Hella FF50's lighting - on all the time or not?

[dcd87]

As per he title.

I have some Hella FF50 driving lights mounted on an AUX light bar on my R1150GSA SE.

Currently they are wired in through a fuzblock on a switched live circuit but they are permanently on when the ignition is live.

I have no problem with this as I think it is better to have them on al the time and be seen, however, after the last week or so of the dark early morning runs to work, I have been getting flashed at a few times by oncoming traffic.

My question is whether it is best to have them wired in so they come on when the ignition and dipped beam are on (dipped beam is 5K HID) or whether to have them wired in to main beam or even on a separate switch?

Thanks

 

[Flipfly]

Wired to main beam, they are the equivalent of high beam. For all the time use you need micro de's which are like fog lights and have a low beam pattern. Wiring the FF50 to low beam will blind all oncoming traffic and be rather illegal.

 

[dcd87]

aahh. I did not know this.

Will pull the fuse before the drive home and sort the wiring out.

Thanks Flipfly.

 

[Nick591]

I have micro de fogs wired to come on with dip beam so like drl's. They have led bulbs. I also have ff50 driving lamps wired to come on with main beam but via a switch so I can turn them off if I want. This is on an 1100GS. I decided to wire both pairs of lamps through separate relays because I might replace the LED bulbs in the micro de's with H4 bulbs at some point. I previously had the ff50's only wired via a switch on the bars and a relay. The lamps are mounted on the engine bars and were pointed downwards. Using the during the day with dip beam I didn't get any flashing from approaching drivers. The new set up will be much better. The ff50's on main beam are awesome.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Nin]

Hi Nick, or anyone else, what's the latest recommendation for led bulbs for the micro DEs?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nick591]

I bought the micro de's used from someone on here with the leds fitted. They're not that bright so I' d also be interested in recommendations

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Flipfly]

There are no really good options for LED bulbs in micro de's in my experience. I tried several and the best I managed was to break them apart and fit an courtesy light type affair which was round and shone directly out of the glass. Even this, after much fecking about, did not come close to the output from a cheapo £20 quid Led marker light.

My advice, sell your heavy micro de's and buy a pair of 5-10w LED lights with a narrow beam pattern. Beware though as they can sometimes be way too bright. There are various cheap ways of fixing this with a 50% dimmer (I have one on my current set up). Some of the more sophisticated dimmers (more expensive) have options to vary the brightness which could be a better long term fix to get the most out of the lights. I have mine at 50% for dipped beam and 100% on full beam.
My light set up is by far the best I have managed to achieve after much trial and error. Currently running 4600k HID fast ballast HID on dipped and hi beam, 4600 lumen LED spot lights with 10w led marker lights.

 

[Riceburner]

I've got FF50s on my Rockster, wired in to the full-beam.

I've powered them using a PIAA relay (the bike used to have PIAA 1100xs fitted), which is switched by splicing the relay low-power switch into the feed for the full-beam indicator bulb on the dash. (the high-voltage feed to the relay is direct from the battery).

The PIAA harness comes with a waterproof push switch - best place for this is glued to the inside of the left hand-guard.

 

[dcd87]

I think I am going to fit the rocker switch to the FF50's so I can have them on/off when I like.

I also have a set of Hella micro DE's I am going to fit as DRL or possibly fit some LED lights I picked up on fleabay. I have seen a review on both and will try out and see what is best for me.

I like the idea of the of the LED spots you have FlipFLy but currently the £££ has me priced out.

 

[Baggers1]

I have Hella DEs as DRLs linked to the dipped beam and FF50s linked to the main beam. Both pairs are switched so they can be on/off as needed. I tried some LED bulbs in the DEs but they were useless.

 

[dcd87]

I have bought an Autoswitch to activate the ff50's and currently have the Micro DE wired in permanently on. Pointed them down slightly but they make a hell of a difference when driving in almost pitch black early morning!