NT700V LED Headlight Conversion For Under $30

[Brillot2000]

PROJECT RECAP...

• Currently, the Best replacement H7 LED Bulb available - L1 PLUS H7 LED BULBS 40W 4000LM 6000K Best pricing can be found on eBay.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: Requires the rewiring of the harness connectors to correct the polarity issues with using these LED Bulbs.
• Replacement bulb connector housings are available from this online source. TE Connectivity / AMP - 965430-1 Automotive Connectors POS LOCK HSG 2POS
• Headlight aim might possibly require a minor adjustment.

Image Board Review:



Let me know if any of you have any questions regarding this LED Conversion.

A special thank you and SHOUT-OUT to the following members of this site:

• Nick Wilkinson
• turbojim
• Fieroguy
• Sunny
• Coyote Chris
• mikesim
• Phil Tarman
• JustPassinThru
• MaxPete
• Warren

 

[Phil Tarman]

Outstanding!

 

[MaxPete]

Well done - this is super information.

BTW - I grabbed Phil's posts and images and turned them into a .pdf for my own files. I have attached it to this message (with apologies for any copyright infringements).

Pete

 

[Brillot2000]

Well done - this is super information.

BTW - I grabbed Phil's posts and images and turned them into a .pdf for my own files. I have attached it to this message (with apologies for any copyright infringements).

Pete

No Worries...

That's what we call in my line of work as a "Cheat Sheet".

 

[Sunny]

I found another option for polarity issues, H7 harness with pig tails... and put spade connectors on the othe rend and plug ointo the original bulb connector.

HUIQIAODS H7 Female Wire Connector Pigtail for LED Headlight Socket Wiring Ha... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N78NHGX/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_W4JE28BPHDX6E6S8FYJD

Maybe add a relay and didoes in the high bulb pigtail to DIY a flash to pass setup ...

 

[Brillot2000]

I found another option for polarity issues, H7 harness with pig tails... and put spade connectors on the othe rend and plug ointo the original bulb connector.

HUIQIAODS H7 Female Wire Connector Pigtail for LED Headlight Socket Wiring Ha... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N78NHGX/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_W4JE28BPHDX6E6S8FYJD

Maybe add a relay and a diode in the high bulb pigtail to DIY a flash to pass setup ...

I would recommend these right angle ones instead to modify the OEM sub-harness. E-outstanding H7 Headlight Bulb Right Angle Ceramic Socket Plug Connector With Wiring Harness

On my test unit that’s exactly what I did. I used an automotive relay with a socket pigtail and Schottky diode to accomplish the low and high isolation and switching.

 

[mpalermo73]

@Brillot2000

Thank you VERY much for posting all of this, but I'm having a hard time following it all since your updates were intermixed throughout all the comments and your original post hasn't been updated along to the way to reflect the different directions gone.

I absolutely want (need? ) to upgrade the headlights on my NT700va.

Your first post, and Flickr album are "out of date" because you switched to the "plug 'n' play" AUTENS LED Headlight Bulbs H7 Headlight Conversion Kit after that. Somewhere along the way you switched, and currently recommend, the LasFit H7 LED Bulbs. I haven't seen in this thread:

1. "WHY" you currently recommend the LasFit over the Autens, despite a bit of extra work due to the polarity mismatch.
2. If you had to modify any other things to the overall system for power "balance" - for instance on the incandescent turn signals to prevent hyper flash, or things like that.

If these are in here somewhere, then I guess I missed them and I'm very sorry.

For me personally, I would just go with the Autens since I can pop them in and hit the road. If the LasFit's are really THAT much better, then OK, I'll put in the hour of "work". But if that reasoning is in here, I guess I missed it.

THANK YOU!

M.

 

[mikesim]

LEDS will give you a brighter view but most on the forum found that their headlamps were aimed too low from the factory presumably to meet some Euro standard. Most everyone who aimed their standard headlamps up a tad found much improved performance.

Mike

 

[Phil Tarman]

That was definitely true for me. That plus the Denalis (the original ones that I think were designated as D-1s) gave me pretty good lights at night. The Clearwaters (when I get them working again on Wednesday) + the LED lights I got from Aerostitch last year make it really, really bright.

 

[Brillot2000]

@Brillot2000

Thank you VERY much for posting all of this, but I'm having a hard time following it all since your updates were intermixed throughout all the comments and your original post hasn't been updated along to the way to reflect the different directions gone.

I absolutely want (need? ) to upgrade the headlights on my NT700va.

Your first post, and Flickr album are "out of date" because you switched to the "plug 'n' play" AUTENS LED Headlight Bulbs H7 Headlight Conversion Kit after that. Somewhere along the way you switched, and currently recommend, the LasFit H7 LED Bulbs. I haven't seen in this thread:

1. "WHY" you currently recommend the LasFit over the Autens, despite a bit of extra work due to the polarity mismatch.
2. If you had to modify any other things to the overall system for power "balance" - for instance on the incandescent turn signals to prevent hyper flash, or things like that.

If these are in here somewhere, then I guess I missed them and I'm very sorry.

For me personally, I would just go with the Autens since I can pop them in and hit the road. If the LasFit's are really THAT much better, then OK, I'll put in the hour of "work". But if that reasoning is in here, I guess I missed it.

THANK YOU!

M.

