The different types of off-road LED light ratings
In the market for performance auxiliary off-road LED lighting? If so, you should be aware that there are many criteria that you should take into consideration before investing your hard earned money into a set of high quality off-road LED lighting systems.
Different types of LED Light Ratings- Standards and Testing Governing Bodies Rating Systems-
E- Mark, SAE, ROHS, CE, ISO 9001 and other manufacturer rating systems and what they mean.
- DOT Approved- This rating when applied to off-road LED lighting systems deal specifically with if a product has been approved by the D.O.T. (Department of Transportation)
- ROHS- This rating deals with the rules and regulations for management of hazardous materials contained within a product.
- CE- General European compliance standard ratings
- E-MARK- European Union rating for automobiles and automotive parts and accessories.
- ISO9001- Quality standards certification used to protect consumers, protecting them from purchasing sub-standard products. The ISO9001 rating is a set of rules and regulations that manufacturers must abide by, and meet or exceed, and pass official regulatory certification before public sale of products. ISO9001 on Wikipedia
- SAE- “SAE International, initially established as the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a U.S. based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries.” Source- SAE International on Wikipedia
- IP ratings-IP67, IP68, and IP69k-These are typical IP ratings found on LED light bars: These ratings pertain to the sealing capabilities (ingress) of a product that has internal electrical components. In this case, the rating is used to measure the effectiveness of how well the off road led light bar keeps out water, sand, dust, moisture/condensation, salt, extreme temperatures, abrupt pressure change, etc.
- Military spec compliance- MIL STD 810 rating system deals with if a product can stand up to the US Military’s extreme testing processes and product standards. This product rating system refers to how well a product can withstand overall general abuse in extreme conditions. Some of the criteria that each product must surpass before achieving the prestigious MIL STD 810 rating are as follows- how well the product is sealed, withstanding of low and high pressure altitude; exposure to extreme temperatures and sudden drastic changes in temperature; rain (torrential, windblown, freezing), humidity and condensation, fungus, rust testing, sand and dust exposure, gunfire and explosive environments; acceleration, shock and transport shock, and other random vibrations. US Military approves our product for official military use. Our off-road LED lights meet or exceed the US MIL 810 STD ratings as well as the Chinese Military…
- Lifetime Expectancy/ Number of Hours- There is not a rating system for the lifetime of an off road LED light bar. Just remember, when you are going to buy an off-road LED light bar, to keep an eye out for the amount of hour life the product is expected to operate within. FYI- Most high performance off road LED light bars will operate for 50,000+ hours or equivalent to 5 consecutive years of operation time. Use this information, as well as the other information provided in this article, and in culmination with the verbiage of the warranty and the time frame of the warranty offered by the manufacturer and/or retailer.
To close-If you are a smart and savvy shopper that loves to get the best possible deal on whatever you buy, then you need to pay attention to these specific ratings on every and any off-road led lighting system you plan on purchasing. Paying strict attention to the IP or ingress ratings, if the product in fact has the Military spec rating, if the product is DOT approved (where applicable), the life expectancy of the light, if the off-road light is built with top of the line, Grade A CREE or OSRAM LED’s, and if the light comes with a decent warranty.
Make sure you check out our other articles in our series about the history of automotive, auxiliary, and off-road lights-
The History of Automobile and Off-road Lights– This is the first article of the series of 10. In this article we cover the brief history and timetable outline of automobile lighting and off-road lighting, taking it way back to the late 1800’s; covering from oil and acetylene lights all the way to the all new OLED and laser lights.
The Different Types of Off road Lights – This is the second article in our series of ten. In this article we cover the different types of off-road lighting systems currently available for purchase on the open market.
Off-road Light Beam Patterns – This is the 3rd article in our series on automotive and off-road lights that deals with explaining the different types of light beam patterns used within the different types of off-road LED lighting systems.
– The 4th article in our article series that deals with color temperatures of LED’s in automotive, auxiliary, and off-road lighting systems.Color temperatures of off-road LED lighting systems explained
Off-road LED light Components is the 5th article in our series that touches upon all of the components of an off-road LED light bar.
The 6th article we published in our series about automotive and off road LED lighting that explains the Differences with 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D, 6D, 7D LED Light Bars
The 7th Article on the different types of automotive, auxiliary, and offroad LED light rating systems-(what YOU just completed reading) 🙂
Stay tuned for the next(8th) article in our series on automotive and off-road light systems-> Off-road LED Light Mounting Kits and Accessories
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