Re: Pathetic Headlights
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:15 am
Eyebrow grille looks good though!
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Honestly Ste,the only reason I've not changed the poor bulbs is,I thought I had to take the grille off!! When ofbigdaddycain wrote:Eyebrow grille looks good though!
Thanks. 55 watts in, with more lumens out, is apparently achieved by "running the filaments harder", made possible by surrounding them with an "improved" gas - but it is still the filament emitting the increased light energy. That much is confirmed in the published data on higher brilliance bulbs.bigdaddycain wrote:I thought the "super brilliance" bulbs that Halfords(?) sell are brighter because of a different gas used in the bulb? Aren't they still 55watts, so same heat output? I'm just guessing here, i don't actually know.
I'm on the new shape lights too, and i have "all weather" 55 watt bulbs fitted, they give a yellowish glow (which i actually like) But they seem brighter than standard bulbs, and don't seem to throw out any more heat than standards...
Hi BDC. I guessed heat shields in the first place as there seemingly had been some cases of lens yellowing, as well as the yellow glare reduction films mentioned earlier. If your brighter bulbs are not heating up the lens or the surrounding headlight structure, I'm sure you're right and they're just there to reduce glare. So, I'll get on with it but, on reflection (pun not intended ), I think I'll fit some Philips plus 50s, rather than the probably somewhat OTT Ring Xenon Max +90s. I do think that even the new shape Bongo headlights are a bit below par with standard bulbs. Cheers and thanks again for inputs, Davidbigdaddycain wrote:Hi Dave, yes, mine has the internal heat shields also... Though i'm not 100% certain they actually are heat shields, i think they may be to shield the direct light from the bulb from oncoming traffic? Perhaps the onus of light transmission from the lamps is relied upon by the superior reflector of the new shape lamps? If you notice the new shape lamps lens is of a much clearer design than the old type bongo lamps,perhaps there was an issue with glare with new shape lamps because of the clearer type lens? Hence (what i suspect) is a light refractor as opposed to a heat shield. Just conjecture of course....
Philip VisionPlus (+ 50% illumination) H4's have done the trick brilliantly, in both senses. Now I've got them, I can see the heat ouput spec on the packaging for the first time. The outer surface of the glass reaches a temperature in excess of 200C after 5 minutes running. Not sure how that compares with standard bulbs but a temperature anywhere near that would suggest that the gizmos in our headlights ARE heat shields. Compared with many, more streamlined, modern headlight designs, the plastic lenses in the Bongo are pretty close to those hot bulbs, so heat shielding seems a logical step if resulting problems have been encountered in earlier production. Anyway, can recommend the VisionPlus bulbs, available at http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h4-phi ... 16322.html at £18.06 - the "Special Offer" referred to means BOGOF, so it's £9.03 per H4 pair, with free delivery.Ron Miel wrote:Hi BDC. I guessed heat shields in the first place as there seemingly had been some cases of lens yellowing, as well as the yellow glare reduction films mentioned earlier. If your brighter bulbs are not heating up the lens or the surrounding headlight structure, I'm sure you're right and they're just there to reduce glare. So, I'll get on with it but, on reflection (pun not intended ), I think I'll fit some Philips plus 50s, rather than the probably somewhat OTT Ring Xenon Max +90s. I do think that even the new shape Bongo headlights are a bit below par with standard bulbs. Cheers and thanks again for inputs, Davidbigdaddycain wrote:Hi Dave, yes, mine has the internal heat shields also... Though i'm not 100% certain they actually are heat shields, i think they may be to shield the direct light from the bulb from oncoming traffic? Perhaps the onus of light transmission from the lamps is relied upon by the superior reflector of the new shape lamps? If you notice the new shape lamps lens is of a much clearer design than the old type bongo lamps,perhaps there was an issue with glare with new shape lamps because of the clearer type lens? Hence (what i suspect) is a light refractor as opposed to a heat shield. Just conjecture of course....