Is halogen safe?
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Hilldweller
Enlightened
I used to work at a Honda dealership and a guy came in with a GL1500 Goldwing with a melted headlight assembly and burnt connectors. He was grumbling that he'd have to foot the bill since it was out of warranty.
I asked him what happened to it; he said that he was running 80w bulbs.
I don't think your stock wiring or housings were meant for that amount of heat or amperage.
I asked him what happened to it; he said that he was running 80w bulbs.
I don't think your stock wiring or housings were meant for that amount of heat or amperage.
No, it isn't safe. Get the overwattage bulbs out of there before you do a lot of expensive damage to your vehicle. The wires can't handle it. The relays can't handle it. Some parts of the headlamp itself might not handle it (for long, anyhow). If you need more light, replace the 9005 high beam bulbs with 9011, and the 9006 low beam bulbs with 9012 HIR bulbs. They are standard-wattage bulbs that produce a great deal more light.
Hey, at least he admitted it. I used to see guys come in with totally barbecued headlight wiring and melted sockets, headlamp reflectors discolored or distorted/melted above the bulb, bulb shield all tarnished. Ask 'em what happened and you never saw such looks of angelic innocence. "I have no idea, that's why I'm bringing it in! I was just filling up my windshield washer fluid the other day and I noticed these burned-looking wires/my wife told me the headlights were flickering the other night/I was washing my car and noticed this funny discoloration in the headlights/etc.". Ask them what kind of bulbs they were using and they were always "Oh, y'know, just whatever they have at the parts store, but I can't remember the last time I had to replace a bulb so I'm not sure what brand it is". Eeeeyeah...and there was always a brand-new pair of bulbs in it, despite bits of melted bulb base stuck to the melted/charred socket. Uh-huh.
Which is why I am a HUGE fan of relays and FAT wiring, and really good connectors.
Now, in all fairness, I've run some seriously overwattage bulbs in plastic headlamps with no issues. My SO's Forester has 100/145 watt H4s in its plastic healights, and they are incredible, and no problems after 5 years. Of course, these are fairly large headlights, which helps with the heat dissipation. Now, I am judicious about this, if the headlight is really small, the bulbs is really close to the plastic, or doesn't have a metal bulb holder, I would never try this. Before someone yells at me. <G>
Now, in all fairness, I've run some seriously overwattage bulbs in plastic headlamps with no issues. My SO's Forester has 100/145 watt H4s in its plastic healights, and they are incredible, and no problems after 5 years. Of course, these are fairly large headlights, which helps with the heat dissipation. Now, I am judicious about this, if the headlight is really small, the bulbs is really close to the plastic, or doesn't have a metal bulb holder, I would never try this. Before someone yells at me. <G>
Hey, at least he admitted it. I used to see guys come in with totally barbecued headlight wiring and melted sockets, headlamp reflectors discolored or distorted/melted above the bulb, bulb shield all tarnished. Ask 'em what happened and you never saw such looks of angelic innocence. "I have no idea, that's why I'm bringing it in! I was just filling up my windshield washer fluid the other day and I noticed these burned-looking wires/my wife told me the headlights were flickering the other night/I was washing my car and noticed this funny discoloration in the headlights/etc.". Ask them what kind of bulbs they were using and they were always "Oh, y'know, just whatever they have at the parts store, but I can't remember the last time I had to replace a bulb so I'm not sure what brand it is". Eeeeyeah...and there was always a brand-new pair of bulbs in it, despite bits of melted bulb base stuck to the melted/charred socket. Uh-huh.It got to the point where several automakers issued TSBs listing the signs of damage from overwattage bulbs and specifically denying warranty coverage for repairs resulting from it. I remember at least one customer very upset that in addition to wiring repair his van would need a new, very expensive body control module to replace the one he fried with high-wattage bulbs, and none of it would be covered by his vehicle warranty.
Well, there's plastic and then there's plastic. The term covers a huge range of materials, from thermoplastic (which will melt) to polyester bulk molding compounds to thermoset phenolics (which will not, though they can blister and char). European and Japanese makers tend to use nonmelting materials; American makers tend to use thermoplastic because the American automakers want their lights for absolute bottom dollar. There are exceptions to this; ZKW of Austria, for example, makes a lot of their reflectors out of polyetherimide, which will melt if overheated.
Those 145/100w H4s are visually impressive, I'm sure, but they are probably not as "incredible" as they seem, in terms of actual safety performance. Keep in mind, as wattage increases, the size of the filament necessarily increases, both in length and in diameter. This has a strongly negative effect on beam focus; the more closely the filament approximates a point source of light, the better the beam focus, and the opposite is also true: the bigger the filament the poorer the beam focus. Effective seeing distance plummets. At the same time, foreground light goes to "surface of the sun" levels, which creates the impression of "excellent" lighting while absolutely slaughtering your distance vision (pupils constrict in response to the brightly-lit foreground, and distance acuity drops way off). We human beings are very poor judges of our visual performance; subjective impressions are usually way out of line with actual seeing performance.
Those 145/100w H4s are visually impressive, I'm sure, but they are probably not as "incredible" as they seem, in terms of actual safety performance. Keep in mind, as wattage increases, the size of the filament necessarily increases, both in length and in diameter. This has a strongly negative effect on beam focus; the more closely the filament approximates a point source of light, the better the beam focus, and the opposite is also true: the bigger the filament the poorer the beam focus. Effective seeing distance plummets. At the same time, foreground light goes to "surface of the sun" levels, which creates the impression of "excellent" lighting while absolutely slaughtering your distance vision (pupils constrict in response to the brightly-lit foreground, and distance acuity drops way off). We human beings are very poor judges of our visual performance; subjective impressions are usually way out of line with actual seeing performance.
Hey Scheinwerfermann, thank you for the alternative source bulbs! I'll see if my local auto parts stores have them.
Hey, at least he admitted it. I used to see guys come in with totally barbecued headlight wiring and melted sockets, headlamp reflectors discolored or distorted/melted above the bulb, bulb shield all tarnished. Ask 'em what happened and you never saw such looks of angelic innocence. "I have no idea, that's why I'm bringing it in! I was just filling up my windshield washer fluid the other day and I noticed these burned-looking wires/my wife told me the headlights were flickering the other night/I was washing my car and noticed this funny discoloration in the headlights/etc.". Ask them what kind of bulbs they were using and they were always "Oh, y'know, just whatever they have at the parts store, but I can't remember the last time I had to replace a bulb so I'm not sure what brand it is". Eeeeyeah...and there was always a brand-new pair of bulbs in it, despite bits of melted bulb base stuck to the melted/charred socket. Uh-huh.It got to the point where several automakers issued TSBs listing the signs of damage from overwattage bulbs and specifically denying warranty coverage for repairs resulting from it. I remember at least one customer very upset that in addition to wiring repair his van would need a new, very expensive body control module to replace the one he fried with high-wattage bulbs, and none of it would be covered by his vehicle warranty.
I'm not ashamed of admitting I dont know. I'd be ashamed if I knew I could get answers from folks who knew but didn't ask. You have have helped me avoid a costly lesson. Thanks again!
They don't; that's why I linked that ordering source.
