LED H4 lights only work on full beam

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by dingov70

I've heard rumours of "approved" LED bulbs being allowed to be retrofitted becoming law soon as well so i'm going to sit it out.

Laird , to be honest if DVSA have gone to the trouble of updating our test manual & specifically mentioned HID /LED light sources , you can be pretty sure no " approved " LED light sources are hiding over the horizon .

Andtwenty , I saw the bulbs you have , the only LED I have seen that truly replicate the light output of filament bulbs have very thin LED such as these in the link to Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/NOVSIGHT-He...2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1[/QUOTE]

The documents i've seen both online independently and via a link from somewhere on this forum suggest otherwise, that approved light sources will be allowed. Also these documents are after the 2018 issue date shown on the MoT link you provided. It seems that the DVSA are behind the times, mainly because by the time they get paperwork through the system technology has moved on considerably. When the first "ban" on other types of light source came out it was largely (so i'm led to believe) because of the fact most were cheap things from China with huge LEDs that would have difficulty giving a focus on anything, never mind the precise focus from a filament bulb.

I don't rate those Novtech bulbs, i tried a set (may still have them somewhere) that had those rows of LEDs which are larger than the Philips LumiLEDs used on the bulbs i have. These are more precise and do in fact replicate the true beam pattern, better often than an H4 filament bulb off the shelf.

There is something we both definitely agree on and that's that we both want the best beam pattern available. That's why i spent a small fortune buying several sets of LED headlamp bulbs to evaluate before settling on the ones i have now.

The best way round all of this would be to word the "MoT Bible" along the lines of "Does the light produced meet the criteria for beam pattern?" Yes - pass, no - fail.

Something in the back of my mind says it's been that way for a long time though.

[dingov70]

Laird , the number of e-mails between me & DVSA regarding wording of the manuals has grown boring . We notice errors , take the time to raise the issue & hope for a sensible resolution to our query , NO CHANCE , we receive the equivalent of angry adult speaking down to a naughty child . Yes the link I posted does relate to the 2018 revised manual , the last complete revision of the manual , but there is a link to the 11/1/2021 update https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...hicles/updates

and that covers the new / amended regulations we have to abide by . I actively encourage our customers to read the manual if they have any doubts or are unsure of what the criteria's for major / minor fails & advisories are . I once almost failed a lexus for HID in reflector headlights ... right up until I noticed DCR on the lens ( this denotes suitable for HID ) . It is a bloody minefield for testers , we get strung up for failing when an item should have passed & taken to the lower field to be shot for not failing an item when we should because the manual has vagaries in it

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by dingov70

Laird , the number of e-mails between me & DVSA regarding wording of the manuals has grown boring . We notice errors , take the time to raise the issue & hope for a sensible resolution to our query , NO CHANCE , we receive the equivalent of angry adult speaking down to a naughty child . Yes the link I posted does relate to the 2018 revised manual , the last complete revision of the manual , but there is a link to the 11/1/2021 update https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...hicles/updates

and that covers the new / amended regulations we have to abide by . I actively encourage our customers to read the manual if they have any doubts or are unsure of what the criteria's for major / minor fails & advisories are . I once almost failed a lexus for HID in reflector headlights ... right up until I noticed DCR on the lens ( this denotes suitable for HID ) . It is a bloody minefield for testers , we get strung up for failing when an item should have passed & taken to the lower field to be shot for not failing an item when we should because the manual has vagaries in it

"It's not your place to think, do as you're told, no more, no less" <wagging finger disapprovingly>

That's the sort of thing you mean i'm guessing? There was something a few years back that i asked my local tester to clarify for me because the wording was ambiguous to say the very least and after explaining his interpretation of it pointed out the words in the manual were very "loose" (which is why i wanted clarification in the first place) and if he had bothered to ask VOSA as it was then, he would have more or less got the answer i quoted above.

Thanks for the link, i'll have a proper read when my brain cell is a bit more receptive, i'm sure half the stuff in the manual is dreamed up by stuffed shirts who have no idea which end of the car is which never mind which end of a spanner is which!