Observations doing a 9011 swap

I swapped the stock 9005 highs for GE 9011s sourced from eBay using a link on this forum.

My car is relatively new (2012) and doesn't have high beam DRLs. It has a dedicated DRL. When I pulled out the stock 9005s, they were cloudy as if they had been in DRL service since 2012. The bulbs looked like they had been run and underfed for extended periods of time. I don't understand. I run my high beams sometimes, yes, but other than that they're off. They aren't used in some sort of low voltage DRL mode. I also read on this forum that using a wiring harness for newer cars is just a plain dumb idea because newer cars don't have voltage issues. My car is relatively new, no accidents, no rats eating wiring, etc. I'm the only owner and I never swapped the highs before. It makes me wonder why the bulbs would fog up like that. Should I conduct a voltage drop test? I might do one later when I have more time...

Also, the "new" 9011s off eBay had scratched capsules and epoxied bases... Is this normal? I'm especially concerned about the epoxy. Is that stock/factory? Also, I've never seen capsules so scratched up before. Not even repeatedly removed/inserted bulbs that get bumped against the housing and other stuff are this scratched... Should I be concerned about breakage?

Extremely oversize pic

The glue on the base is normal for GE bulbs of that timeframe. The crazed/scratched capsule is not normal, and I would not run those bulbs. Show the seller that pic and request unscratched bulbs, or buy a different brand of HIR1 bulb.

As for your stock bulbs: what make and model is your car? How many miles are on it? That bulb you pulled out doesn't look anywhere near as bad as it would have if it had been in reduced-voltage high beam use since 2012, but the coloration is interesting. Is this photo presenting accurately as far as color? It's a white-yellow or gray-yellow stain on the inside of the bulb glass? Are both bulbs stained about the same? What brand are they?

Good idea, I will ask for better bulbs. I only got the GEs because you said they were best, better than the Toshiba or Phillips alternatives, and used your eBay link. Hopefully the seller can make things right. Also, I'm curious: do lamps with IRR bulbs run cooler at the lens than equivalent lamps without the IRR bulbs?

2012, Lexus IS, 100k miles, and yes, the color is accurate in the photo. Yellow/brown stain inside. Not white or gray. Both bulbs are about equally stained, and they are Sylvania LL bulbs.

Edit, yep, these GE 9011 bulbs are definitely going back! One of them dimmed significantly after 10 miles of driving! What would cause a presumably new bulb to dim so significantly in such a short time?

I took the bulbs out for observation and this is what I found:

Since this post, I've put about 15,000 miles on my car (mostly highway driving at night) and ran through another pair of 9011 bulbs from a different supplier.

The GE 9011s both burned out at about the same time. Well, they didn't "burn" out in the traditional sense, as in the filament snapped. They both kept lighting up, but the capsule was significantly blackened.

https://imgur.com/a/Hmm3wko

I replaced them with 1 Sylvania Basic 9011, and 1 old Sylvania Long Life 9005 that had been previously used as a DRL on another car. I'm waiting on shipment of a Toshiba 9011 in the meantime, which will replace the 9005.

I think I can make a few observations (perhaps not conclusions):

1) The GE 9011 glass capsules seem to scratch easily. All 4 of my GE 9011s, which came from two different people, came scratched up. I have a bunch of old 9005s and 9006s, some of them from the 90s, tossed around in a box and all over my garage, and they've been tossed in a car for a 1000 mile relocation, and none of them have scratches or crazing remotely comparable to the GE 9011s. I didn't bag up any of the 9005s or 9006s or give them any sort of preferential treatment. The only bulbs I treated carefully during my move were some Volsa 9012+30s--they got put in ZipLoc bags!

2) All 4 of the 9011s suffered the same failure mode: the filament didn't snap, but rather the capsule blackened.

3) I don't think seeking them out is a particularly worthy endeavor anymore. I used to be fascinated by their different design and thought that perhaps the minuscule capsule would promote higher filament temperatures, and in turn, more light, but I honestly can't say I noticed that they were significantly worse or better than regular ol' 9011s like the Sylvania Basic 9011 or a Philips Standard 9011.

I've had no problems with the Wagner-Philips 9011's I bought from RockAuto for just under $9 each about two years ago.

TechGuru said:

I've had no problems with the Wagner-Philips 9011's I bought from RockAuto for just under $9 each about two years ago.

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The Wagners are rebranded Philips *seconds*. They are not the top-tier Philips selection.

You've been told this before and pointed to this post before.

Alaric Darconville said:

The Wagners are rebranded Philips *seconds*. They are not the top-tier Philips selection.

You've been told this before and pointed to this post before.

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Correct, I was just letting the OP know that I have not personally experienced any problems with them. (They're probably still a step up from anything on EBay...)

RA does sell the Philips at twice the price but still cheaper than the $25 each AZ/OR/AAP etc charges...

TechGuru said:

Correct, I was just letting the OP know that I have not personally experienced any problems with them.

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The plural of anecdote is not data

On my 2005 Silverado I run the Phillips HIR1 9011 & 9012 bulbs on a boosted light harness and enjoy them.
On my 2013 Dodge Charger R/T Plus I run them in the high beam on the stock harness and adjusted the target voltage in the BCM up a little to compensate voltage drop.
I also moved my DRL to the turn signals. No more smoked bulbs.
The are nice.

therock said:

boosted light harness

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What's a boosted harness?

therock said:

adjusted the target voltage in the BCM up a little to compensate voltage drop.

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Speaking of voltage, funny thing is one of the reman alternators I went through had a defective voltage regulator, and it was pushing out 15+ volts to a pair of Vosla 9012+120s coupled with some Philips 9011s on a wiring harness.

If only my luck would allow me to get another one of those defective alternators !

The lifespan data for the Vosla bulbs at 14.0 volts is a little scary when coupled with the fact that I had them running for a fair bit at 15+ volts!

Its a harness that replaces the lights from the connection at the bulbs going to solenoids getting power direct from the battery. The harness should also have plug(s) that connect to the ones you disconnected from the bulbs to get the high/low beam switching inputs.

The one on my truck is made by Kennedy Diesel. Nice quality wiring and solenoids with factory connectors. Been on the truck for more than a decade.
There is some real junk out there. And some custom makers if you can find them. Stern made me one for a vehicle I had several years ago.