After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...b-OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-NEW-pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

Phil Addison wrote:

After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...b-OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-NEW-pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the
retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling
ones ...

Phil Addison wrote:

Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

AKA Xenons.

Work well on cars that have poor headlight design. Had them on my Jag
S-Type as the non-xenon originals are almost invisible. But, without the
correct focussing lens they have a nasty scatter pattern for oncoming
vehicles.

However, they're about to crack down on them in a revision of MoT rules
so these kits are likely all about to become unpassable.

Scott

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the
retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling
ones ...


Quite a few standard newish cars manage this quite well too.

--
*A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Just replacing halogen lamps with new ones will often give quite an
improvement as they seem to age. The high efficiency ones can be better
too - but likely have a shorter life.

HID conversion kits can work very well and not dazzle - but this depends
on your reflector design. The projector type that use a separate flag for
cut-off usually work well. Those where it is part of bulb, usually not.

--
*Succeed, in spite of management *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:43:50 +0000, Phil Addison
wrote:

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

Xenon bulbs are simply halogens with improved light output.
HID lamps are a different pot of pourri altogether and conversion kits
are often mis-matched to the existing headlamp unit, leading to bad
focus, lots of scattering and dazzling of other drivers.
If you really want HIDs, see if your car had an HID option and go
looking in the breakers or fit a complete aftermarket unit, not just
the bulbs and control gear.

On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:51:59 +0000, Scott M wrote:

Also there is a "HID Kit"

AKA Xenons.

Careful there is room for confusion here.

HID is High Intensity Discharge, an arc lamp, the gas inside may
contain Xenon.

There are also tungsten filament halogen lamps, the gas inside may
contain Xenon.

HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.


--
Cheers
Dave.

On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:49:47 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:
I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the
retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling
ones ...

That or there should be a ban on fat Essex chicks riding in the back seat.

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:07:30 +0000, Jules Richardson wrote:

On Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:49:47 +0000, Andy Burns wrote:
I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the
retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling
ones ...

That or there should be a ban on fat Essex chicks riding in the back
seat.

LOL! Even if 'fat Essex chick' is probably tautology..



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

On Jan 24, 10:49*pm, Andy Burns wrote:
Phil Addison wrote:
After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...V-55W-Bulb-OSU...
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-90-12v-55w-bu.....
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-HID-Conversio...
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the
retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling
ones ...

AIUI the regs require them to have a self-leveling beam pattern cut-
off, self-cleaning (wash/wipe or possibly just wash), and self-
extinguishing in a collision.

Roll-on getting the illegal retrofits off the road.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.

I have had some of the high output bulbs, and they certainly
appeared significantly brighter to me.

I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...
Phil Addison wrote:

After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...b-OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-NEW-pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that they
were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the retrofit
"boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling ones ...


Be careful here.. xenon bulbs are just tungsten halogen bulbs sold at high
prices to mugs that don't know the difference between HIDs and tungsten
bulbs.

Then there are the blue coloured ones that are sold at high prices to the
mugs that want others to think they are HIDs.

Tungsten bulbs come in different types including, normal, long life, high
output and silly blue.
50% more output doesn't double the range you can see. In reality it makes
no difference to dipped beam as the output isn't the limiting factor.

"dennis@home" wrote in message
eb.com...


"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...
Phil Addison wrote:

After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...b-OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-NEW-pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that they
were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the retrofit
"boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling ones ...


Be careful here.. xenon bulbs are just tungsten halogen bulbs sold at high
prices to mugs that don't know the difference between HIDs and tungsten
bulbs.

Then there are the blue coloured ones that are sold at high prices to the
mugs that want others to think they are HIDs.

Tungsten bulbs come in different types including, normal, long life, high
output and silly blue.
50% more output doesn't double the range you can see. In reality it makes
no difference to dipped beam as the output isn't the limiting factor.

Fantastic Dennis, fantastic. What is the limiting factor?

On Jan 25, 8:11*am, Doctor Drivel
wrote:
"dennis@home" wrote in message

eb.com...







"Andy Burns" wrote in message
news:ZMmdnb72pNMVqILSnZ2dnUVZ8oGdnZ2d@brightview. co.uk...
Phil Addison wrote:

After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...V-55W-Bulb-OSU....
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-90-12v-55w-bu.....
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-HID-Conversio....
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that they
were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly the retrofit
"boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the dazzling ones ...

