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Thread: Installation of STEDI LED low beam conversion kit

  1. #1
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    Installation of STEDI LED low beam conversion kit

    Has anyone successfully put in this conversion kit on there mk7 with halogen lights?

    The kit I purchased from STEDI came with an adapter which was apparently required. It has a positive and negative wire coming off it and I have no idea where they are meant to plug into?

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    Quote Originally Posted by w1ntermutes View Post
    Has anyone successfully put in this conversion kit on there mk7 with halogen lights?

    The kit I purchased from STEDI came with an adapter which was apparently required. It has a positive and negative wire coming off it and I have no idea where they are meant to plug into?
    hmm......... so here's the end of the 2 x pin connector after the STEDI module (i.e. @ the car wiring end):



    And, here's the instructions for removing the normal (H7 type) low-beam lamp:

    Notice the 2 x pin connector (labelled "2") that's plugged into the lamp base in the 2nd picture.

    To ensure that the polarity is correct for the STEDI module connector:
    1. pull-off the green colored connector in the middle picture (the blue colored VW lamp base isn't used with the STEDI LED arrangement).
    2. Grab a multi-meter and locate which of the 2 x pins is connected to car chassis. Mark the connector housing to identify this pin
    3. Rotate the STEDI connector so that the pin with "-" is aligned with the mark on the VW connector housing (i.e. STEDI "-" pin is connected to the car chassis pin on the green connector in picture above).


    Don
    Last edited by DV52; 28-07-2022 at 11:03 AM.
    Please don't PM to ask questions about coding, or vehicle repairs. The better place to deal with these matters is on-line, in the forum proper. That way you get the benefit of the expertise of the wider forum! Thank you.

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    Thanks for the responses. So here is an image of the setup. What I am confused about is the adapter that STEDI call L06 has two wires coming off it and then you have the globe with its own wire and connector. What I was confused about is am I plugging the wires from the adapter into point 2 in that image, and then just leaving the other connector sit there, or connect the connector attached to the bulb itself and leave the adapter wires not plugged in.

    The image has the LED globe with the adapter attached and just an adapter on its own

    187-C9-E76-9-D22-456-E-8496-256561820-D42 — ImgBB
    Last edited by w1ntermutes; 28-07-2022 at 12:48 PM.

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    Actually, you know what. I think ive just worked it out. You plug the wires off the adaptor into the wire connector that comes from the bulb

    https://ibb.co/4jL5xQV
    Last edited by w1ntermutes; 28-07-2022 at 12:58 PM.

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    hmmm.....OK, if you say so - but I don't think so!!

    If you connect the separate 2 x wire pins with the spade connectors to the 2 x pin module connector as shown in your last picture - where are you going to connect the power supply wire from the old incandescent lamp and how are you going to earth the new LED?

    My expectation is that the small black box in both your pictures is the LED driver.

    Not sure if you are aware, but LED lamps are actually constant current devices whereas your old incandescent lamp is a constant voltage device. This means that when you power a LED lamp from a constant voltage source (like a battery) - a method must be included in circuit to make sure that the electrical current is limited in some way.

    If the LED lamp wires were simply directly connected across the battery- the device would short-circuit the battery because the forward voltage across a functioning LED is only about 1Volt-2Volts. So, you would be connecting a device that operates @ 1-2 volts to a power supply that is nominally 12 Volts!! In this scenario, the LED would experience the full power (meaning a very high short-circuit current) of a lead-acid battery which would almost imediately disintegrate the PN junction in the LED !! Result = white smoke generator and a fu#ked LED!!!

    What normally happens to avoid this situation in low wattage LED lamps is that a resistor is wired in series with the LED for car applications. It is then the series circuit of the resistor and the LED that is connected across the battery. The resistor is sometimes called an electrical "ballast" and it has the effect of limiting the flow of electrical current from the battery.

    For higher power LED lamps like your STEDI low-beam lamp, more sophisticated "ballasts" are needed because of the heat dissipation and because of the need to regulate electrical current more precisely in these devices.

    These "ballasts are sometimes called LED "drivers". I'm not certain, but I suspect that the small black box on the STEDI LED is what's called a "switched mode inverter" - so called because it achieves constant current output by using switched transistors/FETs (these type of ballasts are extremely efficient devices and they are used in high power LED applications because they generate very little heat - because of their efficiency)

    The small black box in your picture is the LED driver - it's thing that translates the constant voltage from the battery (via the hex09 module which transform the rail voltage into a PWM waveform) into a constant current that is required to operate the LED lamp. So, for the LED lamp to operate - you need to connect one of the 2 x pins from the small black box to the power supply for the old low-beam lamps (this is one of the 2 x pins in the green connector in my picture above). And of course, you need to complete the power circuit by earthing the remaining pin!!

    So what are the other 2 x wires with spade connectors for - I hear you asking? Well my guess is that they are directly connected to the PN junction in the LED lamp and they are intended to be used if the car headlight fittings has another form of LED driver. On your car and because it was built with incandescent headlights from the factory - you will need to use the STEDI LED driver- so the 2 x wires with spade connectors are not used

    Don
    Last edited by DV52; 28-07-2022 at 03:19 PM.
    Please don't PM to ask questions about coding, or vehicle repairs. The better place to deal with these matters is on-line, in the forum proper. That way you get the benefit of the expertise of the wider forum! Thank you.

  7. #7
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    Thanks for your throrough replies and help. You are probably right about the issue of where to plug in those wires. I have asked STEDI and am waiting to hear back. The reason I came to that conclusion was because of this comment on their website.

    The L06 is compatible with vehicles that power the H7 globe via the side of the collar. L06 special adaptors grab the positive and negative from this point and allow you to connect the H7 plug on the copper head driver to draw power through the factory tabs.

    Security check (bottom of page)

    So I assumed what that was saying was plug the wires into the STEDI connector as I had in that latest photo.

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    Quote Originally Posted by w1ntermutes View Post
    So I assumed what that was saying was plug the wires into the STEDI connector as I had in that latest photo.
    hmmm........ clearly you are convinced of your position - which is perfectly OK with me.

    Of course you must proceed as you see fit - my ONLY caution is to head my warning above that directly connecting an LED lamp to a 12Volt supply without an in-circuit means of limiting the electrical current draw will decimate the device (as explained in my previous response)

    Good luck with the installation!!

    Don
    Please don't PM to ask questions about coding, or vehicle repairs. The better place to deal with these matters is on-line, in the forum proper. That way you get the benefit of the expertise of the wider forum! Thank you.

  9. #9
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    Hi Don, sorry I didnt mean to imply that I was just ignoring you due to what I found on the website, was just seeking your interpretation of that. In the end I tried it anyway and it seemed that it was the correct way to do it. Use the car with the lights on for about a day now, although its going to rain today so might be a good way to find out that I installed everything correctly haha

  10. #10
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    Hi Don, sorry I didnt mean to imply that I was just ignoring you due to what I found on the website, was just seeking your interpretation of that. In the end I tried it anyway and it seemed that it was the correct way to do it. Use the car with the lights on for about a day now, although its going to rain today so might be a good way to find out that I installed everything correctly haha

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