Possible problem with dipped beam

[skippy41]

About 6 weeks ago I changed my dipped beam lights for halford extra bright ones.

Well tonight I was sitting with side lights on waiting on a pick up and one came, so moved off and as I did so I turned the dipped beam on and both bulbs blew:eek:, the high beam was not affected nor the side lights, I have never had this happen in the past as normaly only 1 goes at a time, but both at once:eek::confused::confused::confused::confused:

Any ideas as to what could have happened

[vRSLen]

You could have had one blown but not noticed it?

And why were you kerb crawling, more to the point :P

[skippy41]

You could have had one blown but not noticed it?

And why were you kerb crawling, more to the point :P

I always check all lights, before starting work, its a taxi, both where working 5 Min's before hand.

I had one of the bulbs I removed as a spear so only had to fork out £5.60 at the garage for another then crossed fingers as I tried them

[gregozedobe]

Possibly a voltage surge as one globe blew, which then took out the other one ? I've never heard of both globes going at the same time either. Might be worth getting the voltage at the light connection checked, just to make sure you haven't got a problem (poor connections somewhere or faulty voltage regulator in the alternator).

[gadgetman]

Assuming they werent touched with your fingers, I'd be taking back to halfords as defective.

[ThomasP]

I couldn't help myself chipping in with my experiences of Halfords in relation to this post re bulbs etc.

In my experience Halfords are really crap. Not too long ago I bought a couple of stop/tail lights for another vehicle (not a Skoda). I fitted the bulbs no problem (and they were definitely fitted correctly). A few days later I noticed that the both brake lights were remaining on...I couldn't understand it - It looked like a shorting problem but how could it be the bulbs were brand new and I knew the car wiring was good......I then spent the most part of the weekend at the front end of the car because I thought the problem must have been with the brake switch (the instrument panel lights were going out when I out the foot brake on. End result was going right back to basics I discovered that the fault was with one of the new bulbs as soon as I removed it the problem went away - swapped the bulbs over and the problem returned again. I then tested the bulb with my faithful little tester and yes one of the filaments was connected to the earth shroud thus causing the problem.

I then purchased 'proper' bulbs elsewhere and the problem magically disappeared but when I returned to Halfords to moan about the ****e standard of anything they do or sell (at hugely inflated prices) I got the 'not interested' look, I emailed them via their website (I have had previous bad experiences with them but never bothered to complain) and I am still waiting for a reply that was about 11 months ago - somehow I don't think they will be replying.....lol.

My advice is don't buy anything from Halfords.

I know this mail isn't quite on topic so soz for posting (well he did mention Halfords..lol)

Tom

[SK_Rebel]

And people ask why it's more or less universally known as Halfrauds.....

[Stoofa]

And people ask why it's more or less universally known as Halfrauds.....

Only to those people who also think saying M$ or Micro$oft is equally funny.

Never ever had a problem with Halfords.

Like PC World I don't go out of my way to use them, but the fact they are open 7 days a week and have good stock levels they are perfect for those "can't wait for internet order" items.

[dstev2000]

I had the same thing happen with a pair of 'spensive PIAA bulbs. Driving down the M23 in pitch black, one bulb went and the other popped about half a mile later. Luckily I was able to stop at the services and swap the OEM main beams for the crappy dipped bulbs.

Never happend before and hasn't happened since. You could say it's down to extremely precise quality control that they both popped at the same time. I say it was because they were shi..............

And Halfrauds aren't too bad as long as you steer clear of the tat

[bobbyforeman]

On several occasions I have had both headlight bulbs blow within a few days of each other and on one occasion within an hour. I was recently told that it is all to do with Dim Dip circuit that ensures the Dipped Headlight is on at low power if the engine is running but just the sidelights are turned on. Apparently if a bulb blows, the circuit is unbalanced and will over supply the remaining bulb causing it to fail in the near future. It seems headlight bulbs should always be replaced as a pair when one bulb fails.

Now I don't know how true that is but on my last car, I went five years without changing a headlight bulb and then changed one or other every few months after that. Perhaps if I had changed both together, they might have lasted another five years.

If you have separate bulbs for full beam, they are not affected in the same way.

[_ZS_]

If it's the Halfrauds +90% jobs, then that's about right. Mine lasted about 2 weeks then popped within 30 mins of eachother in the Vectra. Put in a pair of Philips +50% bulbs and they're not only brighter, they'll probably last longer. Oh, and they were a tenner cheaper too. :lol: