Candles for head lights - What's a good bulb replacement?

[mikeonb4c]

Just to reiterate, fitting 100W spots (if you have an FDB to fit them on) and wiring them to main beam has been fantastic. Simple technology, simple to set up the beams where you want them to point and a superb result. I never get any complaints from oncoming motorists, just have to make sure I dip them in good time (as you should anyway). If on the other hand they don't dip, and provided it doesn't pose a safety risk.............

Mister Munkey will 2nd that won't you MM

[mister munkey]

By a wide margin, the 100w spots are the best single upgrade I've spent my hard earned spondoolicks on.

[mikeonb4c]

By a wide margin, the 100w spots are the best single upgrade I've spent my hard earned spondoolicks on.

Absolutely - night time driving now is a pleasure. I can't wait for a nice dark country road - they hold no fear for me now

[Rob101]

Depends where / when you drive tho - I estimate 95% of our night time bongoing is on dipped headlights

[mister munkey]

Would some carefully aimed front fogs help in badly lit Urbania?

[mikeonb4c]

Depends where / when you drive tho - I estimate 95% of our night time bongoing is on dipped headlights

Its a good point. When I dip mine, boy do I miss the loss of light. On the other hand I find that generally I'm OK with standard lighting in situations where lights must be dipped. But yes MM I do wonder if some other lights, set up to work with dipped, could be worth considering. The foglight position seems low though, making alignment tricky, plus there is some legal thing (probably for that reason) about them being off the road by X inches, so reckon I'd still go for a 2nd set mounted on the FDBs, if I could be *rsed, which I can't

[hembramacho]

Has anyone used 100W H4 bulbs at all? Does this melt anything crucial??

Andrew

[Doone]

I'm not sure, but it has been suggested that they might cause problems with the headlights, see THIS LINK

[helen&tony]

Hi
These are reputed to help in poor visibility
http://www.carlislefinch.com/marine/xenon3.htm
Excellent control from within cab, but a teeny bit illegal...just slip a paper bag over when not in use
Also very good for drivers who come up behind and don't dip their headlights
I WANT ONE
Cheers
Helen

[mikexgough]

These are not cheap at all but if you don't want landing lights and Tesla H4's are just not enough.............. http://www.passionauto.co.uk/products/l ... -bulbs.php

but only 60/55w rated but with output 110/100w....... and from Japan...

[mikeonb4c]

Incidentally - some food for thought. On the (common) basis that Bongo lights are often not bright enough because the plastic lens covers have become a litle opaque with age, it may be important to consider that putting a powerful bulb hehind them may create more light, but the (slightly - it doesn't take much) clouded lens covers will cause an amount of it to diffuse/scatter. That portion will not help light your way, but will cause glare for oncoming drivers. Just like a torch beam - you want a powerful and well directed beam that has no impact on someone standing to one side of it provided the air is clear. But shine it in thick fog and you'll experience much more light scatter when standing to one side of it. I guess this doesn't matter quite so much if only the main beam element is v. powerful, but if the dipped one also is......

Just to compound things, I imagine some of that light scatter will bounce back into the housing, contributing to any heating. I don't know how much, or if it will make a crucial difference, but its a factor to consider.

[bigdaddycain]

I had a Xantia a while back - both main and dip (seperate) bulbs are in the same headlight housing. They have a big problem in that the dip cut off is quite low, so if you adjust the lamp up, the main beam shines at trees, not the road.

I fitted a set of Phillips high intensity 55W bulbs, and to my surprise they really improved things. Just done a quick google, and found these http://gbdriver.co.uk/index.php?main_pa ... 1f727c9535. can't be sure they are the same thing, but looks like it. Pricey though.

As for the HID conversions, there has been a lot of discussion on here previously about them. I have a set in a Toyta hilux, and I can confirm that they are brighter. Much brighter. However, there are issues.

1. Sone HID conversions are dip beam only, so you end up with no main beam. Obviously not 100% legal.
2. The construction & use regs for HID bulbs stated that the lamps must be self levelling if fitted with HID bulbs, and they must have a lens cleaning system (to prevent / reduce glare from the higher intensity lamp). All the manufacturer's standard fit HIDs are compliant with this. Bongos, obviously are not (neither are Hiluxes!) - not legal, but a fine point which may or may not be known by a policeman doing a roadside check.
3. Biggest issue really. Fillament bulbs have a very small emitter (the fillament), about 5-8mm long. So, the reflectors and lenses are designed to work with this light source which is almost a single point of light. The HID bulbs have very long emitters, about 25-35mm long. There is no way that the lamps will perform correctly with these if they are designed for a filament bulb. in theory, you will have a crap beam pattern, and lots of wasted light going where you don't need it and not enough light on the road. In theory, the dip beam cut-off should fail an MOT.

However, in practice the Hilux does have a lot more light 'down the road' with the HID bulbs. I have driven with it following me, and the dip beam cut-off is fine.

I guess it's a case of paying your money, taking your chances that a) they will be better, and b) you won't get pulled over by a smart-arse copper who's been reading up about the legality of retro-fitting HIDs to older cars. As this becomes popular, I imagine that there will be a number of such officers of the law.

As for my Bongo - the lighting performance out the front seems OK (no idea what bulbs are fitted, still whatever came from Japan). But I might try HIDs anyway one day when I've run out of other mods to do.

BTW, the ballast is just a wee circuit board in a waterproof box that takes the 12v feed from the car wiring and amplifies it to a very high voltage to create the arc required to light the HID. Once the arc is struck, the ballast controls the voltage to the bulb, typically 85 or 42 volts, a.c.

That's a very good post Dave...Most informative!

[mikeonb4c]

2nd BDCs comments there Dave - an excellent post and I should have said so sooner

V. interesting too that powerful lamps, self cleaning, and glare get mentioned in your post. Its that kind of thing that concerns me a little about fitting powerful bulbs to opaqued Bongo plastic lens covers

[dave_aber]

One thing I need to establish (which I will do when I get home by sticking my hand over a hilux headlamp) is how much heat is generated by the HID kit. The Hilux has glass lenses and metal reflectors (for now - plastic non-rusty ones are available), so I have not worried about heat before with it.

If there is a lot of heat, there is also the possibility that rather than melting the lens, it will just accelerate the yellowing process - effectively burning the plastic I guess.

Don't know if the self-levelling issue would ever be a viable upgrade, but lamp washers should be easy enough to fit to the panel below the lamps on either pre or post facelift models. Might do that anyway, just to improve winter night vision by washing the salt off. No point in trying to push more light through a dirty lens really.....