# How to test halogen and led headlights out of the car? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444 "2020-02-13T06:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Billuawan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Billuawan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Billuawan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/1 "2020-02-13T06:58:07Z")
Hila i have done extensive search on this forums and others and can’t to find an answer I sell carparts for a living on eBay , primarily headlights and tail lights , I see few headlight guys have their lights turned on in photos while being out of the car like On a table or something to show potential customers that it works . Anyone here can guide me how can I do this as well as I have some very expensive inventory of highend led headlights that I would like to turn them on for picture purpose to show potential customers. I had this thing in mind that I will have to buy bunch of wire harness for different makes but someone told me that the female connectors on the headlights (which plugs into harness on the body of the vehicle) have very small pins and they have small electronic connectors to text them out and that’s how online headlight sellers are doing it Anyone have any video links or anything ? All help is greatly appreciated Thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:42am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/2 "2020-02-13T10:42:06Z")
> [@Billuawan](#): > > I sell carparts for a living on eBay , primarily headlights and tail lights Yet you can’t figure out how to power them? Please give your eBay ID, so I don’t accidentally buy anything from you. I mean all it takes is some wire and a 12v power supply. ---
**Author:** ![mathewdexter136\_163193](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mathewdexter136_163193/32/19574_2.png) [@mathewdexter136\_163193](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mathewdexter136_163193)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 11:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/3 "2020-02-13T11:54:24Z")
It was funny. 😄 ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 2:37pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/4 "2020-02-13T14:37:26Z")
And another reason to not buy vehicle parts from EBAY . ---
**Author:** ![Billuawan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Billuawan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Billuawan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/6 "2020-02-13T21:10:03Z")
Yes, yes I don’t know how to power on headlights , hence the question . We buy thousands of headlights from Bodyshop’s for newer cars and sold thousands and not one came back for being defective so yes you can sit here and be sarcastic thanks for your comment ! ---
**Author:** ![Billuawan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Billuawan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Billuawan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/7 "2020-02-13T21:10:35Z")
You must not be smart ! ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/8 "2020-02-13T21:25:12Z")
> [@Billuawan](#): > > You must not be smart ! I’ve personally had far fewer problems ordering parts from Rock Auto than I have from Ebay ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/9 "2020-02-13T21:46:49Z")
You will need access to the wiring diagrams to find which pins in the connector to power up, some headlamps have 8 to 12 pins in the connectors. The LED circuits need to be powered in the correct polarity and with HID you need to know which pins power up the ballast. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/10 "2020-02-13T22:04:35Z")
> [@Billuawan](#): > > You must not be smart ! I am not the one asking how to supply power to a lamp . ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/11 "2020-02-13T22:18:51Z")
All you need is 12 volts? How would someone power up this headlamp? You need to know which pins are for lights and which are for motors. ![GS350 Headlamp](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/5/f/5fdff429f957a588836f7ab2855eae7d0c4e3ea8.jpeg) ![GS350 Headlamp connector](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/9/1/9187bcc402ae12826de9c394ba7cf2c430535089.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2020, 10:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/12 "2020-02-13T22:30:16Z")
Yeah, you do indeed need to know that. Unless OP thinks we are going to make him an exhaustive manual of all possible headlight connectors and their pinouts, then OP is going to have to look up those pinouts himself when he tests lights. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/13 "2020-02-14T02:57:14Z")
As discussed above the method depends on which particular headlight design you want to power up. My vehicles use simple 12 volt headlights using the common male spade connectors. I’ve powered them up on the bench for test purposes using a a 12 volts power supply and a diy’er wire harness which terminates in female spade connectors on one end, and the “O” version of spade connectors on the power supply end. I constructed a 12 volt power supply using a discarded PC. My version of headlights have both the low beam and high beam filament in the same unit, so the only thing I have to figure out is which 2 pins are for each filament. Headlights make good test loads for testing power supplies too. ---
**Author:** ![PhantomPatriot](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/phantompatriot/32/20713_2.png) [@PhantomPatriot](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PhantomPatriot)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/14 "2020-02-14T17:06:11Z")
You will require a bench power supply, and an appropriate connector that can be wired up to the power supply for the bulb to plug into. You will be required to know the operating voltage of the bulb, as well as other specifications to ensure safety. I cannot provide specifics, but that’s a decent starting point. Folks, be nice… and remember that everybody starts somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/15 "2020-02-14T20:00:00Z")
An ohm meter and a generous return policy are your friends. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/16 "2020-02-14T20:16:45Z")
It seems that most people think the OP is selling light bulbs, they are selling headlamps. The isn’t access to a “bulb” to power up in a LED headlight, there is a circuit board inside the housing. To test the headlight the OP needs to identify the pins in the headlamp connector. A subscription to Mitchel Pro Demand or Alldata would help to identify the connector pins. ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 10:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/17 "2020-02-15T10:04:29Z")
Well he did mention turning the lights on. You can’t show an actuator or motor moving in an eBay still picture. And if he can’t figure out how to unplug the bulb (like as if to replace it) and hook 12v. to it I definitely would not buy anything from him. > [@Billuawan](#): > > , I see few headlight guys have their lights turned on in photos while being out of the car like On a table or something to show potential customers that it works . > [@Billuawan](#): > > I have some very expensive inventory of highend led headlights that I would like to turn them on for picture purpose to show potential customers. ---
**Author:** ![Nevada\_545](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/nevada_545/32/41232_2.png) [@Nevada\_545](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Nevada_545)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/18 "2020-02-15T21:27:43Z")
> [@PvtPublic](#): > > And if he can’t figure out how to unplug the bulb (like as if to replace it) and hook 12v. to it I definitely would not buy anything from him. If he were to disassemble the headlight he would not find a “bulb” inside, it has a light emitting diode module. This is a brake light circuit board from an old Lexus, half of the LEDs have failed; ![20200215_131440](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/4/1/4148c180b5753f51937f44a3d6cc8d7dc440eea8.jpeg) ![20200215_131429](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/2/4/2477bf4e8a4004f2f685c885a5f72df5ce9ddaf6.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/19 "2020-02-16T05:26:17Z")
I say cut the OP a bit of slack. Things are not as simple as before with a hot wire there and a ground there. There are 10 wires involved in my Lincoln just to power the radio antenna up and down. ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/20 "2020-02-18T03:27:20Z")
> [@Nevada\_545](#): > > This is a brake light circuit board from an old Lexus, half of the LEDs have failed were they not marketed as “never need to be replaced” ? I have one LED failed in brake light of the rear light of 15-years old Prius and even thought about opening it up and fixing it somehow… but after checking YouTube, amount of effort involved is way above what I expected, so I will wait for now ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444/21 "2020-02-18T04:28:08Z")
The traffic lights in the city near where I live have all been replaced over the past 10 or 15 years with LED lamps. Judging from the number of burned out LEDs in those lights I doubt that the word forever applies. Some of them have about half of the LEDs burned out already. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-to-test-halogen-and-led-headlights-out-of-the-car/158444.md?page=2)