Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Do you think that I should tell my insurer that I am using a different make and grade of engine o?l?

Possibly one should check the UK car lighting regulations, they may be too bright.

Howver the regs are probably written in terms of wattage of bulb, presuming incandescent lamp, rather than brightness (lumens) which confuses the issue.

The issue is replacing kitemarked automotive bulbs with non- automotive bulbs. Lights may be treated as safety equipment.

Basically you don't want to give your insurer an extra excuse not to pay out. Especially it just costs you the price of a stamp.

This has all been discussed in previous threads I believe.

Steve

Kitemarked

That has brightened my day!

Would need to be a little kite to be on a sidelight bulb

I have checked my stock of bulbs all bought in the UK and none of them are kitemarked, before throwing them all away as well as the ones on the car which were equally lacking I went down to Smag the local auto-spares shop and asked them for ampoules with kitemarks, they didnt know what I was talking about but they did tell me that Britain no longer has an empire.

Note to self.

Write to insurance company telling them that my ampoules are not kite-marked.

james,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7000K-XENON-WHI ... 2749.l2649

cg

Ok chaps I stand corrected on the kite mark thing. I knew there was a legal question mark though and it's the Type Approval that you fall foul of.


<Snip>

6. I drive a classic car and the headlights are very dim, compared to modern vehicles. Is there an exception for classic vehicles? Due to its age, my car does not have to comply with Type Approval.
Sadly, there are no exceptions for older cars.
Yet, it is correct that British Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 specifies dates before which lamps and light sources do not have to be Type Approved. However, newly manufactured bulbs must comply with the current regulations, regardless of the age of vehicle to which they are fitted.
The DfT advised GEM that, as LEDs are not mentioned in the UK regulations, this means that they are not permitted, unless they comply with European legislation, which they cannot. The DfT also advises that:
?There are also requirements for minimum power for certain lamps? LEDs? would be unlikely to meet these requirements.?

(Information correct as of January 2017)

<snip>


https://www.motoringassist.com/motoring ... r-legally/

This just gets better and better

Legislation that belongs in the first half of the last century, still specifying wattage and not lumens and for the god fearing person described who would not dare improve his dim lighting without getting teachers permission being told that whilst his lights are too dim to see with they are OK because they are a certain wattage and brighter LED ones are not acceptable according to the UK r?gulations because they dont consume enough current

The bit I really love though is the way the DFT begrudgingly accept that whilst superior modern lights wont meet the last century UK legislation they are acceptable if they meet EU standards "which they cannot"

No different here in France everyone trys to tell you that stuff has to be N.F. and anything else is inferior yet if it is EU or CE marked its legal.

In any case the advice, for thats all it is, you have quoted is regarding the manufacture and sale not the use of vehicle light bulbs.

I think you would have to look hard to find a new vehicle manufactured with incandescent running and rear lights.

thank God, i'm here in the New Jersey - USA (usually the brunt of many jokes) where antique vehicles are NOT required to undergo any form of state inspection (left for your personal inspection only) AND my antique insurance only questions whether the "engine" is modified from original (they target horsepower above OEM standards = "hotrodded")

Of course in an Elan OEM standard is a 170 hp Cosworth / BRM 26R engine so nothing is ever hot-rodded. It was all factory homologated options

cheers
Rohan

When I insured my first Se7en it had a full race all steel X/flow, they said any modifications had to be declared so with the full spec written down I prepared myself for a long phone call.

Is it supercharged or turbo-charged? - No!

Does it have fuel injection? - No

Then its not modified sir!

Here in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia, if it isn't modified it is considered suspect.

Nice idea.

Just confirming - these LEDs are 10 watts, so more than the standard 6 watt filament bulbs, right?

(Or 9 watts, depending the eBay link...)

Nick

Yes, that is causing some confusion with me also.
I think 10 watts would be far too much light and heat. The ceiling lights in my house are 7 watts.
I feel sure that a 10 watt LED lamp would overheat especially when enclosed in another casing.
In one of the ebay listings it states `actual power 2 watts`, which sounds more likely.
Could someone please measure the current drawn by one of these lamps to settle this.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

They are probably, and sensibly in my view stating the equivalent wattage of an incandescent bulb for the same output.

The ceiling LED sellers all do this but they are usually over-optimistic.

I too have 7 watt LED downlighters, a couple of hundred spread across all the flats, with that amount I am forever having to repair them when they break down, there was a big peak in the failures during the recent heatwave.

All the failures are heat related, always the warm white and not the daylight white, one led out of the 7 fails and as its a series circuit the others cant function, one failed unit yields 6 good leds to repair 6 others, not what I was hoping for but better than throwing them away as I initially did before realising they could be saved.

I ordered half a dozen of these LEDs from eBay for under $5. I measure the wattage as 0.94w (12.7v @ 74mA)

To double check I got 0.91w/bulb with all six wired in parallel, so I think we can safely call these 1 watt bulbs. They certainly are bright.

Nick

http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-12V-10W-E ... 2306761722