I've been thinking about LED headlights. I could make some that are as bright if not brighter than standard halogen bulbs. I'd need a silver reflector making but once that's done, they'd need to be tested to get an E mark.

How would I get this done?

I know it would probably be expensive and that's not the point. Once I'd satisfied myself that they work right, who would give me the certificate?

a homologation group/ company, (i think VOSA deal with homologating items)

It will be VERY expensive

No prices quoted but check this site.
http://www.emcsolutionsltd.com/emarking.html

You can get E-mark or e-mark

The lights have to be tested
You have to meet conformity of production
then it is possible to get a certificate and may you place an E or e

Happy reading:
E= Ece = geneva world wide
e= europe (27 countries)

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/consleg/1976/L/01976L0759-20070101-en.pdf

http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/s06021.htm

ECE: http://www.unece.org/trans/main/welcwp29.htm

[Edited on 17/10/07 by t.j.]

It's VCA who do type approval in this country, not VOSA - http://www.vca.gov.uk

The legislation you need to look at is ECE regulation 112 which you'll find on the ECE site above.

You would also need to meet conformity of production (COP) arrangements which essentially means either having ISO9000 certification or otherwise convincing VCA that every item you produce will be identical.

There is some more info on the VCA site. What you want to do is known as 'systems & components' approval. The first two link after the text on this page probably tell you a lot of what you need to know:

http://www.vca.gov.uk/vehicletype/system-component-app.asp


[Edited on 18/10/07 by matt_claydon]

I would be interested to know which type of LED would be bright enough for a headlight. I use Luxeon Stars for my lights (everything but the headlights in fact) but I am unaware of anything brighter. The angle of view is often a problem but this can be overcome with clever reflector design.
Any links?

It's not the brightness it's the characteristics which are created by the lens pattern. You can buy extra bright bulbs which are not road legal because they alter these characteristics so I think you would probably need to design a new glass or reflector pattern to suit the kind of light thrown by the source.

The LEDs I'm thinking of using are made by Cree. 350mA at 3.3V nominal is just over a watt and makes 80 lumnens. An incandescent bult makes typically 13 lumnens per watt. 10 of these LEDs can be driven off a single LED driver chip which provides a PWM regulated constant current to the LEDs and can be switchable to provide low power for side lights and full power for dipped beam. I have a reflector design that will give the correct viewing angles. Another row of 10 LEDs positioned differently will give the main beam pattern.

They also do red and amber versions for other light functions.

quote:

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Originally posted by matt_claydon
It's VCA who do type approval in this country, not VOSA - http://www.vca.gov.uk

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