Cool Ebay Gadgets For Cars

[The Stig]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="asrock" data-cid="283564" data-time="1443451740"><p>

Looks cool, are you using a HDD to record that data?</p></blockquote>

Nope, you need to use micro SD cards for DVRs. Specifically class 10 or uhs cards are needed to record HD. Im using a 32Gb Imation uhs card.

[Magnum]

In action ? That will have to wait till the weekends mate

Yeah and I can wait..

[asrock]

Finally found some time to write up about the Garmin Nuvi 2597LMT I've got from ebay. I ordered the unit from a reputed ebay seller from US, and got it in 5 days via UPS, the total tax was Rs. 365/= They delivered it to my office without any issues. The total cost of the unit was Rs 17,400 ($124) + Rs. 365/=

The unit looks pretty good for a refurbished one, I could not even find a scratch, got all the accessories, Suction cup arm, USB cable, car charger, manuals etc.

The unit came pre-loaded with North American maps which is obviously useless here, so the first step was to install a routable Sri Lanka map. This is the part I got stuck. You need Garmin Base Camp (Free) or Garmin Map Source software on your PC to install maps on your Garmin unit. First I tried the free maps from www.slmap.org their map seems to be pretty good with lot of POI's in rural areas. However couldn’t get my device to read their map. Then I tried a map from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ and it worked great. There are a lot of POI's in colombo area as well as outstation. How ever POI search function is not that good, have to type the whole thing to get the place eg. have to type World Trade Centre instead of WTC. Apart from that searching for places is very easy, just find the place you need to go and press Go! then it will plot the shortest route, you can change and re plot the route by avoiding certain roads etc as desired. It shows nearby POIs while you go. You can Zoom in or out and drag it to a desired place while you move. The navigation lady doesn't scream the road names she just says turn right in 100m's go straight at the roundabout etc. Also there suppose to be a voice activated feature in this unit which I havent tried out yet.

Mounting was pretty easy but I don’t know the location I choose was the best, its ok at the moment. Doesnt obstruct the view much. Although I prefer the middle of the windscreen the suction cup arm isn’t long enough, as my dash board is rather long. So if I put it there, reaching it will be not easy. Suction cup and the mounting arm looks solid and works great, can rotate it to any angle I want. Charging cable is long but I couldn’t install it in a way that it’s not visible, I don’t want to damage my upholstery or the wire. Running the wire through the gap between the door and the dash is also not suitable because the gap there is very narrow and the wire could get damaged every time I close the door. It looks kinda ugly at the moment.

It automatically switch on when the charger is plugged in and the car is switched on and switches off in 10 secs when you switch off the ignition. The battery remains for about 30mins with GPS working. It gets a sat lock pretty quick in colombo. The touch screen is pretty accurate, brightness is good even at day time. This unit has some additional features such as voice commands, bluetooth connectivity, smart phone link, picture viewer etc. There is also a hidden menu in which you can tweak some features and view satellite strength etc. Overall very satisfied with the unit, looks pretty solid and not that difficult to operate. But for maps I have to test them further by going to rural locations.

Ps. slmap.org admin was very helpful and responded yesterday to my request, and sent me a newly compiled map. But I couldn’t test it out yet. Will post the results after I install it.

Edited October 5, 2015 by asrock

[Magnum]

Thats a lot of money you put down on it,

didn't you have to go to the post office to pay the tax?

[asrock]

Nope like I said UPS delivered it to my office, it was hassle free. Considering that you have to pay around 25k to get a basic unit in sri lanka I think it was worth it, Plus I got a 1 year warranty from the seller. If I want, I can extend the warranty by paying some additional charge.

Edited October 5, 2015 by asrock

[Magnum]

Maybe it works differently in Colombo, when I had to pay tax for a voltage stabilizer I had to go to the post office. I had to explain to the person over there what it is for atleast 15 minutes

[asrock]

Maybe you have to go to post office if the item is delivered by EMS. For UPS, DHL etc I think they do the clearing themselves.

Edited October 6, 2015 by asrock

[The Stig]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="asrock" data-cid="284016" data-time="1444109248"><p>

Maybe you have to go to post office if the item is delivered by EMS. For UPS, DHL etc I think they do the clearing themselves.</p></blockquote>

If it comes through a courier service they pay the tax and collect it from you. If it's normal post like usps it will be either held at the gpo and you will be given a notification. Or it would be delivered by the postmen with no taxes if you are lucky.

