Does anyone else's Mk2 keep blowing headlight bulbs?

[Browny_37]

As above, my car's popped both of my H7 (philips bluevisions) in the space of 3 weeks. And they've not been in the car all that long, it blew a Ring Extreme Bulb about 10months since.

And had countless brake/tail lights keep going.

Its really becoming annoying now.

So does anyone else's keep cremating headlight/tail light bulbs?

[vRS Carl]

Not with Headlight bulbs as i upgraded to a HID Kit but i have had others fail quite a bit. I am trying to find LED's that will work that don't require adding resistors. But so far apart from side lights i cant find anything

Carl:thumbup:

[Superted]

As above, my car's popped both of my H7 (philips bluevisions) in the space of 3 weeks. And they've not been in the car all that long, it blew a Ring Extreme Bulb about 10months since.

And had countless brake/tail lights keep going.

Its really becoming annoying now.

So does anyone else's keep cremating headlight/tail light bulbs?

Never, and now on second Octy Vrs....

[dstev2000]

Not a single popped bulb in 106,000 miles.

Could be a voltage problem, check to see what your alternator is putting out, might be a dodgy voltage regulator.

Its quite common for both headlight bulbs to blow one after the other as well.

[Browny_37]

I've a amp in the boot with a digital readout of the voltage, although there is a small drop along the distance of the cable, it usually sits at 13.6v whilst the engine is running (as it did in my astra coupe).

I will have to stick a meter on it when i get chance, not had any charging issues since i bought the car.

Its always started everytime, im just wondering if a tired battery could be the cause?

For example, if the battery isn't coping with the current draw. Then the altenator could be trying to dump alot of current in and blowing the bulbs as it to treis to stabilise its self?

Can the regulator be replaced, without replacing the actual altenator?

[wardth]

I actually gave up with the Philips bulbs because they were lasting about six months. ........

[gadgetman]

Are you 100% sure they werent touched/contaminated?

I'd be onto Phillips customer service....

[Browny_37]

I'm certain they wasnt touched

[Hauptmann]

Still running the Philips X-tremes I put in just over a year ago. I have had DRL's on all this time so they have a lot of 'hours'. No problems so far. If they are not lasting long then I would suspect contamination or a voltage problem.

[cheezemonkhai]

I'm back down to the osram silverstars or 30% bulbs depending on the prices.

They last much longer.

Are you using cheap bulbs, because if you are spend that little bit more to get a good bulb (like bosch) for the tail lights. THe reason I say this is when you look at the bulbs you can see that thicker filament and better support for it.

[Halwit]

I go through satges with mine

sometimes they last ages other times they go regular

but I do a lot of night driving also

Since reading on here how to take out the headlamp and change the bulbs that way

they do tend to last longer

before I struggled to get them in but managed

[FTM]

not one in 3 and a half years

[Browny_37]

I've been putting bosch stop lights in, there the only the ones i can get at 12w/4w. These usually throw the bulb warning up intermittently as the filament starts to seperate from the pins.

The headlight bulbs have been Philips BlueVisions, and the Ring Extreme's.

I gave the other light bulb, the ring extreme one to my dad to put it in his Signum. After his popped a Osram Nightbreaker. And the bulb is still running now!

[dstev2000]

Is your amp of a 'considerable size'?

When running hard some amplifiers can pull the car voltage down considerably during drum beats and the like, this in turn will induce a current spike according to Ohm's Law, do you have a power cap fitted to your ICE install to keep things running smoothly?

Failing that, it could well be a tired battery. AFAIK most voltage regulators are integral to the alternator and are not serviceable parts.

[Browny_37]

The amp is 600watts rms, but rarely gets used that hard.

The bulbs only tend to pop as you turn them on. And pretty much most of that time the headlights get turned on before the amp.

[cheezemonkhai]

The battery is only 61Ah 330A/610A so it's quite likely if it's a bit tired your amp is overdoing it.

I've started to find that the rear heated screen plus dipped & full beam plus steering causes the lights to go a bit mad.

I'm keeping an eye on it and trying to work things out, but the battery is looking a likely candidate.

See my thread in the octy II section called "flickering lights" if you want more info.

[Browny_37]

The headlights only flicker when i hit hard and deep bass notes with everything ramped up (the amp is turned right down), which usually i dont want to listen to on the way to work and back.

I've thought the battery may have been a little weak before, as sometimes its took a little cranking over after its had the stereo running whilst washing the car.

I know on a decent battery it can easily manage 5-6hours without any problems starting a petrol.

Not sure if mine struggles to crank because of the weak starter motor.

[dstev2000]

Every time the bulbs flicker it is a little bit more stress on them and over time it can considerably shorten their lifespan.

I required a jump start when I left my radio running for about 6 hours whilst working adjacent to the car, the VAS battery tester comes back 100% on my battery every time.

Seeing as the battery acts as a buffer for fluctuating electrical loads I would suspect it. Test the voltage across the battery terminals with everything electrical running on the car to ensure the alternator is still up to the job.

Bulbs will more likely pop when being switched on as its the most stressful part of it's operation.

[VPC]

My 118 TSI Octavia blows a headlight bulb every 6 months. LH then 6 months later the RH. Its driving me nuts and I've changed 6 bulbs in the last 3 years. I started off with expensive Navara units and now just go for low cost generic versions. I do drive with the headlights on all the time... but I have never had to change headlight bulbs in any of the 28 other vehicles I've had in the past 30 years. (including 2 x Octavia 90 TSI Combi's)