LUX H8's being recalled!!

[MisterP]

Originally Posted by TTBear

I just did the repair modification necessary to fix the problem.

Guys, it is so easy, a dead goat would stand a fair to middling chance of getting it right.

I had most of the stuff I needed, right in my garage:

-roll of 20G automotive wire
-two inline fuses (had to buy these - total of six bucks at the local automotive place).
-two 2A blade fuses
-solder/soldering iron
-heat shrink wrapping (1/8")

As Marc suggested, I extended all the wires "6+" inches (I went 7, just to be sure - in retrospect, I probably would have gone 8", so I could move the power supply in a better position outside the headlight housing. Once finished, I used double-sided tape to anchor the power supply as out of sight as possible, in the engine bay.

Took me all of 90 minutes (and that was while watching the Habs lose... ) - I figure if I was concentrating, it would have been about 45 minutes.

Don't even bother getting NA Motorsport/Marc to send the "repair kit". You'll wait for two weeks, and I'm sure this is a big enough pain in the ass for them, already.

Take an hour, do it yourself, and retain your awesome LUX H8s. You won't regret it.

And for those complaining that it takes eons to get the LUXs in.... guys. C'mon. We're not doing laparoscopic surgery on a flea, here. Get it positioned correctly, grab it gently with a needle nose pliers, and rotate gently. Takes a couple minutes each side (I must admit, the first time I installed them, I had my wife help, but subsequently, I have discovered it's not that difficult, at all).

Hope this helps to get at least some of us to do the modification without resorting to returning the kit to NA motorsports/Marc. Completely unnecessary - if I can do it, anyone can.

Some pictures to illustrate the mod or the result ?? Thanks !

[TTBear]

Originally Posted by MisterP

Some pictures to illustrate the mod or the result ?? Thanks !

I'll try, but I am a little short on time. Leaving on a 9,000km road trip on Friday! (Canada, to Los Cabos, babeeeeee!!! ).

It's pretty straightforward, though. Like I said, if I can do it, anyone can. I'll try and get pics done tonight.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by kmac1980

LEDs don't produce heat per say, however, the electronics driving the LEDs do (not just the power supply).

That's not true - High powered LEDs create an exorbitant amount of heat (like a computer processor) which needs to be pulled away using a proper heatsink.

[mds82]

Originally Posted by aajami

I'd like to hear NAM or someone else confirm it. My assumption is that the 2 LED/6,000K units put less stress on their power supplies, hence the recall being (supposedly) specific to the 4 LED/6,500K units.

Of course this is presumptuous on my part, which is why I'd like some confirmation. If it is confirmed, I'd like to know if NAM plans on reverting to the older LUX units.

That is not correct about the differetn versions. the 2 LED setup and the 4 LED setup are irrelevant to the amount of " stress" on the driver. the Driver is actually the brains of the job and it controls the output to the LED's. you could have 4 or 50 LED's, and the output will be the same on the power supply.

its simply the fact that heat is affecting the power supplies and causing them to fail. moving them external to the headlamp resolves this problem

Originally Posted by kmac1980

my only question about having the power supply outside of the housing, is how weather proof is the power supply? I mean quite a bit of moisture gets into the engine bay when driving in the rain/snow. Should the power supply be wrapped in electrical tape or something?..

The power supply is 100% weatherproof. they are encapsulated in a high temperature material that is solid and weatherproof - it will not be affected by and moisture, salt, sand, etc etc

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

That's not true - High powered LEDs create an exorbitant amount of heat (like a computer processor) which needs to be pulled away using a proper heatsink.

Thank you Tom - Correct the LED's create a lot of heat, hense the heatsink on them. The power supply itself is Very efficent, and it created little power. The issue is that the heat from the LEDs/heatsink were affecting the power supplies, and that is why they need to be moved external to the ehadlight

[kmac1980]

Originally Posted by mds82

Thank you Tom - Correct the LED's create a lot of heat, hense the heatsink on them. The power supply itself is Very efficent, and it created little power. The issue is that the heat from the LEDs/heatsink were affecting the power supplies, and that is why they need to be moved external to the ehadlight

anymore heat than a halogen H8 bulb?