Be careful here.. xenon bulbs are just tungsten halogen bulbs sold at high
prices to mugs that don't know the difference between HIDs and tungsten
bulbs.

Then there are the blue coloured ones that are sold at high prices to the
mugs that want others to think they are HIDs.

Tungsten bulbs come in different types including, normal, long life, high
output and silly blue.
50% more output doesn't double the range you can see. *In reality it makes
no difference to dipped beam as the output isn't the limiting factor.

Fantastic Dennis, fantastic. What is the limiting factor?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

He is exactlyr ight. The limiting factor is where they have to point.

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:54:13 +0000, Chris J Dixon wrote:

I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output.

I dhould imagine not easy to check for the MOT. Different reflectors
and beam patterns would make things to variable.

It also seems odd that, when the car has separate dip and main beam
bulbs, they are permitted to be lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't
have a 50/100 W single bulb.

That's probably more down to getting rid of the heat more than
regulations.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 25/01/2012 06:54, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:

As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.

I have had some of the high output bulbs, and they certainly
appeared significantly brighter to me.

I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

You used to be able to buy 55/150W halogen bulbs, although it was not
legal to use them on the road. They were very popular on rally cars,
including some of those taking part in road events.

Colin Bignell

In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

I have them on my old Rover, and the MOT people seem happy enough as it
has self levelling suspension and headlamp washers. The beam pattern as
seen on their tester is extremely sharp - better actually than the
original. But I have non standard headlight units anyway.

--
*Don't squat with your spurs on *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Phil Addison
writes
After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-12V-55W-Bulb-
OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...55w-bulbs-NEW-
pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...ID-Conversion-
Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

IME, the xenon sets place a lot of emphasis on the brightness and beam
length on main beam but dipped beam isn't that much improved. The result
is that you (and your eyes) get used to the brightness of the mains only
to be plunged into relative darkness when you have to dip for oncoming
traffic. Fine for deserted roads or competition use but not much cop for
routine driving IMV so I went back to regular (halogen) bulbs when one
of my high performance ones went.

No experience on HID.
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .

In article ,
fred wrote:
IME, the xenon sets place a lot of emphasis on the brightness and beam
length on main beam but dipped beam isn't that much improved.

Of course it is. If you live in a crowded part of the country how often do
you use main beam anyway?

In total darkness with little traffic you can get away with far less
powerful lights than is the norm these days.

--
*Laugh alone and the world thinks you're an idiot.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Jan 25, 6:54*am, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.

I have had some of the high output bulbs, and they certainly
appeared significantly brighter to me.

I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon *Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

ISTR Rover making a car with twin headlghts that worked as individual
units. Big problem when driving in snow when the non lit main or
dipped beam would get covered in snow without the heat of the light to
keep it clear. Switch from dipped to main beam and instant darkness.
Exciting

Paul Mc Cann

In article
,
fred wrote:
On Jan 25, 6:54 am, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:
As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.

I have had some of the high output bulbs, and they certainly
appeared significantly brighter to me.

I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

ISTR Rover making a car with twin headlghts that worked as individual
units. Big problem when driving in snow when the non lit main or
dipped beam would get covered in snow without the heat of the light to
keep it clear. Switch from dipped to main beam and instant darkness.

My Cortina Mk3 had twin lights, but IO never cam across that particular
problem. But then, we rarely had snow in Surrey in those days. I rememebr
driving in snow at night but that was after it had stopped snowing.
(Leaving TVC at 3am having last seen outside at 11am when it was a lovely
day!)

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.16

In article ,
charles wrote:
ISTR Rover making a car with twin headlghts that worked as individual
units. Big problem when driving in snow when the non lit main or
dipped beam would get covered in snow without the heat of the light to
keep it clear. Switch from dipped to main beam and instant darkness.

My Cortina Mk3 had twin lights, but IO never cam across that particular
problem. But then, we rarely had snow in Surrey in those days. I
rememebr driving in snow at night but that was after it had stopped
snowing. (Leaving TVC at 3am having last seen outside at 11am when it
was a lovely day!)

I had several Rover P6 with twin headlights, but the outers were double
dipping and the inners *added* on main beam. Can't think of any other
Rover with individual twin headlights apart from the federal spec SD1.

