50 replies to this topic

[Benzola]

Hello Guys,

I’m defo’ replacing the “glow worms in jam jars” that currently pass themselves off as headlights. I’ve had a good ‘ol read up on here, am I correct in believing:

1. H1 is best & only replacement (going H7 as well is futile, as they take too long to come up to temperature to be practical – although I do a LOT of full beam, dark country lane driving).

2. 6000k is the colour to have (also my personal pref.)!

3. Slim ballast is not essential as there’s plenty of room to fit.

4. Now then.... I have fly eye film on the lenses... Which was a total P in the A to get looking nice & I don't want the film to turn into molten sludge from increased heat... Most are saying they’ve had no problem with 55w (no lens burn etc)... But has anyone used 55w with fly eye.... Should I stick with 35w?

The nights are drawing in & I need to sort this fast! Advise & links much appreciated.

Cheers – Benzola.

Oh.... These are the kits I’m considering:

55w @ £25.00: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item19c85d5b49

35w @ £39.95: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item20c5e4fb4f

[Rickwoo118]

I personally would go for the second option just to be safe. Remember if you are thinking of buying the its one they are from china and personally I would rather buy of someone in this country especially as we are talking about bulbs etc.

[JG]

Nah the china ones are fine. They all made there anyway. You just cut out a middle man if you buy direct. I bought from Diane_shop on ebay 6000k 35w in 2007 and they have been excellent. 25k miles with lights on (i always have them on). Lots of people have bought from them and they are very good with returns too (accounting for the delay in transit of course) I would go for 35W rather than 55.

[turboluca]

Could you post a picture of your lights so I know what they look like with the film on . I may be doing the same. As for the hids either are ok, personally I'd go for the uk ones

[JG]

As for the hids either are ok, personally I'd go for the uk ones

[MrSimba]

I went with 55W 6k's the 'ultra' bright Phillips / Halfords bulbs are 55W so the loom is more than capable of handling the wattage. I would not go for the slim line ballast as they come with a second unit about the size of a couple of matchboxes about 6" away from the main unit which you then have to zip tie to something! the larger ballast units have this integrated (hence they are 'larger'!!!) but as said plenty of room to mount on rad surround so actually easier & neater with larger ballast unit. Not a fan of the 'fly eyes' at all, had a 'custom' van behind me last week and I was driving along thinking whats wrong with his headlights? why so dim? I actually was wondering wether on the van 'scene' it was considered 'kool' to put 10W bulbs in for some strange reason? but when he pulled along side at an island glanced across & the lights were 'fly eyed' Christ knows how he saw anything after dusk!

Edited by MrSimba, 13 November 2012 - 08:06 AM.

[TheRealVXed]

The current draw on the wires is tiny compared to standard bulbs except for a split second at start up (hence the balast..) HIDs are cooler than standard bulb IIRC so 55 or 35w will be fine. Personally, if I ordered again I would have 55w. And china is fine

[turbobob]

Another 55W from me. As said, the power consumption is the same as standard bulbs, so there are no wiring or fuse issues. 55W give you more light. And I prefer 6000k too. But a lot of people run 4300k.

[turbobob]

As for the hids either are ok, personally I'd go for the uk ones

To be fair, I would seriously consider using a UK company. Not because the are better, but in a vain attempt to support a UK business. So it would be purely an ethical decision.

Edit and if there are any problems, then there would be a much quicker turnaround with a UK company and quicker initial delivery

Edited by turbobob, 13 November 2012 - 10:45 AM.

[JG]

That i can understand The quality will be the same though, as it will be made in china.

[Benzola]

The current draw on the wires is tiny compared to standard bulbs except for a split second at start up (hence the balast..) HIDs are cooler than standard bulb IIRC so 55 or 35w will be fine. Personally, if I ordered again I would have 55w. And china is fine

Sorted then, thanks folks. 55w it is. Surprised to hear HID's run cooler than current standard bulbs? Guess we'll soon find out.... Fingers crossed there will be no molten fly eye running all over my nice new paint work! Cheers. Ben.

PS: Had request for fly eye pics. I will post a load of pics soon as she's off the lift (next Sat) :-)

[techieboy]

Fingers crossed there will be molten fly eye

Let's hope so.

[JG]

what on earth is fly eye. Shall i google it?

[siztenboots]

lets safely say you won't ever use it

[m5systems]

Hello Guys,

I’m defo’ replacing the “glow worms in jam jars” that currently pass themselves off as headlights. I’ve had a good ‘ol read up on here, am I correct in believing:

1. H1 is best & only replacement (going H7 as well is futile, as they take too long to come up to temperature to be practical – although I do a LOT of full beam, dark country lane driving).

2. 6000k is the colour to have (also my personal pref.)!

3. Slim ballast is not essential as there’s plenty of room to fit.

4. Now then.... I have fly eye film on the lenses... Which was a total P in the A to get looking nice & I don't want the film to turn into molten sludge from increased heat... Most are saying they’ve had no problem with 55w (no lens burn etc)... But has anyone used 55w with fly eye.... Should I stick with 35w?

The nights are drawing in & I need to sort this fast! Advise & links much appreciated.

Cheers – Benzola.

Oh.... These are the kits I’m considering:

55w @ £25.00: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item19c85d5b49

35w @ £39.95: http://www.ebay.co.u...=item20c5e4fb4f

not exactly in line with what youre after, but thought i would mention i replaced the H7's in our ovlov the other week - halfrauds have a buy 1 get 1 free on their super brilliant and some similar ranges so might have what you are after? and if youre familiar with quidco you can save a bit that way too

[petrolhead1]

Fly Eyes = Coloured plastic film over the headlamp lens. I went for Paintshield Clear heavy duty film to protect the lenses from stone strikes. It's been on for years and works fine with my 35W kit that came from China direct about 5 years ago.

[TheRealVXed]

Done a bit of research on this as vaguely interested in the facts. Apparently the "core" (read plasma arc) temperature of HID is around 10,000 Farenheit (for comparison, normal filament bulbs is around 5,000F) The surface temparature of the bulb glass for HID is around 750F (for halogen around 1,400F). So why the double core temp and the half glass temp? Well. Filament bulbs emits a shag load of wasted energy as Infrared heat, which is very effective at heating up objects in close proximity to the source, hence more of the heat from the core is transferred to the surround areas. HID bulbs produce very little Infrared and don't heat up their surroundings as much. Therefore, it is safe to say that even though the core is twice as hot in an HID bulb, the surrounding area and the running temps that we are interested in here will be lower.

Edited by VXed, 13 November 2012 - 11:34 AM.

[techieboy]

what on earth is fly eye. Shall i google it?

lets safely say you won't ever use it

[slindborg]

As for the hids either are ok, personally I'd go for the uk ones

To be fair, I would seriously consider using a UK company. Not because the are better, but in a vain attempt to support a UK business. So it would be purely an ethical decision.

Edit and if there are any problems, then there would be a much quicker turnaround with a UK company and quicker initial delivery

you are so cute

As JG said, they are made in china no matter what, so all you are doing is paying china less money, which tbh I'd rather do than some scumbag who purchased a ton of HID kits and then sells them to muppets for 3-4 times the cost who wont pay any tax etc and is probably on the benefits career

[badgerade]

what on earth is fly eye. Shall i google it?

If you get your headlights 'fly eyed' i will donate money to Children in Need