LED Headlight glass burning in (pics)

[FastBlackRam]

Has everyone noticed this with their LED headlights? Very annoying. What did you do about it if anything?

 

[PowerJrod]

Has everyone noticed this with their LED headlights? Very annoying. What did you do about it if anything? View attachment 73589 View attachment 73588

Stock LED headlights?

 

[shurik74]

Burning? On second picture looks like there is a fire pit reflecting...

 

[Arth]

Has everyone noticed this with their LED headlights? Very annoying. What did you do about it if anything? View attachment 73589 View attachment 73588

Is that actual burning of the lens or is it just the intensity of each individual LED chip shining against the housing? My 2021 looks the same and so did my 2019. No issues.

 

[FastBlackRam]

@shurik74 So what you are seeing there is the pattern of LEDs reflecting off something from the inside out. To me it looks like what you see when your headlight lenses get old and cloudy.

Now @Arth when you say "no issues" what are you referring to? No issues with the lenses? Or what?

@PowerJrod Yes these are stock headlights.

I need to look at them with the LEDs off with a flashlight to see if it is actually etched into the lens. I also feel like with the LEDs on all the time when the DRLs are on is not a great design. My BMW DRLs do not turn on the main LEDs, just the bright rings around the lights.

 

[PowerJrod]

@shurik74 So what you are seeing there is the pattern of LEDs reflecting off something from the inside out. To me it looks like what you see when your headlight lenses get old and cloudy.

Now @Arth when you say "no issues" what are you referring to? No issues with the lenses? Or what?

@PowerJrod Yes these are stock headlights.

I need to look at them with the LEDs off with a flashlight to see if it is actually etched into the lens. I also feel like with the LEDs on all the time when the DRLs are on is not a great design. My BMW DRLs do not turn on the main LEDs, just the bright rings around the lights.

The part that looks like glare almost looks like condensation...tough to tell from the photos though.

 

[FastBlackRam]

The part that looks like glare almost looks like condensation...tough to tell from the photos though.

It is not condensation.

 

[mikeru82]

Has everyone noticed this with their LED headlights? Very annoying. What did you do about it if anything?

Does it affect headlight effectiveness while you're driving, or are you just annoyed when you look at them from outside the truck? I'm honestly not seeing what the problem is. Looks like the beam pattern on the headlight lenses in your pics. Which is normal as far as I know. The only way you won't see that is if your lenses are completely clean and completely devoid of any imperfections.

 

[Nibis]

If you turn off your DRL's, the halo lights stay on. I have the LED's that come with the Laramie, and turned the DRL off

 

[Arth]

@shurik74 So what you are seeing there is the pattern of LEDs reflecting off something from the inside out. To me it looks like what you see when your headlight lenses get old and cloudy.

Now @Arth when you say "no issues" what are you referring to? No issues with the lenses? Or what?

@PowerJrod Yes these are stock headlights.

I need to look at them with the LEDs off with a flashlight to see if it is actually etched into the lens. I also feel like with the LEDs on all the time when the DRLs are on is not a great design. My BMW DRLs do not turn on the main LEDs, just the bright rings around the lights.

I am referring to period. I've now owned two of these trucks, I looked at my 2021 Limited tonight, and they both did exactly what you photographed. I personally didn't have any damage appear on the lenses or notice any degradation in functionality over the course of my ownership. I believe what we are seeing is the output from each individual LED chip shining light directly onto the housing from inside the projector.

I agree with the above. I turned off the DRL because I don't like the idea of my low beams being used as the DRL and having them on all the time. Of course the upper and lower strip is still always on and that seems to work as a DRL enough for me.

 

[Burnzie]

I don't think LED lighting burns hot enuff, it won't even melt snow/ice off headlights or taillights, not like the old Halogen ones. The big selling points of LED lighting was 1 Brighter. 2 extremely long life .3 cooler burning. But I'm sure I'm wrong as usual, as one certain asshat on here will soon correct all of us,

 

[PowerJrod]

I don't think LED lighting burns hot enuff, it won't even melt snow/ice off headlights or taillights, not like the old Halogen ones. The big selling points of LED lighting was 1 Brighter. 2 extremely long life .3 cooler burning. But I'm sure I'm wrong as usual, as one certain asshat on here will soon correct all of us,

LED bulbs themselves run very hot but with the correct heat sink...the heat can usually be dissapated faster (reason why ppl say they "run cooler". This is why a lot of LED headlights have fans or a big heat sink behind the bulb.

 

[Burnzie]

LED bulbs themselves run very hot but with the correct heat sink...the heat can usually be dissapated faster (reason why ppl say they "run cooler". This is why a lot of LED headlights have fans or a big heat sink behind the bulb.

I stand corrected. How often does it snow there in Las Vegas?

 

[PowerJrod]

I stand corrected. How often does it snow there in Las Vegas?

