9011 bulb in DRL use?

The 2010 Subaru Outback uses 9005 bulbs in the high beam locations. I have seen suggestions to install the 9011 bulbs in their place, including some notes from Daniel Stern*. My question that I have not seen good info about is what happens with the high beams running in DRL mode on these cars - any impact on the bulb? Oh, one more thing, is the ACDelco 9011 bulb the same as the GM p/n 15094219 as it appears to be on parts sites like Rock Auto?

Thanks!



* The other half of his advice is to install H9 bulbs for the stock H11's in the projector low beams. I am not too worried about increased upper lighting as the stock setup has a low, strong cutoff that leaves signs pretty dark - and me in the dark on rolling country roads as found all over central PA! EDIT - found that is for the Outback SPORT which is not the same as the Outback, which has H7 low beams. Edited to help future Google victims.

There's no reason to avoid using a 9011 in DRL service, it'll be fine. The "ACDelco" bulb is a Philips-made item; as far as I know the Philips bulb is the only (legitimate) HIR1/9011 bulb currently being manufactured.

Yeah, I too have heard reports that running them at lower heat causes the filament to disperse (maybe dissolve? not quite sputter... don't know what word to use) more quickly, but all I've heard is anecdotal evidence, nothing like "these were run at 13V for 2 years, and these were run at 6V for 2 years, here's the results." Are DRLs implemented differently, or is it more likely a misunderstanding on how halogen bulbs work, on my part?

If you underrun a halogen bulb to the degree the bulb wall doesn't reach the critical temperature for the halogen cycle to occur, you'll get opaque tungsten deposits on the colder parts of the bulb wall. This is easily visible as a reddish-brown stain near the front/tip of a 9005 high beam bulb on many vehicles equipped with high beam DRLs, and it is even more prominent on vehicles with larger-diameter bulb envelopes (9004, 9007) with high beam DRLs. Operation above critical temperature for a prolonged period will clean the tungsten deposits off the bulb wall and redeposit the tungsten on the filaments.

There is no difference in critical temperature or attainment of it between a 9005 and a 9011.

Scheinwerfermann said:

There's no reason to avoid using a 9011 in DRL service, it'll be fine. The "ACDelco" bulb is a Philips-made item; as far as I know the Philips bulb is the only (legitimate) HIR1/9011 bulb currently being manufactured.

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Bumping this old thread after doing a search for ACDelco and HIRs. I saw some ACDelco HIR bulbs on amazon that suspiciously looked like Toshiba HIRs. Got them today in an ACDelco box and plastic bag, they are stamped Toshiba on the side and say made in Japan. Question is, are these fake or did ACDelco hoard these bulbs?

That's old stock that's been sitting in a warehouse awhile; Toshiba stopped making HIR bulbs in Japan in 2007 or so, and stopped making HIR bulbs at all in early 2009.

Thanks for the info.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but this is the only one I could find concerning my specific situation.
Here is my situation:
Driving a 2013 Acura RDX. Looking to replace the high beam/DRL 9005 bulbs. I bought the car used, but I doubt any of the bulbs have ever been replaced.
I've seen quite a bit about using an HIR1 bulb instead of the 9005, but wanted to know if this would fit my specific application.
The high beams are rarely used.
The current Sylvania 9005 bulbs have the "deposits" that are mentioned above. They are more tan/beige in color.
If I replace these with the HIR1 bulbs, will the deposits still occur? What's my best bulb option here?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the CandlePowerForums!

Because the high beams are always used away from other traffic, the HIR1 swap should work. You'll still get the deposits on them-- perhaps you should move the DRL function to the front turn signals using the Web Electric DRL-1, available from http://www.wеbеlectricproducts.com or from Daniel Stern. Careful, though-- Web Electric also sells some terrible junk like flashing CHMSLs (which they call "brake light pulsers" but are illegal no matter what they call them).

You say the "high beams are rarely used"-- be sure you're not underusing them-- it's much more common than you think.

I've been using Philips 9011 for almost two years now on my Corolla. My car has auto DRL (cannot turn it off unless you cut the DRL wire). The 9011 is still crystal clear and no deposits unlike the regular 9005 that I use before, which have a deposit in just a short time of use.

Alaric Darconville said:

Welcome to the CandlePowerForums!

Because the high beams are always used away from other traffic, the HIR1 swap should work. You'll still get the deposits on them-- perhaps you should move the DRL function to the front turn signals using the Web Electric DRL-1, available from http://www.wеbеlectricproducts.com or from Daniel Stern. Careful, though-- Web Electric also sells some terrible junk like flashing CHMSLs (which they call "brake light pulsers" but are illegal no matter what they call them).

You say the "high beams are rarely used"-- be sure you're not underusing them-- it's much more common than you think.

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Thanks. Not sure I'd be comfortable with installing the DRL-1 module, as I have zero electrical experience, and this is a new car (for me) still under warranty. I'm really just looking for plug and play remedies. I'll try the HIR1/9011 bulbs and see how it goes. I also have a 2009 Jetta Sportwagen that I might be more willing to experiment with.

When I say rarely used, I mean we live in a fairly urban area, so even when the car is driven at night, the opportunity to use high beams is rare. So these bulbs are used almost exclusively as DRLs.

Thanks for everyone's comments. I've gained a wealth of knowledge reading through this forum.

bardenc17 said:

The current Sylvania 9005 bulbs have the "deposits" that are mentioned above. They are more tan/beige in color. If I replace these with the HIR1 bulbs, will the deposits still occur?

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They might -- or the HIR1s might run just enough hotter in DRL mode to stave off the stains. The staining is caused by running halogen bulbs far enough below their rated voltage that the bulb glass (or some of the bulb glass) does not reach a high enough temperature for the halogen cycle to happen. So tungsten boiled off the filament condenses on the bulb glass, causing the brown (and eventually black) deposits. If it's not too far advanced, this can be "cleaned up" by running the bulbs at rated voltage; see this sped-up movie of a halogen bulb being underfed and staining the walls, then being fed at rated voltage and the stains disappearing. In practice that means you'd have to use the car's high beams for prolonged periods of time, and most of us don't do that because we're always in traffic where we can't use the high beams. So the bulbs stain and eventually require replacement.

What's my best bulb option here?

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Probably the Philips HIR1/9011.

bardenc17 said:

The current Sylvania 9005 bulbs have the "deposits" that are mentioned above. They are more tan/beige in color.
If I replace these with the HIR1 bulbs, will the deposits still occur?

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I see the deposits forming on the 9011s in a friend's '99 RX300, so you might get them anyway. Maybe they won't be as pronounced as quickly as with a 9005-- the 9005's he took out really weren't extremely bad themselves, but I've seen some bad ones before.

Looks like several people have purchased THIS and actually gotten a Philips bulb. Saves you a few dollars per bulb if it is truly the same as a Philips HIR1.

HERE is the Wagner product page.

bardenc17 said:

Looks like several people have purchased THIS and actually gotten a Philips bulb. Saves you a few dollars per bulb if it is truly the same as a Philips HIR1.

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bardenc17 said:

HERE is the Wagner product page.

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Those people purchased Philips' factory seconds, which Wagner buys and rebrands. See this post to see what that means to you, the common consumer.

Thanks for that. I'm learning new things every day! The common consumer really has to be on his toes...