High wattage bulbs

[neil_f]

Thinking of putting ring sportz blue bulbs into my wife's monte carlo as I have used these in previous cars and found them to be excellent. I was thinking of fitting an hid kit but am put off due to it using the same bulb for high beam and the issues it might cause when trying to "flash" the lights. The bulbs are also cheaper than a decent hid kit at £14 pair and a direct fit. They are rated at 80w however and wanted to know if anyone has ran bulbs higher than 55w and if so have there been any issues. The last car I used them in was an Ibiza which had no issues over 70k miles. I know some people say that modern cars with plastic headlamps can melt due to heat issues but the Ibiza I had them in had plastic lamps and were fine.

[fabiamk2SE]

You wont have any issues with flashing if you fit a hid kit.

The monte has one h7 bulb with a solenoid that lifts up when you activate high beam.

The hid kit will be on all the time your lights are on, it doesnt know if your on high beam or not.

[vxh26]

From the Amazon website:

H7 Ring Sportz Blue 80W - Great for off road and rally cars. Please note that being high wattage bulbs these are for off road and display purposes only.

 

Not that anyone really seems to care; much like the selfish swine who throw open their door in a supermarket car park, scratching your paintwork and putting a ding in your bodywork or tailgate you on the motorway - "Not my problem mate"

[vRSgone]

The HID kit I fitted was a disaster (from HIDS DIRECT). I ended up with less light on the road than before, although to be fair I think this is due to the peculiar optics of the Fabia projector headlights, and not the shortcomings of HIDS DIRECT product.

I have now fitted Osram Rallye 80w which have improved the situation immensely. Far brighter & nobody flashes me, so they cant be dazzling anybody. The headlights dont seemto get any hotter.

With the HID KIT, THERE WAS DEFINITELY A PROBLEM WITH HEADLIGHT FLASHING. There was a delay of maybe 2-3 seconds between operating the flasher and the light becoming bright enough to see.

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[PDIBK]

I left a note last time my car door was blown out of my wife's hands (whilst holding our baby at the time) into the BMW next door.

 

Wish I hadn't, as it dragged on for ages and cost a packet (even though the guy was prepared to do it "off book" - as it was a company car, no can do).  Still, the halo glow has only just worn off!

 

All this chat about upgrading headlights - I know they're not brilliant, but I've only occassionally felt the need for more light, then switch to main beam.  Admittedly I don't do that much night driving.

 

I understood that HiDs all have a "warm up" delay to full beam - it's the way they work.

Edited 4 February, 2014 by PDIBK

[fabiamk2SE]

With the HID KIT, THERE WAS DEFINITELY A PROBLEM WITH HEADLIGHT FLASHING. There was a delay of maybe 2-3 seconds between operating the flasher and the light becoming bright enough to see.

Sent from my Sinclair Spectrum using Crappy Chatter

How? How is that possible? The hid bulb should be up to temperature and run at full output already, then when you turn on high beam it just lifts a shutter up which makes the cut off higher.

Im intrigued as to how that was the case for you. Doesnt make sense to me

[vRSgone]

How? How is that possible? The hid bulb should be up to temperature and run at full output already, then when you turn on high beam it just lifts a shutter up which makes the cut off higher.

Im intrigued as to how that was the case for you. Doesnt make sense to me

 

Then you obviously don't understand how a HID system works! In daylight ie no lights on & you "flash" somebody to proceed, the following happens. HID bulbs in cars are of the metal halide type, which are 2 electrodes coated in a heavy metal halide that needs to be vapourized before the arc can be struck. This is the purpose of the ballast unit, which when you switch your lights on produces a high AC voltage (up to 25000volts) to produce conductive halogen ions. This is not an instantaneous process & can take several seconds for the arc to be established with sufficient brightness to be seen. Once the arc has been established the ballast unit drops the voltage to the running voltage of approx 80v, and the so called ballast unit then performs its true task of limiting the current flow, by presenting a complex reactive load to the bulb, otherwise it would appear as a short circuit. The ballast unit in reality is also a Dc to AC inverter producing the required high voltage to "strike"  the arc, and then as a true ballast to limit the current. It may also contain electronics to fool the CANBUs that a conventional bulb is present.

