reverse light cluster and what is the safest ammount of current the car wiring can take for a reverse bulb. I am thinking of buying a 35watt bulb that should physicaly fit and as long as I dont insist on reversing for miles I expect the heat to cause minor problems to the housing. However im not sure if vw have skimped on wiring / electrics or not.

Before anyone asks, I am skeptical of leds because while they might burn peoples retinas nicely im less sure about getting useable light out of many of them.

Something like this:
https://www.ringautomotive.com/en/product/r796

I did also once see a 50+ watt bulb from an american site but I suspect that to be too much though sorely tempting

Im with you on the terrible reversing light output of the stock light.

The reflector inside the light is rubbish so a lot of light is lost inside the light housing.

I went down the route of making my own LED lamp for it and it's much better (circa around a 1000lm ) but it was not cheap. But some how it trip the lamp out warning

Also found this, ooooh the temptation : https://www.ringautomotive.com/en/product/r795
I wonder how long my gearbox reverse switch will last?

What I really need is someone who has done this before and is able to tell the tale. Trouble with leds is the light is not the right colour to see with properly and I cant see how they will focus the light properly as filaments wont be in the correct place For some reason my car doesnt have a bulb faliure warning for reverse but it could one day suddenly decide to work all by itself one day.
In the mean time i just nicked the fog light bulb complete with stupid adaptor as it also seems brighter despite being only the same power as the original reverse bulb and then put a BA15s 10w bulb in the fog light (as the vw buffoons just clipped in a daft colour filter in to the other side where reverse is on foreign cars instead of a perpose made light housing.

idriveapolo wrote:Also found this, ooooh the temptation : https://www.ringautomotive.com/en/product/r795
I wonder how long my gearbox reverse switch will last?

What I really need is someone who has done this before and is able to tell the tale. Trouble with leds is the light is not the right colour to see with properly and I cant see how they will focus the light properly as filaments wont be in the correct place For some reason my car doesnt have a bulb faliure warning for reverse but it could one day suddenly decide to work all by itself one day.
In the mean time i just nicked the fog light bulb complete with stupid adaptor as it also seems brighter despite being only the same power as the original reverse bulb and then put a BA15s 10w bulb in the fog light (as the vw buffoons just clipped in a daft colour filter in to the other side where reverse is on foreign cars instead of a perpose made light housing.

If it helps, I'm running 80w headlight bulbs without any issues at the moment. So I can't imagine wiring being an issue

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It could help enormously. perhaps you could tell me for how long and what did you modify and is this lamp made to fit inside the current enclosure or wired to a seperate enclosure and you didnt say wether led or halogen/filament bulbs

Must say one thing stock vw reverse lights are good for though.............its the only car I can reverse a freshly galvanised trailer with at night without being dazled in other words nothing!

The problem could be with those halogen lamp is that they are very short and the design is that the light comes out of the side.

I'd say you could possibly get away with the 35w lamp but i certainly wouldn't be trying the 50w lol.

The case also for making my own lamp is that i was able to pick my own colour temperature. So my reversing light is probably closer to white than my LED headlights.

idriveapolo wrote: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:39 pm It could help enormously. perhaps you could tell me for how long and what did you modify and is this lamp made to fit inside the current enclosure or wired to a seperate enclosure and you didnt say wether led or halogen/filament bulbs

Must say one thing stock vw reverse lights are good for though.............its the only car I can reverse a freshly galvanised trailer with at night without being dazled in other words nothing!

This is the LED lamp i made. Gives you an idea of how bright (the calculations say around 900lumens) and the colour compared to the led headlights.

LED is the best choice for this. CREE if you want brightness. High powered halogen generates so much heat, it’ll likely melt the rear light housing

alexperkins wrote: Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:53 am LED is the best choice for this. CREE if you want brightness. High powered halogen generates so much heat, it’ll likely melt the rear light housing

that's what i used was a genuine CREE XHP50 chip with a colour temp of 4000k

Me personaly, I while I can see why some may like leds, (cooler, less energy and supposedly more reliable etc) I am sticking with proper bulbs as A thats what the car is designed for and B I prefer the light that comes out C theyve been around for over a hundred years or more without major issue D good quality ones last as long as led's

Whilst your point is valid, the car was designed for lower wattage bulbs. A 35w could well melt the surround due to the extra heat it kicks out

idriveapolo wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:46 pm Me personaly, I while I can see why some may like leds, (cooler, less energy and supposedly more reliable etc) I am sticking with proper bulbs as A thats what the car is designed for and B I prefer the light that comes out C theyve been around for over a hundred years or more without major issue D good quality ones last as long as led's

A that's true mainly due to cost.
B My homemade one is a better colour temp than my oem LED headlights.
C a hundred years old tech isn't good look at the stock light output.
D a well made quality LED will outlast a filament lamp by at least 10 fold.

The problem is the market is so full of rubbish from china that a decent replacement is near enough impossible to find.

ah well, me thinks ill just carry on using the extra light from the hazard lamps then, Its an untidy way to reverse though really.

I also cant really put an extra light/s on the back either as the bumber doesnt really suit it plus it would be vulnerable from allsorts if i mounted it below the bumper

perhaps you could tell everyone how you made yours?

I bought a error free LED replacement on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-Bulb-Reve ... 3641202196 which works well. No errors, much brighter and a drop in replacement.

idriveapolo wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:06 pm perhaps you could tell everyone how you made yours?

This is what I've made for mine.

It's a dc-dc converter connected to the reverse light supply.

Then 3d printed a ba15s base then epoxy glued a heatsink on top of that.

Then thermo glued the cree led on top of that.

Then set the current to a point where the heatsink starts to get warm after about a minute.