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The "New JWSpeaker Evo 2's" - Installed

135K views 1K replies 161 participants last post by  soonerfan85 
#1 ·
As the title says, they arrived and are now in my Rig. It is daytime but my initial impressions are;

- They are way "Darker" looking than my 8700's.
- The side LED's that are staggered light up different for low than high, I don't remember the 8700's doing that. ALL Three(3) "D" LEDs are on along with the High beam and the outboard single shuts off for Low beam leaving the double "D" LEDs on along with the low beam.
- They take a FULL Two(2) seconds to transition from High beam to Low beam - I see that as a problem. The 8700's had a slight delay but this is going to be an issue for the guy that surprises you over a hilltop. I am tempted to pull them (PIA) and swap the standard harness that came with them in for the JWS anti-flicker harness.
- I had to re-aim them from the 8700's, not sure why. Maybe something shifted in the instsll.
- The beam pattern is VERY different just from my preliminary tests in my garage. Obviously tonight will yield more impression BUT the Highs project what appears to be Two(2) toaster size blocks of light separately spaced down what will be the "Beam Ally". That will be interesting to see later.
- Same quality build, feel, weight, etc. as the 8700's.

I am going to call JWS now about this delay issue - I will report back on what they say.
- Left a message with the lady that was helpful when I had questions with my 8700's
Seriously: Anyone contemplating these HOLD your position until this gets resolved - If this is "Normal" these lights will not work IMO in our Jeeps. I just went and tried it with the Jeep on and off, timing it, it is over two(2) seconds which is entirely too long at speed with lights this bright. My 8700's had a little delay but nothing like this and if memory serves, it was in the other direction (delayed low to high) irritating but not a safety issue.


Rubi
 
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#3 ·
I will. Right now the Big issue has me trying to get hold of a JWS Engineer late on a Friday afternoon before it'll be Monday to hear from anyone.
I'm "hoping" he says, "Don't use the PWM harness, use the harness that came with the lights".
Evo 1 didn't come with a harness but Evo 2 does - must be a reason.

As I mentioned, IF this delay is "Normal" these are going back in a NY minute. It's rediculous.
 
#10 ·
Its a 2.5 second delay and it's from High to Low.. You are on a country road and you just crest a hill. You really want me coming at you with these things on High for 2.5 seconds (best case scenario assuming I am immediate on the switch) at 55-60 miles an hour?
That's the Big concern. Blinding someone on a two lane.
 
#8 ·
That's why I wanted to post this up asap. Everybody HOLD fast (unless you don't want to) until this gets resolved.

While I was typing the phone rang. Nice lady, she was helpful last time. I just briefed her on the issue and basically said, "You have a major problem her and it is a safety issue". 2.5 seconds High to Low beam transition on a set of lights this bright - at 70 mph..... you might as well not bother even dimming your lights, the oncoming car will be by you by the time these things dim to low.
My rudimentary understanding of electricity - this is a capacitance problem.
hopefully, there is an easy answer like my lights are FUBAR or its the harness.
 
#9 ·
Assuming that delay problem is fixable with relay, I'm heavily leaning towards these Gen 2's. I think they look better, but I don't have existing Gen 1's to compare performance / other features to. What do you mean "darker"? You referring to the black background in the housing? Please post pics when you can. Thanks for the info.
 
#11 ·
THANK YOU for posting this. My order of 4 of these awaits your findings.

Yeah here in GA there are quite a few dark, 1.75ish lane roads and the last thing you want is to send over 2,000 lumens the other way. I look forward to the updates here.
 
#12 ·
I WILL follow up on this because I get a lot out of this Forum and paying it back is a responsibility.

NO call back from JWS. I tore the whole GD jeep apart again and pulled the JWS genuine PWM adapters and reinstalled the lights with the non-PWM adapter that was included with my lights.

Delay is cut by 2/3's barely noticeable delay. THey Flicker like a MF though.
It's the JWS PWM adapter and THESE Lights - How the Hell does an Engineering Company QC department or testing not catch something like this?????
This is rediculous, I will be on the phone to JWS Monday (like I have time for this B.S.) and I will get some answers.
Unbelieveable.