BMW also made lots of models with individual twin lights, so I can't see
it being a problem given the weather found in Germany.

--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 25/01/2012 16:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
wrote:
ISTR Rover making a car with twin headlghts that worked as individual
units. Big problem when driving in snow when the non lit main or
dipped beam would get covered in snow without the heat of the light to
keep it clear. Switch from dipped to main beam and instant darkness.

My Cortina Mk3 had twin lights, but IO never cam across that particular
problem. But then, we rarely had snow in Surrey in those days. I
rememebr driving in snow at night but that was after it had stopped
snowing. (Leaving TVC at 3am having last seen outside at 11am when it
was a lovely day!)

I had several Rover P6 with twin headlights, but the outers were double
dipping and the inners *added* on main beam. Can't think of any other
Rover with individual twin headlights apart from the federal spec SD1.

BMW also made lots of models with individual twin lights, so I can't see
it being a problem given the weather found in Germany.

The four headlight design was necessary because the first halogen bulbs,
type H1, were single filament, non-dipping. That meant you needed one
pair of main beam lights and one pair of dip beam lights. The
twin-filament dipping H4 bulb did not come out until much later, after
which it was, as you say, used in the outer pair.

Colin Bignell

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

I have them on my old Rover, and the MOT people seem happy enough as
it has self levelling suspension and headlamp washers. The beam
pattern as seen on their tester is extremely sharp - better actually
than the original. But I have non standard headlight units anyway.

ISTR the headlight washer is an MOT requirement.



--
Adam

On 24/01/2012 23:25, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Quite a few standard newish cars manage this quite well too.

Mostly Chelsea Tractors.

The MOT standard gives an angle down, and their lights are mounted
higher up. Add soft suspension for lots of pitch, and I find myself
considering reflective film on the back window.

Andy

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:36:25 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 25/01/2012 06:54, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:



I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

You used to be able to buy 55/150W halogen bulbs, although it was not
legal to use them on the road. They were very popular on rally cars,
including some of those taking part in road events.

Many years ago I had some 100/160 and a quick check shows they are
still available. All a brighter lamp on dip does if it is correctly
adjusted is light up the same amount of surface but to a greater
intensity so the eyes don't suffer as much from being plunged into a
black hole. A mod was to wire lamps with a relay so dip was on all
the time and was not extinguished when main was selected.
I tried it expecting the lamps to have very short life due to heat but
they seemed to last a reasonable time.

G.Harman

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:36:25 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 25/01/2012 06:54, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:



I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

You used to be able to buy 55/150W halogen bulbs, although it was not
legal to use them on the road. They were very popular on rally cars,
including some of those taking part in road events.

Many years ago I had some 100/160 and a quick check shows they are
still available. All a brighter lamp on dip does if it is correctly
adjusted is light up the same amount of surface but to a greater
intensity so the eyes don't suffer as much from being plunged into a
black hole. A mod was to wire lamps with a relay so dip was on all
the time and was not extinguished when main was selected.
I tried it expecting the lamps to have very short life due to heat but
they seemed to last a reasonable time.

AOL
You have to be sure you don't have plastic lamp housings or they may melt.

On 25/01/2012 20:56, dennis@home wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:36:25 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 25/01/2012 06:54, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:



I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

You used to be able to buy 55/150W halogen bulbs, although it was not
legal to use them on the road. They were very popular on rally cars,
including some of those taking part in road events.

Many years ago I had some 100/160 and a quick check shows they are
still available. All a brighter lamp on dip does if it is correctly
adjusted is light up the same amount of surface but to a greater
intensity so the eyes don't suffer as much from being plunged into a
black hole. A mod was to wire lamps with a relay so dip was on all
the time and was not extinguished when main was selected.
I tried it expecting the lamps to have very short life due to heat but
they seemed to last a reasonable time.

AOL
You have to be sure you don't have plastic lamp housings or they may melt.

It was also necessary to use the headlamp feed wire to operate a relay,
rather than the lamp directly, or the extra current draw would melt the
insulation.

Colin Bignell

On 25/01/2012 20:45, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:36:25 +0000, Nightjar
wrote:

On 25/01/2012 06:54, Chris J Dixon wrote:
Dave Liquorice wrote:



I never quite understood why the rules specify maximum wattage
rather than light output. It also seems odd that, when the car
has separate dip and main beam bulbs, they are permitted to be
lit simultaneously. I bet you couldn't have a 50/100 W single
bulb.

