Recent WOF Experience (White vs Blue LEDs) LONG POST

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heylinb4nz

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#171228 10-Apr-2015 11:55

So the Hamilton WOF Station failed the car stating the park, reverse and plate lights which were LED were not substantially white.

They even went on to incorrectly quote Kelvin colour ratings "with their eye meter" (which arent even mention in WOF code) saying they needed to be closer to 4300K when in fact they were about 6300k also saying that no one makes a complying white LED and they are all blue tinged.

FYI daylight is 4800K and my lights are actually classed as pure white and were visible closer to 5800-6000k. The supposed compliant W5W incandecents are 2300K which is alot further away from white (and not even passable for amber)

Went back next day and argued these facts for about 20 min even showing them the bulbs running outside of the housing (they were clearly white !!)

In the end they just put on a WOF to get rid of me. During this encounter they reffered to the lights as blue, blue tinge, not white and not substantially white...very professional and consistent.

The didnt even want to admit or agree to the legal definition of "substantially white" meaning even if they had a 5% blue tinge, its still meets the legal definition of "substantial" in fact they could 30% blue and still meet the legal definition.

Anyway it seems some of these inspectors have no clue about LED lighting and just treat us all like boy racers and fail us.

Never going back there.

PS: they passed the car last year with same bulbs.

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19282 posts

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#1280379 10-Apr-2015 11:59

I know motorbikes are now coming with LED white head lights latest Kawasaki Z1000 does

Athlonite

1828 posts

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#1280390 10-Apr-2015 12:18

Same problem with HID upgrade kits aswell passed for 3 years then all of a sudden nope sorry not allowed WTF

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1280399 10-Apr-2015 12:32

Unfortunately some WOF inspectors are a law unto themselves. I had a particularly crappy incident with one in Christchurch. We were arguing over the location of a stone chip in my windscreen. I argued that it was small and fell ouside of the critical field of view and therefore did not have to be fixed. I had the LTSA guidelines on me and I demonstrated to him (using measurement of the screen) that it complied. His answer was "I don't care what the LSTA rules say, or how you measure it, I say it fails, so no WOF for you".

There is no recourse when this happens. If you try to get a WOF from somewhere else, that failure flags up to the 2nd inspector instantly and with no evidence of repair they will just fail it again.

I begrudgingly went to Novus, where even they agreed I was right, but I had to pay for the chip to be fixed anyway.

So, don't ever go to Mclean Motors in Sockburn for your WOF. They are douchebags and I politely told them so, as well as everyone else who would listen.

lxsw20

3552 posts

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#1280404 10-Apr-2015 12:44

Athlonite: Same problem with HID upgrade kits aswell passed for 3 years then all of a sudden nope sorry not allowed WTF

Nor should they be. If you don't have the correct lens for an HID they blind traffic coming the other way.

Athlonite

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#1280433 10-Apr-2015 13:25

lxsw20:
Athlonite: Same problem with HID upgrade kits aswell passed for 3 years then all of a sudden nope sorry not allowed WTF

Nor should they be. If you don't have the correct lens for an HID they blind traffic coming the other way.

Bollocks they do I had them in my car for 3 years (and passed 6 WOFs with them in) never got flashed because someone thought my lights were on hi beam once never failed a WOF until last year when regs changed they wanted to say they're to bright well they would be that if I had gone with the 70W option but these were the standard 35W ones previously I had 90/100W bulbs installed and the light given off by the HID's was much better in all weather conditions so making driving at night safer....

Wade

2225 posts

Uber Geek

#1280435 10-Apr-2015 13:28

Back before they closed the testing station in Onehunga I had a stand up argument with one of the guys over the position of the label on my windscreen, he insisted it had to go at the top of the screen when i asked for it to be at the bottom (as i always have as it sat square in my line of sight when at top of screen), he spent ten minutes looking up the details and then tried to 'interpret' them according to his viewpoint ( it clearly states something along the lines of must be close to the edge on the drivers side, height is not specified)

He didn't comprehend that by blocking a driver's vision that it is kind of bad :P

ubergeeknz

3344 posts

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Vocus

#1280437 10-Apr-2015 13:29

This is easy

1. Keep factory bulbs in glovebox

tbh the rest should be obvious

I once had a problem with my ABS so I disconnected it. WOF failed. So I connected it up. Light came on, inspector happy, got WOF, pulled fuse again. (obvs. I got it fixed later)

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lxsw20

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#1280444 10-Apr-2015 13:30

Athlonite:
lxsw20:
Athlonite: Same problem with HID upgrade kits aswell passed for 3 years then all of a sudden nope sorry not allowed WTF

Nor should they be. If you don't have the correct lens for an HID they blind traffic coming the other way.