The Autens are junk. The light pattern is not focused to a beam at a distance where it matters, like way out in front of you. The light scatters quickly and is dissipated quickly into the background ambient lighting. Quite useless for the intended purpose as a focused spotlight, which a headlight basically is. They would be more well suited for use as a Daylight Running Light than a headlight.

Both of these Replacement LED Bulbs require the polarity of these connectors to be switched. If you did not see it on the LasFits, that's because I did that when I installed the Autens.

No further load balancing is required like the turn signals.

The images shown in post #64 regarding the light pattern should speak for themselves.

 

[mpalermo73]

@Brillot2000

I didn't get notified you replied. Sorry for the delay.

I did end up buying the Autens and I have to say they are a billion percent better than the incandescents. I guess I see what you mean by them being more "ambient" than "focused". I'll need to give them some real world riding. I only got them yesterday afternoon and "went around the block" a few times late last night adjusting. The LasFits are faily cheap too, so maybe I'll just get them. I don't know yet.

HOWEVER

I actually stopped back here to say that the reversed polarity is much much much more simple to fix than we all thought. The base is not welded to the cylinder. Hold it like a syringe and push.

The base separates from the cylinder., Turn the cylinder and shove the base back in place.

Here's an Auten




Hold it like you would a syringe




Push!

 

[Brillot2000]

@Brillot2000

I didn't get notified you replied. Sorry for the delay.

I did end up buying the Autens and I have to say they are a billion percent better than the incandescents. I guess I see what you mean by them being more "ambient" than "focused". I'll need to give them some real world riding. I only got them yesterday afternoon and "went around the block" a few times late last night adjusting. The LasFits are faily cheap too, so maybe I'll just get them. I don't know yet.

Real-world testing showed that the light output was not focused and did not come to a focused intense beam as it should. If I were to describe it, the pattern was more a floodlight sending out light in an unfocused beam at a wide angle. The beam will start to lose its intensity in about 20 feet or so. Highbeam would not illuminate a large freeway sign from a quarter-mile away. You had to be less than 500 feet away to be able to get some noticeable light reflection.

Well, good luck with that. You will see that I am 100% percent correct on what I am talking about regarding the Autens.

 

[mpalermo73]

Real-world testing showed that the light output was not focused and did not come to a focused intense beam as it should. If I were to describe it, the pattern was more a floodlight sending out light in an unfocused beam at a wide angle. The beam will start to lose its intensity in about 20 feet or so. Highbeam would not illuminate a large freeway sign from a quarter-mile away. You had to be less than 500 feet away to be able to get some noticeable light reflection.

This is why I was (indirectly) asking for you to update the first post. If that info was in here somewhere, I guess I missed it. I can't be the only one either. If it was all in one place (the first post), thenI wouldn't have bought the Autens. The way the thread is written, the Autens didn't seem to have the "polarity problem" and the reason you decided to try the LasFits, despite the "extra work of the polarity problem", was unclear.

I do thank you for all the work you put into this, but, please, update the first post with the nutshell version of where you landed and how you got there. You just wrote why you left Auten for LasFit, so most of it should now be written.

THANK YOU for you work.

Well, good luck with that. You will see that I am 100% percent correct on what I am talking about regarding the Autens.

I'm not doubting you. That ifo isn't in here, that I was able to find.

M.

 

[Brillot2000]

This is why I was (indirectly) asking for you to update the first post. If that info was in here somewhere, I guess I missed it. I can't be the only one either. If it was all in one place (the first post), thenI wouldn't have bought the Autens. The way the thread is written, the Autens didn't seem to have the "polarity problem" and the reason you decided to try the LasFits, despite the "extra work of the polarity problem", was unclear.

I do thank you for all the work you put into this, but, please, update the first post with the nutshell version of where you landed and how you got there. You just wrote why you left Auten for LasFit, so most of it should now be written.

THANK YOU for you work.

M.

This thread was been an evolution of this project. Starting at thread #65 would have been the best place to start as it was a Project Recap. Then work your way back from there.

In post #51 TurboJim had confirmed the issues that I also was having with the Auten Bulbs. He brought up the Lasfits and how well they worked. Then I went out to procure my own to validate his statements.

 

[mpalermo73]

Do you know if the LasFit's polarity issue can be "fixed" the same way as I found the Auten can? All the "photos" of the LasFIts I'm finding appear to be all computer renders, and not photos of the actual product. I can't tell if the base is welded to the shaft like a normal H7 bulb, or if it's just press-fit on like the Auten. They aren't going to render weld spots in a CG depiction of the bulb.

 

[Brillot2000]

Do you know if the LasFit's polarity issue can be "fixed" the same way as I found the Auten can? All the "photos" of the LasFIts I'm finding appear to be all computer renders, and not photos of the actual product. I can't tell if the base is welded to the shaft like a normal H7 bulb, or if it's just press-fit on like the Auten. They aren't going to render weld spots in a CG depiction of the bulb.

No, they cannot. The light assembly housing casings are made of 2 die-cast halves riveted together if memory services me right. You will need to swap the connector pin polarity as I had outlined in a few previous post.

Sorry, that is how it has to be.

 

[mpalermo73]

OK, I was just asking because it wasn't mentioned that the Auten could just be popped off and twisted, so I didn't know if that was tried with the LasFits or not.