Lol. I have to drive 20 minutes to Mount Charleston to see real snow anytime in the winter but it's A LOT of snow and ice. But one of the reasons I bring up the led heat is because I've had a few LED headlight bulbs burn out here during the summer because they were getting so hot...way hotter than any Halogen or HID light. But I guess that's not a surprise when it's over 105°F at night.

 

[mikeru82]

LED bulbs themselves run very hot but with the correct heat sink...the heat can usually be dissapated faster (reason why ppl say they "run cooler". This is why a lot of LED headlights have fans or a big heat sink behind the bulb.

LED's themselves produce almost no heat. It's the power supply which produces the heat. In the case of aftermarket LED bulbs, that heat is dissipated by large heat sinks attached to the back of the bulb. I'm not sure how this heat is dealt with on our headlight housings since I haven't had one out to look at yet. But that heat is not dissipated out the front of the bulbs. Like Burnzie said, there's not enough heat to melt snow or ice off the lenses, like happens with halogen bulbs. Any damage to the lenses is not caused by heat from the LED's. But they certainly can make any damage more noticeable.

 

[PowerJrod]

LED's themselves produce almost no heat. It's the power supply which produces the heat. In the case of aftermarket LED bulbs, that heat is dissipated by large heat sinks attached to the back of the bulb. I'm not sure how this heat is dealt with on our headlight housings since I haven't had one out to look at yet. But that heat is not dissipated out the front of the bulbs. Like Burnzie said, there's not enough heat to melt snow or ice off the lenses, like happens with halogen bulbs. Any damage to the lenses is not caused by heat from the LED's. But they certainly can make any damage more noticeable.

If that's the case how did my LED headlight bulbs get a burnt spot on the actual bulb when they stopped working? (I'm not disagreeing with you, just confused on how it happened if they don't emit any heat).
The other point I meant to make earlier was that if you have a high power led flashlight and leave it on high...put your hand over the lens and you'll feel how hot it can get.

 

[SpeedyV]

If that's the case how did my LED headlight bulbs get a burnt spot on the actual bulb when they stopped working? (I'm not disagreeing with you, just confused on how it happened if they don't emit any heat).
The other point I meant to make earlier was that if you have a high power led flashlight and leave it on high...put your hand over the lens and you'll feel how hot it can get.

Anything using electricity generates heat, including LEDs. It's a question of (1) how much, (2) where, and (3) what type (e.g. infrared radiation vs. other means). LEDs produce no IR, so they don't generally "feel" hot. However, if proper thermal management of the circuit board isn't achieved, the LEDs will "cook" on the board and heat can be directed through the LED housing.

I can't speak for your headlights, as I haven't experienced issues with mine. But in the case of the flashlight, it's likely that the housing is well insulated (so that you don't burn your hand when holding the flashlight), and all excess heat is directed around the LED (where you'd expect a traditional flashlight to get hot). It's not the LED's fault

 

[PowerJrod]

Anything using electricity generates heat, including LEDs. It's a question of (1) how much, (2) where, and (3) what type (e.g. infrared radiation vs. other means). LEDs produce no IR, so they don't generally "feel" hot. However, if proper thermal management of the circuit board isn't achieved, the LEDs will "cook" on the board and heat can be directed through the LED housing.

I can't speak for your headlights, as I haven't experienced issues with mine. But in the case of the flashlight, it's likely that the housing is well insulated (so that you don't burn your hand when holding the flashlight), and all excess heat is directed around the LED (where you'd expect a traditional flashlight to get hot). It's not the LED's fault

That makes sense...kind of proved both our points right there!
Same lines as anything that generates light will cause at least a little heat too. Some just comes down to proper power management I guess.

 

[mikeru82]

If that's the case how did my LED headlight bulbs get a burnt spot on the actual bulb when they stopped working? (I'm not disagreeing with you, just confused on how it happened if they don't emit any heat).
The other point I meant to make earlier was that if you have a high power led flashlight and leave it on high...put your hand over the lens and you'll feel how hot it can get.

I didn't say they don't produce any heat, I said they produce very little. That's when they are functioning properly. Like any other electronic component, an LED can internally short. Lots of heat is produced when happens. And it's likely that's what happened with your bulb to cause the burnt spot. I doubt it had a burnt spot while it was still working, although it's feasible that on a multi-led bulb, depending on the design, individual LED's might burn out, and the rest of them might still light up. Depends on the circuit design though.

 

[PowerJrod]

I didn't say they don't produce any heat, I said they produce very little. That's when they are functioning properly. Like any other electronic component, an LED can internally short. Lots of heat is produced when happens. And it's likely that's what happened with your bulb to cause the burnt spot. I doubt it had a burnt spot while it was still working, although it's feasible that on a multi-led bulb, depending on the design, individual LED's might burn out, and the rest of them might still light up. Depends on the circuit design though.

Any SUBSTANTIAL heat lol. Some ppl are so literal in this forum smh.