Bollocks they do I had them in my car for 3 years (and passed 6 WOFs with them in) never got flashed because someone thought my lights were on hi beam once never failed a WOF until last year when regs changed they wanted to say they're to bright well they would be that if I had gone with the 70W option but these were the standard 35W ones previously I had 90/100W bulbs installed and the light given off by the HID's was much better in all weather conditions so making driving at night safer....

It doesn't matter how many times you found a slack WOF inspector. The VIRM is very clear they are not legal.

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/lighting/headlamps

A high-intensity discharge (HID or Xenon HID) conversion kit consists of an HID bulb with a high voltage power output or ‘ballast’ which fits into the original headlamp unit in place of the original bulb with no change to the headlamp lens, reflector or housing.

It is illegal to fit an HID conversion kit to a vehicle as it brings the headlamp out of standards compliance by producing poor beam patterns and light that is far too bright to be safe. The bulbs can also produce light that is noticeably blue and not the required substantially white or amber colour. Vehicle and headlamp manufacturers do not permit this modification, and these kits cannot be LVV certified.

It is permitted to replace a complete halogen headlamp unit with a complete HID headlamp unit.

mckenndk

911 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1280480 10-Apr-2015 13:49

Most annoying thing I have been failed on is dirty headlights, I always thought my head lights were frosted or something similar but I got failed because of it and it had passed at other places ok, The catch was I went somewhere different this time due to being on the road for a few days.

I was unable to clean them with the usual car wash stuff (as the many times I had cleaned the car before it never came off) and it got suggested to use Jiff on it and I did and they came off clear you could actually see inside them.

The main annoying thing is that I was not able to clean them then and there so it had to wait 4 days to when I was in that town again to get the warrant signed off otherwise pay someone else another $50 or what ever it was to have it done again somewhere else.

heylinb4nz

656 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1280492 10-Apr-2015 14:07

mckenndk: Most annoying thing I have been failed on is dirty headlights, I always thought my head lights were frosted or something similar but I got failed because of it and it had passed at other places ok, The catch was I went somewhere different this time due to being on the road for a few days.

I was unable to clean them with the usual car wash stuff (as the many times I had cleaned the car before it never came off) and it got suggested to use Jiff on it and I did and they came off clear you could actually see inside them.

The main annoying thing is that I was not able to clean them then and there so it had to wait 4 days to when I was in that town again to get the warrant signed off otherwise pay someone else another $50 or what ever it was to have it done again somewhere else.

Not dirt but the plastic\polycarb hazing due to UV light.

Fair enough to as the haze affects the light diffusion and output therefore your headlights are under performing.

Jif is a mild abrasive \ rouge, so it polished off the faded plastic....it will do it again in 6-8 months. Autosol works great as well.

Wade

2225 posts

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#1280497 10-Apr-2015 14:16

^^ As does toothpaste

Added benefit of nice fresh smell lol

ubergeeknz

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Vocus

#1280498 10-Apr-2015 14:17

or polishing compound

mckenndk

911 posts

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#1280501 10-Apr-2015 14:20

I'll have to try the toothpaste, that was recommended to me once to clean the shower glass

lagbort

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#1280502 10-Apr-2015 14:23

Pledge furniture polish spray on a microfibre cloth works wonders as well

heylinb4nz

656 posts

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Inactive user

#1280508 10-Apr-2015 14:35

lagbort: Pledge furniture polish spray on a microfibre cloth works wonders as well

Till it evaporates less than 24 hours later :)

I had a supposed professional mobile car detailer make a mess of my custom paintwork and then run a glaze\oil over it before proclaiming "there fixed".

Dont hide it, fix it !!.

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