Headlight bulbs
Discussion
I bought a 64 plate Galaxy a year ago. It has daytime running lights that can't be turned off. Rather than fitting LED unitd, Ford have done it on the cheap by just wiring the dip beam to come on with the ignition.
The car has normal H7 halogen lamps, and the factory ones are pretty weak. I fitted Osram Nightbreakers. One blew after 6 months, so I replaced both at the same time. Another one blew today as I drove over a speed bump at 20mph.
Any recommendations for H7 lamps that have a decent light output, but last longer than 6 months?
The car has normal H7 halogen lamps, and the factory ones are pretty weak. I fitted Osram Nightbreakers. One blew after 6 months, so I replaced both at the same time. Another one blew today as I drove over a speed bump at 20mph.
Any recommendations for H7 lamps that have a decent light output, but last longer than 6 months?
*Al* said:
Looks like that could be the answer. I wonder what the beam pattern would be like?clockworks said:
*Al* said:
Looks like that could be the answer. I wonder what the beam pattern would be like?LEDs produce loads of heat behind the bulb.
Those linked on ebay aren't even claiming to be a headlight, but a tail light or fog light. Meaning they will be dim dim dim. Side light sort of output.
If you want a good LED bulb, go and do some research on how they work and the types of LED that are used. As it's the only way you'll be able to consider buying anything worthwhile.
98% of the bulbs for sale are utter rubbish. While the remaining 2% can be very good, but you'll need to know what to look for.
Also critical, once fitted you need to check the beam profile. For the UK the headlights should essentially point down and to the left. Blinding oncoming traffic is seriously uncool, stupid and should be avoided.
Many LED or HID bulbs will give terrible beams. Although largely dictated on the actual headlamp unit itself.
These are H4 bulbs, but will give you an idea what to look for if shopping for LED bulbs.
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/50238
eBay link said:
Lumen: 1500Lm
...which is the same as a standard legal H7 bulb so you won't be gaining anything, other than a whiter light (which doesn't really help).If you have projector style headlights and you want more brightness - Fit a HID kit. Projector style headlights with standard Halogen bulbs are so dim they're bordering on dangerous.
300bhp/ton said:
They look like garbage tbh. Any LED being driven hard enough to compete with an incan headlight bulb will need a big heatskink and likely a fan on it. And they won't be £10-15.
Utter garbage, just another piece of crap destined to go into landfill shortly after buying.Work Voltage(V) 12V-24V DC
Working Current: 640±30mA
12v @ 640mA is 7.68 Watts. The reasonably good LED headlamp bulbs are typicaly 30W+ and those are nowhere near as bright as 100W halogens. None of them focus properly in reflector headlamps designed for halogens either.
I've just read somewhere that hight output halogens have an expected life of 300 hours, which seems ridiculously short.
My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
clockworks said:
I've just read somewhere that hight output halogens have an expected life of 300 hours, which seems ridiculously short.
My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
LEDs don't work in halogen reflector lenses. You can get away with converting say, number plate lights or reverse lights to LED but for more critical lights such as headlights I would leave them alone. A reflector lense is designed to reflect the light from a single point (ie the filament) and focus it all forwards, whereas the individual LEDs in an LED "bulb" won't necessarily all be in that same spot, so the effectiveness of the reflector housing is seriously reduced. My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
clockworks said:
I've just read somewhere that hight output halogens have an expected life of 300 hours, which seems ridiculously short.
My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
If you have H7's then there are separate bulbs for main and dip, in which case it's a no-brainer; fit standard or long life bulbs for dip/DRL and higher performance ones for main beam.My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
aspirated said:
My Osram Cool Blue Intense H7 lasted just over 2 years before one gave up the ghost. Nice colour too
Odd, I'd say nasty horrid colour that bleaches greens and browns (things like the verge) into a horrid greyness of undefinable colours.Never saw or understood the attraction of blue tinted lights. More eye strain, harder to see things with and unpleasant looking IMO.
clockworks said:
I've just read somewhere that hight output halogens have an expected life of 300 hours, which seems ridiculously short.
My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
How about a rewire? I suspect it wouldn't be that difficult to wire the DLR circuit into the side light, or even a separate DLR light (even if it's just a bulb). And return the headlights to normal use?My car's computer says that my average speed has been 32mph over the past year, and I've done 11000 miles. That's about 350 hours of driving, and the lights are always on, so two bulb failures is to be expected.
Do I switch to long life halogens, and suffer reduced visibility at night, or invest £100 on a pair of quality branded LEDs?
But it might be harder than it sounds on a modern car.
There are some ok LED bulbs and/or HIDs, but you need to know what to look for. And then test it out and assess if it's suitable or not.
Did you try the link I posted?
Muddle238 said:
LEDs don't work in halogen reflector lenses. You can get away with converting say, number plate lights or reverse lights to LED but for more critical lights such as headlights I would leave them alone. A reflector lense is designed to reflect the light from a single point (ie the filament) and focus it all forwards, whereas the individual LEDs in an LED "bulb" won't necessarily all be in that same spot, so the effectiveness of the reflector housing is seriously reduced.
While I agree with the principle, the reality is, there is a huge variation in halogen bulbs, so this single light source moves about from bulb to bulb anyway.And you can find LED bulbs that work fine and will give the desired beam profile, just not every time and for every lamp.
Check out the link I posted earlier as an example.
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