Edited October 6, 2015 by The Stig

[fiat fan]

Guys, I thought of changing the altos bulbs to all-LED.. is there a big advantage? Or at least a tiny advantage? Already got parking bulbs in LED. It does look nicer and white now, but I dont see a big change.. I am planning to change all interior and exterior LED.. is it worth it? And my other concern is,if I use HID or Nightbreaker for the head/low light will there be visibility issues in the rain and mist? I run in kandy mostly, so I need clear lighted roads on the hills. The FD1 has Philips HID kit which the previous owner installed. But the fogs are halogen,so never had any issue.. since the alto does not have fogs, I cant go on the same route.. pls advice

[Magnum]

Guys, I thought of changing the altos bulbs to all-LED.. is there a big advantage? Or at least a tiny advantage? Already got parking bulbs in LED. It does look nicer and white now, but I dont see a big change.. I am planning to change all interior and exterior LED.. is it worth it? And my other concern is,if I use HID or Nightbreaker for the head/low light will there be visibility issues in the rain and mist? I run in kandy mostly, so I need clear lighted roads on the hills. The FD1 has Philips HID kit which the previous owner installed. But the fogs are halogen,so never had any issue.. since the alto does not have fogs, I cant go on the same route.. pls advice

LED bulbs are fine

and a Phillips HID will cost you a fortune, I'm surprised the previous owner of your FD1 fixed and dont bother thinking about those Chinese HID kits you get in most accessory shops. Your best bed would Nightbreakers

PS: I like to see the Phillips HID kit on your FD1

Edited October 25, 2015 by Magnum

[Rumesh88]

Guys, I thought of changing the altos bulbs to all-LED.. is there a big advantage? Or at least a tiny advantage? Already got parking bulbs in LED. It does look nicer and white now, but I dont see a big change.. I am planning to change all interior and exterior LED.. is it worth it?

Personally I hate LED brake lights when they flash into my eyes particularly in a traffic at night. Apart from this minor inconvenience to others, I agree with Magnum above. LEDs use much less current compared to conventional bulbs - a feature very useful when you want to leave the parking lights, interior lights etc switched on for a long time and do not expect to find a flat battery on your return - and produce a minimum of heat. In the case of interior lights the heat produced by conventional bulbs would have a slight loading on you AC. When the current consumption is low, the switch and relay contacts will have a longer time span. Also LEDs are directional, meaning you get the light only where you want it if you use it to your advantage. LEDs are solid state and immune to vibration and are expected to have a long operational life (but remember these are Chinese products in OUR market ).

[The Stig]

Guys, I thought of changing the altos bulbs to all-LED.. is there a big advantage? Not really but you can change the color to whichever you want. Be warned though some meter clusters actually have a colour coating on the guageface itself. For an example if the coating is red even if you use white it will still look red. The disadvantage would be that light might be unevenly spread.

Also some gauges spread the light through a clear plastic reflector type setup (clear plastic pathways for light to travel), in which case front facing led's would be useless since the reflectors collect light from the side of the bulb. Some gauge clusters directly focus light onto the face itself, in which case front facing led's are fine.

As you can see there is a lot to factors in, best it to take the meter cluster apart first, identify the bulb types and quantities, check if there is a colour coating and check the light spreading setup.

Or at least a tiny advantage? Already got parking bulbs in LED. It does look nicer and white now, but I dont see a big change..

I am planning to change all interior and exterior LED.. is it worth it? I have changed my dome/festoon light to warm white 12smd led lights and in terms of total light there is a massive difference. Dont change the brake lights to white (learned this the hard way), it will look orange since the colour temperature of leds is high. Buy red led's for brake lights and yellow for turn signals.

And my other concern is,if I use HID or Nightbreaker for the head/low light will there be visibility issues in the rain and mist? I run in kandy mostly, so I need clear lighted roads on the hills. The FD1 has Philips HID kit which the previous owner installed. But the fogs are halogen,so never had any issue.. since the alto does not have fogs, I cant go on the same route.. pls advice

Original Philips HID kit will cost around $140 + but i wouldn't advice using HID's on an alto since there is no projector beam. Go with night breakers

[The Stig]

Double post

Edited October 25, 2015 by The Stig

[Magnum]

Personally I hate LED brake lights when they flash into my eyes particularly in a traffic at night. Apart from this minor inconvenience to others, I agree with Magnum above. LEDs use much less current compared to conventional bulbs - a feature very useful when you want to leave the parking lights, interior lights etc switched on for a long time and do not expect to find a flat battery on your return - and produce a minimum of heat. In the case of interior lights the heat produced by conventional bulbs would have a slight loading on you AC. When the current consumption is low, the switch and relay contacts will have a longer time span. Also LEDs are directional, meaning you get the light only where you want it if you use it to your advantage. LEDs are solid state and immune to vibration and are expected to have a long operational life (but remember these are Chinese products in OUR market ).

