New headlamp bulb tests

Correct. Sealed beams are almost always better. Hence why ALL off-road
and racing lights are big sealed-beams on racks. They radiate a clean,
consistent pattern and put out more light, plus don't get dim/yellow
with age. A sealed beam? Replace for $10 and presto! Good as new.

IMO, it's a scam. EVERY car today has plastic lenses on the headlights,
even $50,000 Mercedes. These turn into dim junk at $250 a pop to replace
every two years. My old beater Buick, otoh, has *glass* lenses and the
cartridge type bulbs. 15 years and the light is as clear as ever(tiny bit
of green tint due to age - *very* slight). My mother's 4 year old LeSabre?
Noticeably yellow and getting opaque because it is plastic.

 

Er...no. That's not an accurate statement.

Zero for two. VERY few off-road and racing lights are of sealed-beam
construction.

Huh? No.

More light than...?

That depends on the type of sealed beam in question.

Nope, there are still vehicles with glass. More in Europe than in North
America, but there are still vehicles with glass headlamp lenses in North
America.

What are you doing to them? Every two years? Pffft. Not even Ford's junk
is *that* short-lived.

So go polish the lenses, and then go do some homework -- you donno much
about headlights!

DS

 

I think that *some* plastic-lensed headlights now have replaceable
lenses. ISTR that at least the ECE versions of the new Golf/GTI lights
are that way. BTW my GTI is now over a year and a half old and the
lights are fine (not ECE - still haven't had the ducats for those yet.
I really *should* though, as much night driving as I do.)

nate

 

Yeah, the Hella 165mm units would be better than many sealed beams of the
same shape and size, but Hella keeps missing the mark in this lamp format.
Their original (and still available) design has a bulb shield that's WAY
too big -- they just took the shield from their larger lamps and crammed
it in the small lamp -- with the result being a fairly serious drop in
efficiency due to the bulb shield blocking what would otherwise be usable
reflector area.

Then they developed (just recently) a new clear-lens 165mm x 100mm
dual-approved (DOT/ECE) H4 headlamp...and left out the bulb shield
entirely. That in itself isn't necessarily a sin; there are plenty of good
headlamps without bulb shields, but this new Hella design is an awful
shame -- the beam pattern is quite excellent, but there's a TON of upward
stray light that'll cause major backdazzle in bad weather. All it needs is
a small and properly-placed bulb shield and the problem would be
completely fixed. But...nope!

DS

 

They're glass. (DOT version of this lamp has polycarbonate)

DS

 

Q: I just bought a little Dodge Neon. What are my options or am
I stuck with the crummy plastic crap and poor bulbs? The car is a
nice littel econobox, but EGADS the headlights are worse than my
1987 Buick LeSabre beater. Even worse than my friend's Stratus,
which was in the league of a 6 volt VW bug.

No joke - what WERE they thinking? My old Volvo 240 was brighter
on lowbeams after I replaced the plastic lenses with glass and
re-wired the headlights via a relay/replaced the wiring - to get
12.0 V running instead of ~10.5 factory setup... than my Neon
is with it highbeams on.

The lenses are yellowed up - though I did use some 3M cleaner
on it. Nice stuff made for cleaning pinball playfields - the
best plastic cleaner in the industry. But, they are still
about 10% opaque due to age(yellowing GONE, btw - wiped right off).

Glass would be better, of course.

 

*tweety birds following each other around head*

You mean you can walk into a PARTS STORE and buy E-CODE SEALED BEAM
REPLACEMENTS?

Shit, Canada's looking better every day.

nate

(you still use road salt though, don't you?)

 

Some of them even have side turn signal repeaters fitted, too (The

Yes, That's why I didn't include V8 in the first place when commenting
about the side turn signal repeaters...

 

What year's your little Dodge Neon? You could install APC projector
headlamps, drive with 'em for a month, then reinstall the original lamps
and they'd seem excellent to you...

If it's a '95-'00 Neon, it's got the best headlamps of any Chrysler Corp.
passenger car offered in those years!

12.0V is still underspec by a good 1.2 Volts. A relay package with 12ga
wiring and high-efficiency bulbs will improve your Neon...

What's the 3M product number or name?

My opinion is that replaceable glass lenses are best.
Very few US-market cars have them.


DS

 

Hello,

Well, well, look again. My Chevrolet came with shitty plastic headlamp
capsules from Sylvania when I bought it in 1989. They turned yellow and
useless until I fitted the Hella ECE units bought in Calgary in 1993.

Not all sealed beam units are that good. If they crack and have
condensation, they're useless. With ECE units, I can take it apart and
clean them.

Ideally, the round headlamps produce better beam and distribution.
Larger headlamps equate less glares.

Blame it on Ford for lying to NHTSA about the durability of plastic
lenses especially when exposed to heat and ultraviolet. Blame it on Big
Three for pushing NHTSA away from compulsory ultraviolet protection
whilst ECE requires it. Blame it on the designers who want the cool and
complicated headlamp designs that might not be achievable with glass
lense. Blame it on the engineers who want to save weight.

And blame it on NHTSA for refusing to accept the ECE headlamps and for
requiring the lense and reflector to be glued together. Manufacturers
have to pass down the engineering cost to the consumers in the USA for
the privilige of seeing SAE DOT VOL/VOR blah blah on the lense as well
as shitty DOT beam pattern...

Why aren't you doing anything to push for wholesale conversion from
FMVSS to ECE on the federal level?

Oliver

 

Well, sure. ECE headlamps are legal in Canada, under Canada Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 108.1.