I imagine they are going to have to tweak capacitance in the internals of the PWM adapter. The capacitance must be being used to slow things down thus eliminating the flicker BUT it slows everything down.
A delay is fine - 2.5 seconds is not.

Just went for drive to "test" my belief that the delay is too long, at 50 mph (not even 65) it is absolutely NOT possible to drive with these.
Really really not very happy with JWS right now.
 
#13 ·
I WILL follow up on this because I get a lot out of this Forum and paying it back is a responsibility.

NO call back from JWS. I tore the whole GD jeep apart again and pulled the JWS genuine PWM adapters and reinstalled the lights with the non-PWM adapter that was included with my lights.

Delay is cut by 2/3's barely noticeable delay. THey Flicker like a MF though.
It's the JWS PWM adapter and THESE Lights - How the Hell does an Engineering Company QC department or testing not catch something like this?????
This is rediculous, I will be on the phone to JWS Monday (like I have time for this B.S.) and I will get some answers.
Unbelieveable.

I imagine they are going to have to teweak capacitance in the internals of the PWM adapter. The capacitance must be being used to slow things down thus eliminating the flicker BUT it slows everything down.
A delay is fine - 2.5 seconds is not.
The RC of the capacitor works on both rise and fall.

One of the relay harnesses would work best.
I really hope you get some good news. I have been thinking about getting some truck lights, but these new gen seem to have the best light output and pattern. I would put out the money if they really work that well.
 
#15 ·
Oh boy, I really hope you just have a bad PWM cable or something simple like that...
 
#17 ·
I just installed my Evo 2's prior to seeing this thread. I can confirm the same delay when switching from high to low. I'm using the Trucklite anti-flicker harness however.
Also, the yellow arc is still there

The delay is similar on the Trucklite's when switching from high to low.
 
#20 ·
Putting aside my pissed off state of mind I am capable of objective reasoning, I like both the low and high beam patterns better, I like the physical appearance of the lights better. I like everything about them better EXCEPT for this GD delay - it is a potential deal breaker.
Just went out to dinner and it was what was on my mind while driving "How fast can I anticipate a car coming so I can get a headstart on dimming my GD lights" that is rediculous.
My son (22 years old, Penn State Grad) was with me, "Dad, I know you're pissed but..... they are better" I trust his judgement too.
He agrees, the delay is not acceptable.

I dunno.
 
#21 ·
How often do you guys use your brights? I have been driving for about 26 years and I have probably only used my brights 4 or 5 times and it was mostly to see how they function in different vehicles. I just always thought turning them on and off constantly wasn't worth the hassle. Do you guys all live in Montana or something? :hide:
 
#22 ·
How often do you guys use your brights? I have been driving for about 26 years and I have probably only used my brights 4 or 5 times and it was mostly to see how they function in different vehicles. I just always thought turning them on and off constantly wasn't worth the hassle. Do you guys all live in Montana or something? :hide:
I'm enough of an asshole to ask - is this a serious F'ing post ? How often do I use my High Beams? Ummm let me see, 5 times before I hit the end of my access road to my property depneding on if there are any other humans traveling in the other direction so that is.... 825,000 times in 26 years. What did/does this have to do with an obvious engineering flaw in design?
Maybe I'm just a little crabby and need to go take a nap after finding out my second set of $800 lights weren't "quite ready" for prime time.
 
#27 ·
Further away and to the sides is where you'll find the most threats for night driving. The car ahead you'll generally see from their headlights or taillights. It's the deer, kid, runner, etc that comes from the side that gets you. That's why you have brights. I wouldn't get in a car with someone if I knew they thought that brights had no purpose.
 
#28 ·
Ok, I'll bite. I understand that if you live in the country and the deer are running they could be used to help watch for the sparkling eyes. I am simply stating that I haven't used them much. I also remember as a kid that I saw people turning their brights off when you approach all the time. I rarely see that happen anymore which based on observation tells me less people use them than they used to in years past. Will you ride with me now?
 
