460 Headlight bulb wattage
Whilst I know the 460 55A alternator is up to it, do any of you know if the switchgear and relay are up to taking 100 or 130 watt bulbs? It's just that I'm such a scrooge and don't want horrid spotlights on it, but would like to up the power for off road use :idea:
For those of you who dont do it, nightime offroading when lamping rabbits can be precarious when going over the brows of hills into apparent blackness. You've got to work out if its black because there's nothing there or just because you dont have enough light to see what is there :shock:
I am afraid that you cannot do what you are aiming to do. Dead ground is dead ground, no matter how you increace your wattage, or how high you fix your auxillary lights, for the simple reason that dead ground is determined by your sightline. It does not matter at all if you have 200 watts three feet above your head, shining down into dead ground: you will still be unable to benefit from that illumination as dead ground is dead ground, whether illuminated or not, unless you jack your seat up so that your eyes are on the same level as the lamps.
You can site auxillary lamps up to your sight-line, which will give you a benefit over the ordinary lamps, which are below your sight-line, but anything above your natural sight line serves no purpose in trying to see into dead ground. High-sited full-beams are very useful on flat land, but cannot help you to see into dead ground if they are above your eye-level.
Varey lights and star-shells will not help you either, as though they will illuminate the dead ground brilliantly, you will not benefit from the illumination of that dead ground, as you are unable to see it.
Vehicles I have been in that have been involved in lamping have had a hatch in the roof, through which the rifle stands, his eyeline being some three foot above the driver's vision line. The rifle is equipped with a powerful lamp which enables him to see into dead ground that is hidden to the driver due to his lower position. The rifle instructs the driver as to where to go, when to stop, start, turn the engine off, etc..
Given undulating land, the driver must obey the rifle's instructions.
Cut a hole in the roof and buy a million candlepower portable light that runs off the cigar lighter-----problem solved !
Hope this helps,
Stubbseys correct in the dead ground bit (not very sporting John, but OK it's productive)
Ignoring the chance of driving over a cliff, mine has 100 watt bulbs with no apparent ill effect on the switchgear. If you are worried and want to go to 130 watt suggest you fit a relay to switch the higher load. Any motor factor will have one. Also I think you maybe able to fit Xenon bulbs in place of H4's.
Russ
Also I think you maybe able to fit Xenon bulbs in place of H4's
But will it serve any actual purpose? I replaced the ordinary bulbs of my C Class with Halford's bi-xenon bulbs which they claim are 50% more luminous than ordinary. Welll, that must be in their dreams 'cause I'm not noticing any improvement whatsoever!
But will it serve any actual purpose? !
Pass. I've not tried them and based on that I will save my money. Thanks.
Russ
Russ280 wrote:Also I think you maybe able to fit Xenon bulbs in place of H4's
But will it serve any actual purpose? I replaced the ordinary bulbs of my C Class with Halford's bi-xenon bulbs which they claim are 50% more luminous than ordinary. Welll, that must be in their dreams 'cause I'm not noticing any improvement whatsoever!
Well I lied... I actually noticed a great improvement in one of the sides: the bulb replaced was actually blown so not surprisingly!
Have you tried eating more carrots John, or are they for the rabbits :P Eeh! what's up doc :lol:
As far as i know, you can't just replace halogen bulbs with Xenon bulbs. Theres a lot more to Xenon lighting then the bulbs. Its also illegal to run Xenons lights, as dipped beam without auto focus/levelling... It's a small fortune to convert to a proper Xenon lighting system.
You've confused me there Mark. I've already run Xenon bulbs in other cars I've had with no problems whatsoever. They use the same amount of power and are the same tri-blade socket fitment - whats the problem supposed to be in using them?
In any case there are many other 60, 100, and 130 H4's that can be used. But the 'illegal' statement you make is interesting, since the dip and main beam patterns remain exactly the same and conform to the MOT patterns required by the test unit at my friends garage.
Do please explain where you're coming from on this one.
John
John, i'll have a guess and say the blue Xenon bulbs you fitted were blue tinted halogens. Halfords sell them, they call them "Xenon like", or something like that.. The light they give is nothing like a true Xenon light system.. To retro fit a Xenon lighting system is most probably not far off £1000.00.. The whole system is completely different. I'm no expert, and may be wrong, but i'm reasonably confident this is the case.. The Hella web site has info regarding Xenons, i'll post a link later..
Headlamp cleaning equipment is also required for Xenon lights because of the autofocus / level requirement.
Oh well,, i was partly right :lol: The Xenon light i meant are the HID ones, fitted to most knobby cars these days..
Quote
"High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) is a type of lighting technology that replaces the filament of the light bulb with Xenon gas. The gas is ignited to produce an arc of light, when high voltage is applied. The amount of light output is three times that of a standard halogen bulb. The lamps also glow at a higher light temperature (closer to natural sunlight) that gives it its distinct color and appearance.
Other companies produce halogen bulbs that are gas-filled. They still have a filament as they are halogen technology, but the gas gives the bulb a bluer color when lit. Xenon-filled halogen bulbs produce little or no more light output than standard halogen bulbs of the same wattage.
"It should be noted that halogen technology is not comparable to the Xenon discharge technology, fitted as original equipment to more and more of the world's finest cars. " - Philips
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY COMPANIES THAT OFFER HID-LOOK BULBS!
They are not a true XENON H.I.D. light system.
Aaaaahhhhh, interesting, I didn't even know you could get arc bulbs. Could always connect my welder up to some electrodes but could be a problem focusing it! God help anyone on the recieving end???
Aaaaahhhhh, interesting, I didn't even know you could get arc bulbs. Could always connect my welder up to some electrodes but could be a problem focusing it! God help anyone on the recieving end???
Oh Dear, you Scots are THICK!
I was taking the piss Jesus!
Oh Dear, you Scots are THICK! I'm so THICK I can't even work out the logic behind your sweeping statement :shock: Is this forum not for mutual enlightenment, therefore everyone on it must be thick - apart from the elite, higher beings of course :evil:
Oh dear, oh dear....
I hope nobody got offended :)
Just a whole Nation :lol:
mortinson wrote:
Oh Dear, you Scots are THICK! I'm so THICK I can't even work out the logic behind your sweeping statement :shock: Is this forum not for mutual enlightenment, therefore everyone on it must be thick - apart from the elite, higher beings of course :evil:
no worries chazz, the higher beings are as sick as you're, or even sicker because all they do is just spending a bit more money on the same crap :wink:
Have you been hiding up that Great oak tree flo. :) Maybe some day I'll come over and drink some of your foamy beer. I can just imagine me in my Kilt and you in your Lederhosen pleasently chatting about diesel :lol:
easy. would be surely great to catch up on a beer, ether here or there. i'm not 100% confident about the pleasent diesel dicussion, but it won't be a quite night, that's for sure. :wink:
furthermore we should do it ether really here in bavaria, or somewhere on your turf, because if they see the two of us for excample in london, they might just think: "2 queens on their way to a fancy dress party in their boxy shag-mobils" ...and obviously we don't want to give that impression, do we.... :shock: 8) :D
Flo. That reminds me, I'll need to have my legs waxed. :lol: :shock: :lol:
Hey Chazz, have you noticed how all my posts turn into battlefields?
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Thanks guys. I wasn't assuming anything about dead zones which I am well aware of, it is just whether the switchgear is up to it in standard form. I'll try the 100's. I had blue xenons in my Patrol and to be honest they were shiiiitttteeee (did the filter get that one Jesus?).
I need more light in general and I know 100's are better than 60's, but then 130's sound good (but then burnt out wiring doesn't) etc etc......