[yosh2k]

Originally Posted by TTBear

I just did the repair modification necessary to fix the problem.

Guys, it is so easy, a dead goat would stand a fair to middling chance of getting it right.

I had most of the stuff I needed, right in my garage:

-roll of 20G automotive wire
-two inline fuses (had to buy these - total of six bucks at the local automotive place).
-two 2A blade fuses
-solder/soldering iron
-heat shrink wrapping (1/8")

As Marc suggested, I extended all the wires "6+" inches (I went 7, just to be sure - in retrospect, I probably would have gone 8", so I could move the power supply in a better position outside the headlight housing. Once finished, I used double-sided tape to anchor the power supply as out of sight as possible, in the engine bay.

Took me all of 90 minutes (and that was while watching the Habs lose... ) - I figure if I was concentrating, it would have been about 45 minutes.

Don't even bother getting NA Motorsport/Marc to send the "repair kit". You'll wait for two weeks, and I'm sure this is a big enough pain in the ass for them, already.

Take an hour, do it yourself, and retain your awesome LUX H8s. You won't regret it.

And for those complaining that it takes eons to get the LUXs in.... guys. C'mon. We're not doing laparoscopic surgery on a flea, here. Get it positioned correctly, grab it gently with a needle nose pliers, and rotate gently. Takes a couple minutes each side (I must admit, the first time I installed them, I had my wife help, but subsequently, I have discovered it's not that difficult, at all).

Hope this helps to get at least some of us to do the modification without resorting to returning the kit to NA motorsports/Marc. Completely unnecessary - if I can do it, anyone can.

You are a true genius Thank you for that Sir

[TTBear]

Originally Posted by yosh2k

You are a true genius Thank you for that Sir

If I give you my wife's cell phone number, can you call her and tell her that?? She seems to have forgotten, over the 12 years we've been married

I am no genius. Far from. I just follow directions.

I will give credit where it's due, though. Marc has a great product, here. To be able to design something as good as this, is truly genius

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by kmac1980

anymore heat than a halogen H8 bulb?

A bit different - as there's much more surface area on a bulb than a LED. For instance, Luxeon LEDs can pop in >5 seconds without a suitable heatsink.

Marc knows what he's doing, I'm sure the kits will be back up to speed in no time.

[MMMorish]

Marc and NAM, for the Canadian customers who paid to ship our kits back to you, can you mark the packages as replacement for damaged goods on the customs label? This way we won't get charged twice for the duties.

I paid $25 shipping the first time, $20 duty, and now $17 shipping again. If I have to pay another $20 for duty fees, that will be a total of $37 I have to shell out, over and above the original $45 I spent in the first place. That's simply not fair at all!!

Please mark them as replacement for damaged goods and pay the duty at your end. I don't think that's too much to ask given our inconvenience.

[kmac1980]

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

A bit different - as there's much more surface area on a bulb than a LED. For instance, Luxeon LEDs can pop in >5 seconds without a suitable heatsink.

Marc knows what he's doing, I'm sure the kits will be back up to speed in no time.

I was more interested in the ambient temperature of the headlight housing with the LEDs vs. Halogen running in a sealed unit....if it's enough to damage a power supply, could it damage other things?

[aajami]

Originally Posted by mds82

That is not correct about the differetn versions. the 2 LED setup and the 4 LED setup are irrelevant to the amount of " stress" on the driver. the Driver is actually the brains of the job and it controls the output to the LED's. you could have 4 or 50 LED's, and the output will be the same on the power supply.

its simply the fact that heat is affecting the power supplies and causing them to fail. moving them external to the headlamp resolves this problem

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[TTBear]

Originally Posted by MisterP

Some pictures to illustrate the mod or the result ?? Thanks !

This is a pic of the passenger side kit, repaired, before everything is tucked away. I found out eventually, that extending by six inches is MORE than adequate:

(Yes, I failed to buy colour-coordinated wire..... I already had a roll of 20G wire, and I made sure I could identify what colour the wires were, even with heat shrink tubing on there....)



