We’ve been receiving a fair bit of questions on Quora related to lighting on vehicles, and visibility on security cameras. We’d like to shed some light (sorry for the pun, we just had to) on some of them that keep cropping up within our feed, and hopefully, we answer some of the questions you’ve been meaning to ask as well.
Here are some of the best questions we’ve received over the weeks, and of course, the answers to these questions!
In Australia, you can only use fog lights in intense weather conditions, so that means heavy rainfall, fog, mist, or (rarely, if we may add), heavy snowfall that can prevent visibility.
If you’re using them for anything else, you’re doing it wrong, and you’d probably be fined anywhere between 100–250 AUD, plus getting two demerit points that stay on your driving record.
Never should you ever turn them unless the weather is terrible and is obviously restricting visibility? They’re only used to make sure that you’re visible in an otherwise zero-visibility type of situation.
Why the harsh treatment for offenders? Simply because they’re accidents waiting to happen. A fog light emits light in a wide beam designed to “cut” through thick fog or inclement weather conditions.
Without the factor of weather, it hits other drivers right in their eyes and tends to dazzle them, causing them to misjudge distance or positioning. Without exaggerating, it could be a potentially fatal situation.
So instead of using your fog lights, maybe take a look at alternative LED lighting solutions if you feel that your headlights aren’t quite cutting it, or use your low beams instead.
Do check out our LED driving lights today at Elinz if you’re looking for a replacement, or if you’re looking to augment your lighting on your vehicle today.
You can hardwire the dash cam directly to your car’s panels. Here are the things you’ll need:
Your car’s manual to check where you can connect the dashcam
A hardwiring kit (most of our dash cams here at Elinz come packed with one)
Pliers
Here’s a detailed guide from us here at Elinz (with pictures) on how you can hardwire a dashcam with a step by step process: How To Hardwire Your Dash Cam, Reverse Camera | Elinz
In a nutshell, here’s how you can do it:
You should be all set after that! Make sure to test it out before driving with it to make sure that it’s working.
If you’re looking for excellent dash cams, do visit us today at Elinz.
In AU, LED light strips and bars are considered only as additional headlights and aren’t used as regular headlights. In fact, they’re actually considered as additional high beam headlights.
When we say additional high beam headlights, they can’t be used to replace the main headlights installed in the regular position in your car’s bumper. If you don’t have working headlights but you have a working LED light bar, you’re still going to have a problem with the law if you get seen by a police officer.
If you are planning on getting LED light bars to replace your headlights, maybe consider getting some H4 LED headlight kits as well if you’re having problems with your current headlights (or if you feel like they’re not up to par).
If you’re in AU, you can refer to this document for regulations when it comes to vehicular lighting: Fog lights & additional headlights (driving lights). Note that there are no LED light strips that can replace car headlights; make sure that yours are well maintained, and if you have ones that are stock that isn’t just quite cutting it, don’t be afraid to augment or replace them - visibility means safety out there on the roads after all.
There’s no need to worry - they’re not ghosts nor are they embers or sparks from electricity; they’re simply dust particles that would otherwise be unseen in regular lighting.
The reason why they’re flashing is probably because of the IR LEDs on your security camera.
Infrared light “blows” up anything in the vicinity for the security camera’s lens. This allows it to see even in low light conditions. Try getting in front of the security camera while in relative darkness, and you’ll notice that your skin or anything fairly bright in color that you wear will be illuminated to extreme contrast.
When these bright lights disappear, they’re simply moving out of the way of the IR LED’s direct range of exposure, which is why they appear as if they’ve vanished.
Be more worried if your security camera isn’t picking up on this; this means that it might not have effective IR LEDs, or it might need a tune-up - or worse - a replacement (which is highly unlikely, but is a slim possibility).
They are actually infrared (IR) LEDs. Human eyes are wildly different from a security camera’s lens, and they see things differently.
Your eyes are only able to see the red ring of lights surrounding the security camera, but the security camera behind the IR LEDs see something else; the area is illuminated by the IR LEDs, and it’s able to see in black & white. So while there’s no colour, it's still able to see what happens in rooms that are in near-complete darkness.
Try turning on a security camera with IR LEDs, and view the feed from its output monitor; you’ll see that it has a black and white image of the room. Anything reflective in the area will appear like a spark or an orb, which shows how powerful most IR LEDs are.
This makes modern security cameras a boon for anyone looking to secure their homes even at night time, especially since plenty of crimes happen under the cover of darkness and usually occur in the dead of night.
If you’re in Australia and you’re looking for a reliable security camera that’s able to see in the dark with IR LEDs, do visit us today at Elinz.
That's it for today - if you'd like to ask a question, do swing by our Quora feed and send us one! If you have a more urgent concern regarding your purchases, don't hesitate to call us, chat with us or send us an email at sales@elinz.com.au.