Conventional bulbs heat sometimes damage the cover on those interior bulbs, or they weaken the cover and when you remove the cover you will find a crack like line on it

[Rumesh88]

Conventional bulbs heat sometimes damage the cover on those interior bulbs, or they weaken the cover and when you remove the cover you will find a crack like line on it

In fact the cover of my center brake lamp in a Carina got burned and deformed due to heat from the lamp. Lamp was original and factory fitted but I don't think the Japs had designed it for the kind of brake light usage on Parliament Road (). This prompted me to replace the bulb with a set of LEDs.

[Magnum]

In fact the cover of my center brake lamp in a Carina got burned and deformed due to heat from the lamp. Lamp was original and factory fitted but I don't think the Japs had designed it for the kind of brake light usage on Parliament Road ( ). This prompted me to replace the bulb with a set of LEDs.

Definitely

bdw is this is the common brake light bulb type?

[Rumesh88]

Definitely

bdw is this is the common brake light bulb type?

Yes, these are common types. However in my case I had to find customized solutions cos they were wedge type bulbs like T10 and T20, and also in 2004 LED replacements were not as common as today. In a Corolla I used three 0.5W red LEDs to replace 21W/5W (dual filament) bulbs again customized for the same three LEDs to act as both brake and parking lights by changing the brightness.

[Magnum]

Yes, these are common types. However in my case I had to find customized solutions cos they were wedge type bulbs like T10 and T20, and also in 2004 LED replacements were not as common as today. In a Corolla I used three 0.5W red LEDs to replace 21W/5W (dual filament) bulbs again customized for the same three LEDs to act as both brake and parking lights by changing the brightness.

Normally all vehicles have a dual filament bulb for brake/park light. What did you do to the LED to work in two different brightness?

[Rumesh88]

Normally all vehicles have a dual filament bulb for brake/park light. What did you do to the LED to work in two different brightness?

It was done electronically using a DIY switched mode power supply to control the current through 3 LEDs connected in series depending on whether 12V comes from brake or the parking input. I can send the details of how it was done if you are interested. Please share your email in a PM.

[Magnum]

It was done electronically using a DIY switched mode power supply to control the current through 3 LEDs connected in series depending on whether 12V comes from brake or the parking input. I can send the details of how it was done if you are interested. Please share your email in a PM.

I might give it a try on my Bluebird, will send you a message

[ravindasenarath]

What about tools kits. Has anyone bought em from ebay? My farther bought a local tool kit from a local store ( this one )

Tried to loose alternator 12' nut with it. Once time the socket is gone. Almost whole set is useless without that socket.

[Magnum]

What about tools kits. Has anyone bought em from ebay? My farther bought a local tool kit from a local store ( this one )

Tried to loose alternator 12' nut with it. Once time the socket is gone. Almost whole set is useless without that socket.

Cant see the pic

[terrabytetango]

What about tools kits. Has anyone bought em from ebay? My farther bought a local tool kit from a local store ( this one )

Tried to loose alternator 12' nut with it. Once time the socket is gone. Almost whole set is useless without that socket.

Don't skimp on tools. Shipping on a decent tool kit will be quite prohibitive as they easily weigh over 2 kilos. Go for a brand name like Stanley or Craftsman. They will last decades with proper use and care.

[kusumsiri]

What about tools kits. Has anyone bought em from ebay? My farther bought a local tool kit from a local store ( this one )

Tried to loose alternator 12' nut with it. Once time the socket is gone. Almost whole set is useless without that socket.

Though your link is not working, I guess its from the same store I bought. My one is AIW* 40 Pcs Toolkit. Sockets are light weight and thin. Not using in any heavy work. Keeping it as a collection of tools.

Don't skimp on tools. Shipping on a decent tool kit will be quite prohibitive as they easily weigh over 2 kilos. Go for a brand name like Stanley or Craftsman. They will last decades with proper use and care.

Yes. You are correct, I lost money.

[fiat fan]

Thanx everybody.. I decided to replace all in LEDs, omly issue is the led bulbs u get here are of low quality with a big price tag..Guy I know is going to Singapore, he volunteered to bring them for me.. the issue is the current bulbs dont have sizes or names in it,how does he know its the correct one?

Magnum, dude gimme a day or two.. car is with a friend as his get-away car...