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putting 75W bulb into low beam headlight 12S ?

Kuzya

Tuned and Synch'ed
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
65
Dears, any serious concerns against putting a 75W H7 Bulb as a replacement of a 55W low beam light bulb in a 1200 Sport?
wires / relays / fuses / heat?

got some strange korean HIR bulb (halogen infrared reflected) which is promised to provide around 2300 Lumen. has unfortunately nothing to do with Toshiba, who are claimed to be the only ones producing HIR bulbs, but who knows... it is a CAPCEN HIR Phantom II
comparable to http://www.lightbulbs4cars.com/site/1567293/page/3526076 (looks identical)
Thanks for your thoughts!
Alex
 
Measure the light output of the 55W bulb at a known distance from the lens before changing to the 75W. Then meaure again using the same criteria.

I would be very interested in the results, and whether you actually obtain any significant benefit.

You might want to consider the higher output bulbs such as the Sylvania Silverstar which operate at a higher temperature but consume no more current (i.e. same wattage). They are defintely brighter, but their longevity suffers.

I tried them in my Breva but reverted to normal bulbs when they failed too many times. Only the H7 low beam, I could never find the equivalent for the H9 high beam bulb.
 
I hate HIDs - it seems they are mostly good at obstructing the other driver's view while they do not offer as much of an improvement: In the usual blueish wavelength what they do is make the eye iris become more open as it is governed by the yellowish part of the spectrum so giving the impression of stronger illumination when no other light sources are around. This is ok for dark enviroments but can result in problems when other light sources (cars) are met along the road and can lead to confusion.
A note for Stelvio guys: A friend of mine told me the HID he installed was horrible off roading as the blueish light made the stones and planted rocks in the path much less viewable due to muchless contrast to the trail's dirt.

Also, have in mind that HIDs operate at high voltages and can become electrically dangerous under circumstances for the unaware DIY mechanic.
 
iainw said:
HID.
It's the future. Well, it's now. LEDs are the future.

Have HID experience on my Subaru STI (and Audi A6, but it had lensed optics, so not so bad). In a reflector headlight (not lens projector) is just bad. Gives too much light into the eyes of opposite traffic; makes the closest environment in front of vehicle too bright, resulting in the feeling you can see better, but on the edge of light you can actually see much worth. This one I'll explain detailed:
You may know that the eye adapts it's pupil to the brightness of the ambiance or light sources in the view field by widening/narrowing the pupil as a diaphragm in the photo camera. This results, in dark time of vehicle operating, in the following effect. The brighter field you have immediately in front of vehicle, the more it closes and the less sensitive gets your eye to low light emissions, meaning, the weak light edge at 40-60 meters ahead (which you exactly need at speeds over 50km/h to see dogs, pedestrians and dark obstacles) is getting virtually darker. Your subjective feeling is you see better, but exactly the critical seeing is affected negatively.
Same as an idiotic idea of some drivers to engage front for lights in clear view conditions, as they kinda see better, more light in front of a car.
HID in a reflector lamp makes the difference between the light amount in front of vehicle compared to the far end of light field bigger than regular halogen, which is bad. Factory xenon lams, which are designed to be so, reduce this difference by not producing this excessive flair in first 10-20 meters, and giving more lumen to 40-60 meters. Small negative effect is the very sharp end-line of the light field, providing too high contrast and making dark objects out of the light field even darker...
Another bug of HID in Subaru was - it affected onboard electrics while starting. 2 of 10 light ignitions resulted in my car with a brake warning alarm on the dash... HID was original Hella, so not the worst quality.
So, if you put HID to the reflector lamp - you do only bad things to yourself and others. Only one single positive effect - you have a brighter low-beam headlamp in the daytime, better seen by other drivers and not disturbing them or yourself.
And the last but not least, the bluer you go in the spectrum - the less you can see when wet. Also clear physics, just think of relation of light-braking coefficient on a water surface to the wave length. the bluer it is - the more light is reflected from wet surface to the eyes of opposite traffic, the less gets through the water film to the pavement and can be reflected back to your eyes.
Please do not put HIDs to the reflector design headlights...
 
is there a way to temporarily make the headlight go on without motor running? it shakes so hard that a pleasant headlight alignment adjustment is getting shaky/smelly and loud...

I mean without the need to give a straight wire from battery to the bulb :) with a standard mounted headlight unit. maybe some kind of secret service-code which disables the off-function in the ECU?

thanks!
 
small report:

I did put the bulb described above, replacing my low beam. GREAT! no excessive heat, wires ok, headlamp unit ok, nothing melted. used it for 2000+ km, also in outside temps over +30 celsius.

might be a bit noticeable weaker battery charging, but could be also a dead battery (most probably). Now the battery is replaced, but too cold to ride.

I can recommend the upgrade. Much brighter, no excessive glare to opposite traffic.
 
But how about any possible gradual darkening of the reflector annulling the upgrade on the long run?
I've heard of such problems in similar mods.
 
Mi_ka said:
But how about any possible gradual darkening of the reflector annulling the upgrade on the long run?
I've heard of such problems in similar mods.

might be an issue. too soon for me to tell if it is one. but thanks for the hint - I have to buy a spare headlight unit for the future, cause I hope the bike will be a keeper for me for many-many years.
 
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