This is a picture of the driver's side kit, after everything was buttoned up:



Finally, this is a pic of the driver's side. The red arrow points to the power supply (this is without two-sided tape, yet). It tucks in underneath that cross member, like it was meant to be there, and sticks to the bottom, perfectly. The white arrow points to the inline fuse. It is sticking out much more than the final result. It tucks underneath that headlight post, such that you can't even see it.



There is MORE than enough room for the wires to exit from the headlight housing. There is a (very) flexible rubber gasket, and also, a double lip on the headlight housing cover, which allows exit of the wires, while still, I believe, maintaining the integrity of the housing in terms of water ingress.

Guys, this is SO easy. The hardest part was adding the wire between the H8 connector, and the power supply - it's pretty short, and once cut, it was hard to get the proper length of heat shrink tubing in there. In the end, I felt it necessary to extend the wire a little, but I still tried to keep the inline fuse as close to the power supply as possible.

And, now, I STILL have my LUX H8s, and I didn't have to wait two weeks+ to get them back.... how cool is THAT????

[SIIK2NR]

Nice post. I wish they would have given customers the option on the recall to fix their own kits. I sent mine back and now have to wait.....

[808MGuy]

Still waiting for details from NAM on how they will recommend mounting the PS outside the housing.

[mds82]

Originally Posted by MMMorish

Marc and NAM, for the Canadian customers who paid to ship our kits back to you, can you mark the packages as replacement for damaged goods on the customs label? This way we won't get charged twice for the duties.

I paid $25 shipping the first time, $20 duty, and now $17 shipping again. If I have to pay another $20 for duty fees, that will be a total of $37 I have to shell out, over and above the original $45 I spent in the first place. That's simply not fair at all!!

Please mark them as replacement for damaged goods and pay the duty at your end. I don't think that's too much to ask given our inconvenience.

Yes, i was planning on doing this already.

Originally Posted by 808MGuy

Still waiting for details from NAM on how they will recommend mounting the PS outside the housing.

Once all the parts come in i will post pictures. but basically the wires will come out of the back of the top cover, this way it mostly hidden.

[yosh2k]

Originally Posted by mds82

Yes, i was planning on doing this already.



Once all the parts come in i will post pictures. but basically the wires will come out of the back of the top cover, this way it mostly hidden.

Hi Marc,
I sent you an email for the parts... Not sure if you got it as I did'nt get a reply - and I'm not sure how to PM on here... can you PM so I can reply back with my details for shipping the kit so I can do it myself.

[mds82]

Originally Posted by yosh2k

Hi Marc,
I sent you an email for the parts... Not sure if you got it as I did'nt get a reply - and I'm not sure how to PM on here... can you PM so I can reply back with my details for shipping the kit so I can do it myself.

for some reason i dont have he ability to PM you. You may have turned off the feature to accept PM's from other users, you can change that in your "User CP" on the top of the page. Please let me know what your e-mail address is and i can e-mail you the details.

[yosh2k]

Originally Posted by mds82

for some reason i dont have he ability to PM you. You may have turned off the feature to accept PM's from other users, you can change that in your "User CP" on the top of the page. Please let me know what your e-mail address is and i can e-mail you the details.

Hi Marc... Same here, LoL - Strangely it seems to be enabled in my User CP to accept PM's - but not able to work it out... Here is my email address: yosh2k@hotmail.com

thanks for this

[fireman]

i can't wait 4 mine to cum back fixed! hate the yellow angel eyes on my M, it's like having yellow teeth!!!

[moog55]

Originally Posted by fireman

i can't wait 4 mine to cum back fixed! hate the yellow angel eyes on my M, it's like having yellow teeth!!!

hahahaha.

[DaRipper]

Hey Marc,

Any new updates? I called NAM to see when I will be getting my LUX H8 back and they told me you are still working the issue. I was hoping to get them back this week.

Thanks,

DaRip

[mds82]

Originally Posted by DaRipper

Hey Marc,

Any new updates? I called NAM to see when I will be getting my LUX H8 back and they told me you are still working the issue. I was hoping to get them back this week.

Thanks,

DaRip

The last part i need is coming in the mail tomorrow... unfortunately there was a mixup on my order which made me have to wait on things. As soon as it comes in however i will be fixing them all and returning them