In fact, on that topic, take a look at the Canada Gazette, in which new
and updated Canadian regulations are announced. Look here:

http://gazetteducanada.gc.ca/partII/2003/20030827/html/sor294-e.html

Scroll down to the part headed "Consultation" and read it.

For fifty-five points, who was the respondant?

As I understand it, Environment Canada wants it banned.

DS

 

Because it will not happen, and there's nothing that can be done to change
that. Remember, there are deficiencies in the ECE lighting standards,
they're just different from the deficiencies in the US lighting standards.
What's needed is one worldwide standard with MINIMAL deficiencies. It's
being worked on, proceeding slowly, and Canada's in charge. The world
could do a LOT worse.

DS

 

<quote>

Notice of the Department of Transport's
intention to make this amendment was
pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on
February 1, 2003, and a 75-day consultation
period was allotted. The department received
one response.
</quote>

Hmm, the author sounds a little miffed...

Wouldn't be the worst thing to happen. Actually in my time in the UP I
found it not that difficult to drive on snowpack roads... it's just
when they melt and freeze again that things get, um, interesting.

nate

 

You mean you can't do that in the States? :}

Tya, it's no big deal; I've even had the guy behind the counter
trying to sell me a set of Bosches when I mentioned that I was
considering lighting improvements. I had to point out that I'm stuck
with aerodynamic headlamps and that therefore the generic stuff is
of no use to me.

The grass always LOOKS greener on the other side of the proverbial
fence. Spend some time in T****to and you'll be desperate to get
back to the U.S., trust me.

Actually I think many yanks who come here thinking it's paradise -
goodness knows why, do they really believe everything the Useless
Numbnuts have to say? - quickly turn back when they realize it
ain't. It's a nice country and all, but those UN folks must have
been smoking some seriously strong stuff when they defined Vancouver
as having the "best quality of life on earth". They used only a
limited subset of statistics such as average crime rates over a
period, average life expectancy (higher in BC than WA or OR, the
"quality of life" scales are quite weighted toward that), government
"social" provisions etc. The fact is that there are lots of
subjective factors that cannot be measured numerically, that can
prove far more decisive determinants of real quality of life than
any concocted statistically biased UN doublespeak. Canada's
certainly a very different country and society than the U.S., with a
very different culture than the U.S., but that does not
automatically make it better than the U.S. (nor necessarily worse).

 

Btdt many times.

Well they can't be all that ignorant, given that many have the good
sense to mount (usu. Hella or Bosch) driving lamps on the bumpers of
their Suvs/trucks/4x4s (and these don't usually come as standard, do
they?). They realize that decent high beams are a virtual necessity
after sundown on BC roads and one must logically conclude that many
realize that good low beams can't hurt either. In my case I only
shied away from a full on conversion because I'm a stingy bastard
and needed the money for more essential purposes anyway, but the
guys with the flashy Land Cruisers with HUGE round high-$$$ Hella
Rallye or Bosch drive beams on the front can't possibly be unable to
afford a straightforward E code headlamp conversion. I mean, heck,
your Cibié E codes are what, ninety bucks a piece? That's *nothing*
compared to the cost of a kickass set of driving lamps; even my
ok-but-not-magically-wonderful Hellas cost almost that much.

 

Only the fancy Complex Surface Reflector 5.75" units. Conventional ones
are down around $50.

DS

 

I should have qualified that statement. OTOH, it's pretty simple to get
good sealed-beams or Hella type high performance lights. With most
newer cars, you are stuck with just putting out more light at bad
patterns. GOOD sealed-beams are simple to aim and work well most
every time. I especially like the big 7 inchers that some of the
older cars use.

Now, true, they are getting better, and some new cars are fine, but
GM and Dodge are still amazingly worse than even those old rectangular
halogens were. My new Neon beater(well, new to me)? Lights are so
dim I run around with the high beams on. My mother's recent model
LeSabre? Much brighter and wider light pattern with low-beams that the
Dodge crud on high beams.

So far, I've not had ONE car flash me.

Ozone is the big culprit, actually. Here in Los Angeles, they almost
disintegrate after a few years. Most Volvo 240s with the larger single
lights are on their 2nd or 3rd set by now.

The first thing I did with my Volvo was replace the lights with GLASS
Euro lenses and bulbs. OMG what a difference. Then, I did the relay
trick and got another 30% on top of that. Totally new driving experience
when you can see everything clearly at 40mph.

 

1995. Problem is, that they are WORTHLESS. The low-beams aim at
the ground about 100 ft in front of me. Fine for 25mph, but
useless at 40mph. High-beams are half as bright as

I meant full voltage - whatever it was. The wiring and relay kit
for the Volvo was a truly enlightening experience. I expect the Neon
is in serious need as well. I've never seen such a bad set of headlights.

Dunno - borrowed it from my friend.
(looks)
Oh - NOT 3M.

http://www.pbresource.com/cleaner.html
The #3 was amazing. A bit of car wax on top of that and it cleaned
them right up. Still dim and nasty, but not completely worthless.

Oh - NASTY stuff. Ventilate and wear gloves. Even with both,
I got a headache after two minutes of exposure. Works, though.

I'll try new bulbs next. Oh - the car is a fine little econobox
with plenty of power. Who made it? Mazda?

Also - it says it uses the 9007 bulbs. They also were selling
9007 high output ones. Are they brighter or is it a color
shifting trick?

Yeah. Does the Euro version of the Neon have them?

 

If you're in SW England and can get to a Trago Mills store, they
have Philips Visionplus at £10.50 a pair!

Al Reynolds