Hence the delay when "flashing" somebody & the light appearing. I appreciate that when the head lights are already on, & you "flash" somebody, then there is no delay.

It has also been shown that "flashing" HID bulbs shortens their life dramatically.

 

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[fabiamk2SE]

I fully understand how a hid system works, id had them on bikes for a long time. Mine flashed visibally straight away from cold, but didnt get fully warm to use for a few seconds.

But if you have a monte like the OP your dip will be already warm when you switch to high beam.

Maybe yours is a consequence of cheap ballasts. Iv had them before in a bike from hids4u and they didnt work sufficently (failing to start occassionally etc). The better quality ballast the better the faster the start up.

There are such a thing as fast bright ballasts now which are really fast start ups.

[Phil-E]

He means if you're lights are off and you just flash somebody. Not switching to high beam.

 

Am I right in thinking you can get them that have a quick start/flash on them?

 

Phil

[fabiamk2SE]

They all flast 50% brightness or more within the first second or so.

This is why they use such a big current draw on first start up, then they power down and warm up properly to full brightness. Its because of some legal aspect of it.

Edited 4 February, 2014 by Otaylor38

[vRSgone]

I fully understand how a hid system works, id had them on bikes for a long time. Mine flashed visibally straight away from cold, but didnt get fully warm to use for a few seconds.

But if you have a monte like the OP your dip will be already warm when you switch to high beam.

Maybe yours is a consequence of cheap ballasts. Iv had them before in a bike from hids4u and they didnt work sufficently (failing to start occassionally etc). The better quality ballast the better the faster the start up.

There are such a thing as fast bright ballasts now which are really fast start ups.

 

 i can only go off the experience of my retrofitted HIDS DIRECT kit for my Fabia ii vRS. It didn't work for me! I don't think the optics of the projector headlight brought the beam to an optimum focus (The beam had a lot of colour fringing - Chromatic Aberration, as us physicists call it) & also with the colour temperature of the bulbs recommended  (6000K), were too blue & put less light on to the road than my original 55w halogen bulbs. And I definitely had the lag between operating the flasher & the light being seen - in daylight that is. I take your point that there well maybe lights from another supplier that give an instantaneous flash. Mine didn't. In fact they are free to a good home.

 

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[fabiamk2SE]

Not sayin theyre as good as a halogen bulb for flashing, but they arent useless (or atleast mine arent) thats all im saying.

Shouldnt really be flashing to let people go anyway, but everybody does haha

[neil_f]

Regards the flashing I was meaning when the lights are switched off as I know it takes a couple of secs for an hid bulb to fully warm up. Also the lifespan of an hid bulb is dictated by how many times it is turned on\off so in theory the flashing would reduce the life.

[neil_f]

From the Amazon website:

Not that anyone really seems to care; much like the selfish swine who throw open their door in a supermarket car park, scratching your paintwork and putting a ding in your bodywork or tailgate you on the motorway - "Not my problem mate"

thanks but I was already aware as I've used them before. Not been stopped by police or had an mot issues with them either.

[neil_f]

I've always bought my kits from hids4u. Used them in 4 different cars and 2 motorbikes without any issues. There not the cheapest at £90 but always believe you get what you pay for so am wary of buying kits of ebay for a third of the price hence why I think I'll go down the route of the sportzblue bulbs. Not doing it for looks...just want brighter lights.

[Ant-Vrs]

I put rings off-road 100w bulbs in mine all the time but non e marked oops. Loads better tho and not been flashed so far so good. Cheap result

[fabiamk2SE]

I believe you can get oem ballasts and fit them, this would be a high quality retrofit n worth the money. Im tempted