Which headlight is the main beam?

[ireland]

I'm suffering trying to get the lights working properly on my car.

This may sound stupid but, since the dims are giving much better light than the main beams I'm thinking could the lights be wired the wrong way around.

It's a '97 but has the headlight conversion done (badly, methinks).

One lamp has the bulb visible through it and a parking light bulb also in it.

Is this the head or dim ?????

The other one has a dome-type lens covering the bulb and just the one bulb in it.


Thanks in advance.

[dc53]

Not too sure,but all i know whatever you do to the headlights they will always be crap unless you get the extra conversion on it which increases visibility (i think it was called gas something or other im too tired to remember).
Dan

[ireland]

It shouldn't be this bad, I'm frightening sleeping squirrels at the moment.

I'm after improving it no end so far but I still reckon the lights are connected the wrong way.

[dc53]

Trust me the visibilty is poor with the headlight conversion!.
My dad had his lights on,on a unlit motorway and my dad had to get right up a lorrys arse just to see whether the lights were on!
Dan

[ireland]

I reckon they are wired wrong since the last owner had them converted.

I should have them all rotated tomorrow evening.

After that I'll get them to an alignment unit and finish off adjusting them there.

It looks like the car will have to be up on some sort of supports for this though.


Aren't I glad I bought a Cerb.

[jensena]

My car has just the standard lights with the Philips Vision plus bulbs fitted (from Powerbulbs.com) and they are fine. Might not be up to the latest BMW Xenon standards, but I have no complaints.

[ireland]

ireland said:

I'm suffering trying to get the lights working properly on my car.

This may sound stupid but, since the dims are giving much better light than the main beams I'm thinking could the lights be wired the wrong way around.

It's a '97 but has the headlight conversion done (badly, methinks).

One lamp has the bulb visible through it and a parking light bulb also in it.

Is this the head or dim ?????

The other one has a dome-type lens covering the bulb and just the one bulb in it.


Thanks in advance.

Thanks for all the advice, but can someone tell me please which lamp is which on the twin-headlight set-up ?????

Edited by ireland on Wednesday 13th September 08:07

[jon h]

I have not got my car to hand, but am 99% sure that the Lens type light is the dip beam, whilst the one with the reflector in and the side light is main beam. As I mentioned in a previous thread, wiring and voltage loss can be a big problem, depending upon how the upgrade is wired. Another issue is that if the standard wiring is used, the dip goes off when main comes on, leaving a dark patch in the foregound on main beam. Additional wiring and relays can make both come on at the same time. I have had 2 cars with conversions on: the first, a griff had Xenon mains and halogen dips. The lights were awesome, (although the mains took a bit of work to point them in the right direction) This car had all the extra relays etc I have mentioned, so power came from the battery directly, and both lights were lit on main. The cerb has halogen main and dip and currently uses the standard wiring. This is useless. Initially the were pointing all over the shop which did not help. This is OK now, but the light output is no good, and I have put this down to the wiring, which I will be replacing soon. One final possibility could be a faulty dim/dip control (in the boot) I believe that when on side lights, this supplies a low voltage feed to the dip beam, a separate bulb to the side light bulb, in order to make this light at a reduced level. I guess if this unit is faulty, it could continue to supply the low voltage supply on dip, leading to a very poor dip beam perfomance. Try turning on to side lights, the swith to headlight, dip beam, and see if the low beam lap gets brighter when you do so. If not, the control could be faulty. This is only a theory, and I have not tested it, by the way...

By the way, TCS are doing a deal on Xenon conversions for halogen headlamps currently. Based upon the performance of my Xenon equiped Griff, this could be worth a go.

Jon

[Ireland]

jon h said:

..................... 99% sure that the Lens type light is the dip beam, whilst the one with the reflector in and the side light is main beam..............

This is what I reckon as well.

And, assuming this is the case, it's been wired wrong.

Simple as that.


Also the dims do go off when the heads come on.

I was planning the relay option to get both to stay on and eliminate the blind spot as soon as I get the lights pointing the right direction.

I see I'm not the first to have that idea.


Funny, isn't it, that if I'd bought a "sensible" car and it had these sort of problems after I got it, I would have it back at the dealers by now (probably through their showroom window) but I just accept it with the Cerb.

I think I knew what I was letting myself in for before I got it.

[byker28i]

Interesting.

On my capri the outer headlights were the dipped and maain beam and these had the small parking light bulbs in as well. The inner headlights were main beam only.

It was a fairly common conversion to convert the lights to all four dip/main

[Tyre Smoke]

Main beam has the sidelight bulb and the dip is the shrouded lens.

Looks quite cool on dipped beam as (on mine) the lower lights are lit with dim dip in the main beam lens.

Once I'd got mine properly aligned they were okay. Not retina burningly brilliant, but certainly good enough to drive in a spirited fashion after dark.

[simonkd]

Mine are wired with the upper lamp, the one with the lens, as the dipped beam. When I press the steering wheel button the lower ones (main beam) come on, these have just the reflector, no special lens. My sidelights are seperate items though as shown.
Regards
Simon

Edited by simonkd on Wednesday 13th September 13:38

[ireland]

My car has the exact same type of set up as the one in the photo except the big lamps are fitted in the opposite positions.

And mine are definitely wired wrong.


Thanks folks for the help.


I'll try and find the name of the people who did the work so you can all avoid them.

Edited by ireland on Wednesday 13th September 15:55

[byker28i]

Is that a conversion by chopping out part of the wing? I've seen ones that replace the headlight housing

[ireland]

Mine definitely had the wing butchered to get the conversion done.

This is pretty obvious when viewed from below.

I assume it is meant to improve the lighting getting this conversion done, nobody could go to that much trouble to have worse lights that look better, could they ?????

[ridds]

Welcome to the world of car modifying.

[byker28i]

ireland said:

Mine definitely had the wing butchered to get the conversion done.

This is pretty obvious when viewed from below.

I assume it is meant to improve the lighting getting this conversion done, nobody could go to that much trouble to have worse lights that look better, could they ?????

You are joking - it's all about looks isn't it?
My standard Cerb lights are really good. I dunno if Alan put better bulbs in but they really light up the world nicely.

[Ireland]

byker28i said:

ireland said:

Mine definitely had the wing butchered to get the conversion done.

This is pretty obvious when viewed from below.

I assume it is meant to improve the lighting getting this conversion done, nobody could go to that much trouble to have worse lights that look better, could they ?????

You are joking - it's all about looks isn't it?
My standard Cerb lights are really good. I dunno if Alan put better bulbs in but they really light up the world nicely.

I am joking ....... a bit