Hella Luminator Upgrade

[Wynsam]

Hi Guys(I assume that most here are guys!)

I am a long time reader of the forums, consider myself amild “flashaholic.” Only thing that hold me back from serious addiction is alack of time. Hope that improves before I die!

The dual nature of light fascinates me no end, just needmore time to do mental gymnastics with those concepts. Anyway I digress.

This post is about automotive lightsJ

I have an off-road vehicle. It has a mix of factory fit HIDtype lights for the low beams, halogen H11 for the brights/main(what were theythinking in Japan on that day , why not go with bi xeon? – must have been acost issue).

I was never happy with the amount of light available on thehigh or main/brights. So I searched around and investigated the usual suspectslike Hella, Lightfarce, IPF, KC, Cibie etc. I eventually settled on a pair of HellaLuminators. This is a large light, halogen H1 bulbed. I went with the, in Hellaspeak, Ref 37.5 Spotlight light spread. Part number 1F8 007 560-311.

Initially I had a set of 130W bulbs in them. This did notlast long though, one of the bulbs yellowed and dulled very rapidly. Next Itried a set of 100W bulbs, these have been good and are still in thelights.(Note the lights are on their own relay with power directly suppliedfrom the battery on thick cable)

I really like the lights and the nice illumination theyprovide. However there is no such as too much light, well at least I have notseen it yet! I am keen to convert these bulbs to HID together with the requiredignitors.

Has anyone done a similar conversion to a set of Hella Luminators?Were the results good, and worthwhile? Any tips or suggestions? Kindly notethat these lights would not be used in traffic and only off road, they are on aseparate switch and do not pose any legal type issues in my part of the planet!

Can anyone recommend a supplier, there are so many dodgylooking outfits selling these kits on the cheap especially on places like Ebay.It hard to tell the good from the bad. I am happy to pay for good quality,cheap is not always best.

Thanks in advance!

 

[-Virgil-]

"HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog/auxiliary lamps (any kit, any lamp, any vehicle no matter whether it's a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here for more info. You can probably upgrade your original high beam headlamps with H9 bulbs (2100 lumens) replacing the H11 bulbs (1350 lumens). What kind of vehicle are you working on?

 

[electromage]

What part of the planet are you in? I think that because CPF is US-based, we still can't talk about bulbs or mods that would be illegal here.

Edit: I hope this only posts once... I had a weird error.

 

[Wynsam]

Resurrecting this old thread.

I am in South Africa, the lights are used off road so no worries about legalities.

If anyone has done a reliable, we'll performing upgrade on these lights please post some info.

Thanks

 

[Hamilton Felix]

There are probably more options available now than in 2012. But the laws of physics have not changed.

The reason HID "conversions" (or any "conversions" that change the light source) are illegal (in just about all civilized nations) and dangerous in vehicles used on public roads, is that you cannot avoid altering the beam pattern when you change the light source. Sure, you may have lots of light, but some of it ends up in the wrong places, glare toward other drivers, excessive foreground light, artifacts in the beam, dark zones in the wrong places, you name it.

if it's not a licensed vehicle and it only operates far away from all public roads, legality may not be as much of an issue, and you probably aren't blinding other drivers. Experimentation is fun, but you are still most likely to find your results less satisfactory than simply using lights that were designed and built as HID lamps. The only time I can claim to have "improved" a light by changing bulb type, was when I acquired a pair of old Cepek C-200 Super Offroader lights with the odd transverse filament bulb Cepek called a "210 watt H4." This light light was so utterly horrible beyond belief, that installing a standard H4 and lighting high beam "improved" it to merely awful.:rolleyes:

For me, off highway travel is crawling slowly along old logging roads and maneuvering among trees and brush, so the desired lighting is more along the lines of floodlighting, sometimes to the sides or rear.

If your offroad truck has plenty of alternator output, multiple halogen lights would probably be most cost effective. To me, the higher cost of HID and LED lighting makes the most sense sense where power and mounting space is limited, such as on motorcycles or small cars.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Resurrecting this old thread.

Only to get told "no" again. No, we're not going to help you with ruining your lamps' performance with illegal HID kits.

I am in South Africa, the lights are used off road so no worries about legalities.

The "kits" can fit regulated motor vehicle equipment and so are still illegal in South Africa, as that is a UNECE signatory country.

Please go back and reread Rule 11.

 

[NFT5]

The "kits" can fit regulated motor vehicle equipment and so are still illegal in South Africa, as that is a UNECE signatory country.

Are you sure of this Alaric? SA may be like Australia where there is no regulation on auxiliary lighting which would prevent what OP is talking about.

 

[Unicorn]

Are off road lights regulated and controlled there?

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Are you sure of this Alaric? SA may be like Australia where there is no regulation on auxiliary lighting which would prevent what OP is talking about.

Are off road lights regulated and controlled there?

The Hella Luminator mentioned above uses the H1 bulb. The H1 fits in *regulated* motor vehicle equipment, such as headlamps. For the HID kit to "fit" the Hella Luminator, by extension it also fits in the regulated motor vehicle equipment, making the kit illegal. It's irrespective of the "intent" of the use.

Panda Power tried to use the "but- but- OFF-ROAD USE ONLY" excuse, to no avail. See here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?379292-quot-HID-kit-quot-vendor-spanked-by-NHTSA!