#30 ·
Let's call it a night guys. lol
 
#31 ·
There's no excuse for putting out such an expensive product that doesn't perform effectively in areas that are important to many consumers and may affect safety in the road.

But I want to back Wallyjj here that there are some of us who rarely use their brights and may not care as much about that aspect (the delay) of the lights performance nor understand it's real threat. Living in the city I use my brights literally a couple times a year on road trips but rarely ever in daily life. In fact, using my brights more often than that would be detrimental in my usual driving environment. That doesn't diminish the importance of them operating effectively when occasionally needed for safety reasons by some, but does affect how much value I place on certain aspects of their performance.

Different strokes for different folks! I don't think Wallyjj should be attacked for his question.
 
#32 ·
I didn't intend to come across as aggressive. It's just hard for me to put myself in that mindset, as around here brights are a necessity in certain areas. My rear had been saved a number of times because I could see that deer, car, or object. I also use it frequently on my motorcycle to say "I'm here" to other drivers.
 
#33 ·
Gotta love it when a company throws its product out there and then uses the consumer for its field testing. For $800 those things should be smart enough to dim themselves.

So just out of curiosity if I may ask, does the flickering only occur when the engine is running? Also, is the delay still there when the engine is off?
 
#35 · (Edited)
Not happy to hear about the delay and flicker. Mine will be here Wednesday and may go back immediately if this is a universal issue with the Evo2 lights and JKs.

I feel sorry for people who live in areas where brights are not necessary. They probably can't see the Milky Way either. My brights are on for at least 95% of the 26-mile drive home at night.

I've forwarded this thread to Northridge.

For the 2 who received these lights, from where were they shipped? I ordered from Northridge 4x4 and the lights were shipped from Performance Products in Kentucky. Maybe it's just a bad batch?
 
#38 ·
Not happy to hear about the delay and flicker. Mine will be here Wednesday and may go back immediately if this is a universal issue with the Evo2 lights and JKs. I feel sorry for people who live in areas where brights are not necessary. They probably can't see the Milky Way either. My brights are on for at least 95% of the 26-mile drive home at night. I've forwarded this thread to Northridge.
Haha! I've only read about those things called stars in books and seen them glow in the dark on my ceiling!

But gosh, you country folk don't know what your missing with the smog, traffic and incessant honking. I mean who would trade that just to be able to use their brights!

Jk jk of course... I love getting out of the city when I can :)
 
#36 ·
I live on the edge of town (semi suburbia), but I am in town and if I turn North out of my house I will almost never use high beams... If I turn South, in 1 mile they are on and mandatory. I agree, people living in metro areas likely won't use their high beams too much.

But for me the issue is that no matter where I live, I require the product to perform as expected and it is not acceptable to have that high to low delay. It is extremely dangerous! My awareness is heightened when I am driving with high beams on, both for animals AND for oncoming drivers. I challenge myself to get my high beams off before the oncoming driver does. I do this out of courtesy for others on the road with me... KARMA!
 
#37 ·
Subbed, thanks OP for trying to deal with this so others won't. You definitely won't hear from them until some time next week, and even then, I doubt they'll be able to fix it that quickly unfortunately. I really hope they don't come back with a 'Use the included harness as intended and deal with the flicker'
 
#39 ·
FWIW, I just sent a message to JW Speaker telling them I want to buy a set of these soon, but only if they fix this issue.
 
#40 · (Edited)
I also sent a message to JW Speaker...perhaps they will respond if they get flooded.

It's been a while since I installed my V1's so I don't remember the connector configuration and I'm not an electrical engineer...but, is it possible to use both harnesses at the same time without blowing up the Jeep? Has anyone tried that? I believe I have the Trucklite anti-flicker harnesses on mine. If one harness eliminates the flicker, and the other lessens the delay, maybe they can work together? Just a thought...perhaps a stupid one.
 
#41 ·
I thought of using both as well, but I'm sure the included harness is just connectors and plain wires (no electronics) to make the connection easier.

What they need to do is make an anti-flicker / anti-delay harness and include it with the $800 purchase so you have a product that works like it should for the price you pay, right out of the box.
 
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