Best 9005/HB3 ?

Changed out the H7 low beam bulbs in my Subaru Forester today (to Osram 65W Rallye) and pulled the high beam bulbs to check on them.
the filament looks fairly nice and smooth (not super jagged like an older bulb), but there is a brown stain on the end of the bulb.


is this because the high beams havent been run long enough to get the bulbs hot enough for the halogen cycle to clean them up ?

As they still work, i will keep these as spares and upgrade to a better bulb (if there is one)
what would be the best upgrade ? (Will probably get them from candlepower, along with a spare pair of H7 Rallye bulbs)


Hoping to get my Rallye 4000 compacts fitted soon too (waiting for my mechanic to put the wires through the firewall neatly)

Echo63 said:

Changed out the H7 low beam bulbs in my Subaru Forester today (to Osram 65W Rallye) and pulled the high beam bulbs to check on them.
the filament looks fairly nice and smooth (not super jagged like an older bulb), but there is a brown stain on the end of the bulb.

is this because the high beams havent been run long enough to get the bulbs hot enough for the halogen cycle to clean them up ?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is.

As they still work, i will keep these as spares and upgrade to a better bulb (if there is one)
what would be the best upgrade ? (Will probably get them from candlepower, along with a spare pair of H7 Rallye bulbs)

Click to expand...

High beams being high beams, don't limit yourself to the 9005. Upgrade those high beams to THIS HIR1. It requires a base modification, described here. (If you want to keep using the 9005 instead, then get this.)

Thanks Alaric.
one more question, specifically that phillips HIR1 ? Or will any 9011/HIR1 work ok ?

Candlepowerinc list it as a phillips/osram - i assume its whatever is on the shelf at the time
http://store.candlepower.com/9011.html

I don't have any data on Osram's HIR1 bulb; it's probably fine. I do know this Philips HIR1 is dependable, and so is the Vosla and the Tungsram/GE. I would not use the Wagner.

-Virgil- said:

I don't have any data on Osram's HIR1 bulb; it's probably fine. I do know this Philips HIR1 is dependable, and so is the Vosla and the Tungsram/GE. I would not use the Wagner.

Click to expand...

Thanks Virgil - Phillips it is then....

For more on why to skip Wagner, the first picture is the Philips, the second is the Wagner.

Magnification levels are slightly different; the point is to show the filament precision differences between Wagner, who buy the Philips rejects, and what Philips sees as fit to bear their name directly.

I guarantee you will not be disappointed in the HIR bulbs.... I will say you should do voltage drop test to make sure you are getting the most out of them...

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

Alaric Darconville said:

For more on why to skip Wagner and to get Philips, the first picture is the Wagner, the second is the Philips.

Magnification levels are slightly different; the point is to show the filament precision differences between Wagner, who buy the Philips rejects, and what Philips sees as fit to bear their name directly.

Click to expand...

That is quite a difference, the Wagner is nowhere near positioned straight.
I have had surefire bulbs that had filaments like that, but the bulb was positioned crooked so it still produced a proper beam pattern.
i guess selling them off as "seconds" is another way to keep using the imperfect bulbs.

drmalenko said:

I guarantee you will not be disappointed in the HIR bulbs.... I will say you should do voltage drop test to make sure you are getting the most out of them...

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

Click to expand...

I was impressed with the Osram Rallye H7 that i finally bought after seeing them recommended on this subforum, they looked brighter to my eyes. but i am not sure if i am actually seeing an improvement, or my brain is telling me they are better because i was. A, in the dark saying goodbye to my parents before driving home and my eyes adapted to the dark, or B, i know they are brighter, because the spec sheet says so.

I will do a Voltage test in the next few days and report back with the voltage the high and low beam bulbs see.

Echo63 said:

I was impressed with the Osram Rallye H7 that i finally bought after seeing them recommended on this subforum, they looked brighter to my eyes. but i am not sure if i am actually seeing an improvement, or my brain is telling me they are better because i was. A, in the dark saying goodbye to my parents before driving home and my eyes adapted to the dark, or B, i know they are brighter, because the spec sheet says so.

Click to expand...

It's my understanding that the Rallye H7 uses a H9 burner on a H7 base, so it should be quite a bit brighter, especially if you are providing the full voltage to the bulbs. I have a set of the Rallye H7 in my Genesis, and they were obviously brighter than the standard H7 bulbs. They would be even brighter and whiter if I could figure out how to add a wiring harness with relays, but Hyundai has it so crammed under the hood that I can't even begin to figure out how I would run the wires. Also, the battery is not under the hood, so there is also the problem of accessing the full voltage the battery is putting out. Oh, well, the Rallye H7s are still brighter than the standard H7s.

:welcome:

mtrot said:

It's my understanding that the Rallye H7 uses a H9 burner on a H7 base, so it should be quite a bit brighter, especially if you are providing the full voltage to the bulbs.

Click to expand...

Flosser does that, too.

They would be even brighter and whiter if I could figure out how to add a wiring harness with relays

Click to expand...

They'd be brighter and shorter-lived, but they would not be whiter. White light is white.

Also, the battery is not under the hood, so there is also the problem of accessing the full voltage the battery is putting out.

Click to expand...

Once the car is running, you don't need the voltage the battery is putting out-- you need the voltage (and current) the alternator is putting out. Your battery shouldn't stay in a charge or discharge state very long once the initial drain from starting is replenished.