Light Cannon LED
Install & Review

Bye, bye, Hella - When it came time to replace the tired, old Hella offroad lights mounted on the front of my FJ Cruiser's winch bumper, there definitely wasn't a shortage of choices on the market.  One advantage I had was the fact that technology has come a long way since the Hella Lights were all the rage.  While there are plenty of solid sets of lights out there, and I have a few favorites and a few disappointments, one sector in the area of lighting that has really impressed me has been the advancing technology surrounding LED lights. 

Purchased from:
Off-Road Lights
Tel: 253-256-4439
www.off-roadlights.com
Lightforce@offroaders.com
 

LED Advancements - The LED, short for Light Emitting Diode, is basically an electronic component that is designed to convert electricity to light.  The improvements that have been seen in this area over the past several years have improved every aspect of the LED including increasing the light output while reducing power consumption as well as increasing the size of the diode itself and extending it's life even longer than the previous generations of LED.  Recently while renovating a bathroom, I was very impressed with three surface mount ceiling LED lights that I had installed.  They produced a great tone of bright white light that I could dim with a dimmer. They were waterproof and produced no heat at all, only light.  I also now use a super-bright handheld LED spotlight with a massive LED powered by 4 D batteries that rivals the flood lights you plug into the 12v electrical system of a vehicle.  So I was primed to look beyond the typical halogen filament bulb or even HID type lighting, all of which loose a lot of their energy to heat output rather than usable light.  At that point I made the decision to go with a set of Light Cannon LED lights by Vision X Lighting.  I needed a set that fit under the hoop on top of my winch bumper without obstructing use of the winch or shielding the radiator too much and the 4.5" Light Cannon LED light seemed like a good option.  Pricing was compatible with similar size lights and according to the owner of Offroad Lights, a company I dealt with before when it came to lights for my 4x4's over the years, these lights were very well built and technologically advanced over other lights of similar size and output. So I ordered the light kit that includes a pair of 4.5" Light Cannons and a wiring harness.  I also ordered two pair of O-ring sealed lens covers.  One in an amber and another in black so that the vehicle will pass inspection.

Delivery, First impressions

At the time of writing this install/review Vision X Lighting is the first to offer a high output 4.5" LED light.  Dubbed the Light Cannon, Vision X Lighting, put quite a bit of technology and engineering into this light. 
 

The first thing I took notice of was the housing.  Very impressive.  The hybrid aluminum poly carbonate housing is lightweight yet very well constructed and very solid.  It appears to be cast and anodized black with a very solid, single bolt mounting base.
The rear of the housing where the electronics are housed has heat sink fins, which give it a very interesting appearance.
The housing has recessed grooves for secure, water tight attachment of the poly carbonate lens covers. I'll probably use leave on the amber covers most of the time and use them when off-road since I like the amber illumination at night.
The LED diode in the center of the reflector is HUGE.  I've seen large LED diodes before but this one is the largest by far that I have seen.  The advertised distance of useable light is over 1000 feet so it will be interesting to see how much light they generate.
The wiring harness is well constructed complete with a relay, 30 amp fuse and a solid switch.  Individual leads go out to each light and the harness has water-tight locking plugs the connect to the lights.  Another nice feature that the lights come with is a small lead for each light to wire it into an existing lighting system if the vehicle is so equipped.  Vision X even went to the extra step of applying solder to the bare wires with to prevent fraying and ensuring a more positive connection.
PART# CTL-CPZ110KIT (shown with optional lens)

Manuafacturer's Specs / Highlights
 

• Proprietary Iris Reflectory Technology

• Lightweight and Tough Hybrid Aluminum Poly Carbonate Housing (2.2 lbs)

• Revolutionary LED Technology producing
  over 1000 feet of usable light from a single 25 watt LED

• Integrated Electronic Thermal Management (ETM)

• Prime Drive for Enhanced Reliability and Output

• Snap-On Covers Allow Easy Change of Beam

• Ultra Light Weight 2lb Hybrid Construction

• Weatherproof Deutsch Connector

• Water Tight Sealed Poly Carbonate Lens

• 50,000 Hours LED lifespan

• Patent Pending

• Extended Warranty

• Two Light Kits Available
   

• TECHNICAL DETAILS
  DIMENSIONS 4.72” x 4.36” x 5.75”
  INPUT VOLTAGE 9-32V DC (suitable for 24 volt systems)
  OPTIC EFFICIENCY 90%
  DRIVEN AT 90%
  AMP DRAW (12V DC) 2.08A
  IP RATING IP-68
  VIBRATION RATING 15.6G
  OPERATING TEMPERATURE -40 Celsius ~ +80 Celsius

    Additional Manufacturer's Information can be read here.

Installation

Installing off-road lights is not a difficult task, though it can be done incorrectly. For instance thinking back to the good old days of basic offroading and 4x4 building, it was common to run the high amp voltage feed from the battery, into the cab and under the dash, through the switch and out to the lights.  This is fine if you properly fuse, gauge and distance your wires as well as your switches to prevent over-heating or worse an electrical fire.  However you are always better off not running the high voltage into the cab and instead use a relay to power your lights.  Simply put, a remote is a low amp switch that controls a high amp switch.  The relay is installed closer to the source and out of the cab.  The toggle switch in your cab controls the low amp side of the relay.  Today most offroad light manufacturers, including Vision X, incorporate a relay into their wiring harness.  If not, you should consider wiring your lights with a relay. 

Vision X provides this wiring diagram for installing the lights. 

Wiring Diagram (pdf)

Step by step directions can vary so much from vehicle to vehicle considering you have to run a wire into the cab, mount a switch and connect the wiring to ground and the battery so it is always best to refer to the wiring diagram when installing lights.  The details about how to install a switch under or on the dash, or even mounting the lights somewhere are also a big variable. 

If you need to check the sizing of the lights for possibly tight fitment on your vehicle, Vision X also provides a dimensional diagram for their lights.  I had plenty of room to work with so fitment wasn't an issue.

Cannon Dimensional Drawing (pdf)

 

On my vehicle I used the mounting holes set in the winch bumper as the mounting location.  Removing the old lights and installing the new lights was a snap, done in a few minutes.  Vision X also included the Allen wrench in the kit.

For a quick installation, I opted to reused my personally fabricated wiring harness that I had run out to my previous set of lights.  The only modification I did to the Vision X wiring was to strip back a small portion of the insulation on the supplied wiring adapters.  I then crimped on a mating plug to my existing wiring harness.  Soon, I have plans to purchase a 2014 Jeep JK Rubicon when the Copperhead color becomes available.  At that time, I plan to use the Vision X wiring harness and transfer these lights over to the Jeep JK.  The Vision X install will be covered in that writeup again.

The Results!

More photos:

Here are the filters and covers along with the o-rings removed to show them.

OEM headlights vs Vision X light Cannons

LED light is cool to the touch.