You used to be able to buy 55/150W halogen bulbs, although it was not
legal to use them on the road. They were very popular on rally cars,
including some of those taking part in road events.

Many years ago I had some 100/160 and a quick check shows they are
still available. All a brighter lamp on dip does if it is correctly
adjusted is light up the same amount of surface but to a greater
intensity so the eyes don't suffer as much from being plunged into a
black hole.

As 'main beam' on a rally car included a couple of Cibie Oscar spots,
set up to cross about 300 yards out, and a couple of Cibie Oscar fog
lights, also set up to cross but much closer, to light the sides of the
road, the contrast with dipped beam was quite significant.

A mod was to wire lamps with a relay so dip was on all
the time and was not extinguished when main was selected.
I tried it expecting the lamps to have very short life due to heat but
they seemed to last a reasonable time.

Not really necessary with the rally lamp set-up above.

Colin Bignell

dennis@home wrote:
"Andy Burns" wrote in message
o.uk...
Phil Addison wrote:

After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one
of my headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things
have changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem
to be IRO £7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...b-OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM
Night Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon
Headlight Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-NEW-pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...rsion-Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that
looks like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

I thought the Xenon headlights needed to be self-levelling, and that
they were starting to check this at MOT from this year? Certainly
the retrofit "boy racer" ones seem to be the cause of most of the
dazzling ones ...

Be careful here.. xenon bulbs are just tungsten halogen bulbs sold at
high prices to mugs that don't know the difference between HIDs and
tungsten bulbs.

Then there are the blue coloured ones that are sold at high prices to
the mugs that want others to think they are HIDs.

Tungsten bulbs come in different types including, normal, long life,
high output and silly blue.
50% more output doesn't double the range you can see. In reality it
makes no difference to dipped beam as the output isn't the limiting
factor.


It is amazing what a retard can learn whilst looking out of the rear windows
of the special bus and staring at headlights of the following cars.

--
Adam

In article ,
Nightjar wrote:
I had several Rover P6 with twin headlights, but the outers were double
dipping and the inners *added* on main beam. Can't think of any other
Rover with individual twin headlights apart from the federal spec SD1.

BMW also made lots of models with individual twin lights, so I can't
see it being a problem given the weather found in Germany.

The four headlight design was necessary because the first halogen bulbs,
type H1, were single filament, non-dipping. That meant you needed one
pair of main beam lights and one pair of dip beam lights. The
twin-filament dipping H4 bulb did not come out until much later, after
which it was, as you say, used in the outer pair.

The Rover P6 had twin headlights from the outset - long before halogen
bulbs were around - the early '60s. They were the standard Lucas sealed
beam types where the whole unit was the bulb. My last P6 was a '74, and
that had the same Lucas units. I did change them for Cibie halogens, and
by that time double dipping ones had arrived. Probably around '80.

The early twins with halogens usually left the dips on and added the main
beams.

--
*When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

I have them on my old Rover, and the MOT people seem happy enough as
it has self levelling suspension and headlamp washers. The beam
pattern as seen on their tester is extremely sharp - better actually
than the original. But I have non standard headlight units anyway.

ISTR the headlight washer is an MOT requirement.

Self levelling lights or suspension and headlamp washers is a construction
and use requirement for vehicles fitted with factory fit HID units. As
regards aftermarket ones, it's not so clear. Simply bunging them into
reflectors not designed for them can result in very poor beam control as
the 'filament' size is different. But this should show up on the normal
MOT beam test.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Andy Champ wrote:
The MOT standard gives an angle down, and their lights are mounted
higher up. Add soft suspension for lots of pitch, and I find myself
considering reflective film on the back window.

Auto dimming mirrors. ;-)

But it's not just vehicles like this with high mounted headlights. Some
ordinary new cars dazzle badly too - on a level road. Of course they could
just be badly set.

--
*When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , Nightjar
writes


It was also necessary to use the headlamp feed wire to operate a relay,
rather than the lamp directly, or the extra current draw would melt the
insulation.

Colin Bignell

I was quite surprised, (easily surprised me), when I was doing some work
on a new car recently and just to see what the effect would be I ran a
short lead to the main beam rather than using the vehicle loom. There
was a noticeable increase in illumination. I never got around to
measuring the drop in the loom and as it was a company car I didn't fit
a relay. If it had been mine I certainly would have fitted one.

--
Bill

In article ,
Bill wrote:
I was quite surprised, (easily surprised me), when I was doing some work
on a new car recently and just to see what the effect would be I ran a
short lead to the main beam rather than using the vehicle loom. There
was a noticeable increase in illumination. I never got around to
measuring the drop in the loom and as it was a company car I didn't fit
a relay. If it had been mine I certainly would have fitted one.

Not a problem with HID. Apart from drawing less current, the control gear
is voltage regulated. Odd to see them not change when you use the starter.

--
*If you lived in your car, you'd be home by now *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:22:20 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

I have them on my old Rover, and the MOT people seem happy enough as
it has self levelling suspension and headlamp washers. The beam
pattern as seen on their tester is extremely sharp - better actually
than the original. But I have non standard headlight units anyway.

ISTR the headlight washer is an MOT requirement.

Self levelling lights or suspension and headlamp washers is a construction
and use requirement for vehicles fitted with factory fit HID units. As
regards aftermarket ones, it's not so clear. Simply bunging them into
reflectors not designed for them can result in very poor beam control as
the 'filament' size is different. But this should show up on the normal
MOT beam test.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.

Dave Plowman London SW

All sorts of interesting car lighting stuff here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlam..._light_sources and
about the HID lamp system here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-in...discharge_lamp
Not sure about the authority of this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting#Xenon
Lamp types round the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lamp_types
and some specific vehicles using it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special... zilla-search

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:35:38 +0000, fred wrote:

In article , Phil Addison
writes
After 6 years, plus whatever the previous owner got out of it, one of my
headlight bulbs has packed up. A quick google tells me things have
changed since I last had to buy a headlamp bulb. Prices seem to be IRO
£7.50 for a single decent bulb
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...-12V-55W-Bulb-
OSULTH7.html
and the websites are pushing 'xenon upgrades' such as "H7 OSRAM Night
Breaker Plus +90% More Light 50% Improved Life Upgrade Xenon Headlight
Bulbs (Pack of 2)" for £27.50/pair
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...55w-bulbs-NEW-
pair.html.
Also there is a "HID Kit"
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-...ID-Conversion-
Kit.html
for over 90 quid and comes with what they call a "ballast" that looks
like a high votage converter.

Any thoughts on these 'upgrades'?

IME, the xenon sets place a lot of emphasis on the brightness and beam
length on main beam but dipped beam isn't that much improved. The result
is that you (and your eyes) get used to the brightness of the mains only
to be plunged into relative darkness when you have to dip for oncoming
traffic. Fine for deserted roads or competition use but not much cop for
routine driving IMV so I went back to regular (halogen) bulbs when one
of my high performance ones went.

No experience on HID.
--
fred

I think I'm just going to replace with standard halogen, the HID kits
certainly seem a dubious retrofit. Thanks for all the input.

Phil

Nightjar wrote:

On 25/01/2012 16:18, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

BMW also made lots of models with individual twin lights, so I can't see
it being a problem given the weather found in Germany.

The four headlight design was necessary because the first halogen bulbs,
type H1, were single filament, non-dipping. That meant you needed one
pair of main beam lights and one pair of dip beam lights. The
twin-filament dipping H4 bulb did not come out until much later, after
which it was, as you say, used in the outer pair.

Four bulbs on Mondeo Mk III & IV, so it clearly isn't due to
historic availability.

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Have dancing shoes, will ceilidh.

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:26:19 +0000, Andy Champ wrote:

The MOT standard gives an angle down, and their lights are mounted
higher up. Add soft suspension for lots of pitch, and I find myself
considering reflective film on the back window.

Naw you want and electronic rearview mirror. Bloomin' brilliant
things.

Doesn't help with the glare from HID lamps fitted to oncoming
vehicles though. Uneven roads are horrible, the sharp cut off almost
making the damn things flash at you.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:37:07 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

As for the OP might be worth toddling along to Halfords and seeing if
they still have the BOGOF (or similar) offer running on headlamps. I
bought a pair of "+70% output" ones for £19.99 just before Christmas.
The +90% jobbies where only a few quid more. Of course wether one can
really detect the difference between an ordinary and +90% jobbie is
debateable.

The last bulb I bought from Halfrauds lasted about a week and a lot of
the other stuff they sell is ****e.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.