Brightening headlights?

axe · Postby **axe** » June 8th, 2007, 11:44 pm

hey, i changed to xenon but my lights aint all that...what can i do to brighten them...(wingroad y11)

axe · Postby **axe** » June 10th, 2007, 11:31 pm

i heard i can use a highr gauge wire, and more relays....any takes on that?

SuperSpeedStuff · Postby **SuperSpeedStuff** » June 11th, 2007, 12:54 am

how much watts u have now and how much u had before?

redsupra101 · Postby **redsupra101** » June 11th, 2007, 1:26 am

axe wrote:i heard i can use a highr gauge wire, and more relays....any takes on that?

higher gauge wire is just going to allow you to run higher wattage bulbs without overheating the small stock wires.

a relay is a switch, nothing more... it aint gonna do nothing for the brightness of the light

PS if u buy GOOD bulbs instead of them cheap bulbs i sure u buy, u wont have this problem as much

krack korn · Postby **krack korn** » June 11th, 2007, 7:59 am

^not entirely true redsupra, stock wiring is not the best quality and especially in a vehicle over 4-5 yrs some corrosion in the wires and connectors can reduce the conductivity of the headlight harness.

The easiest test to see if a wiring/relay upgrade will help u is to use a voltmeter at the bulb terminals. First start the car and verify that you are getting 14-14.3V at the battery terminals, put on the headlights and again verify battery voltage, this eliminates any charging problems first.

With the headlight on check the voltage on the bulb terminals, do this for both high and low beam (one may be good while the other is not). You are looking for at least 13.5V at the bulb, any less and u should run a direct fused supply from the battery or alternator output via relays to the headlights, u may be able to buy upgraded sockets for some bulbs as well eg H4. Relays also protect the switches in the car as some vehicles switch the headlights directly, u may have a stock relay only for low beam and not for high as well. Some vehicles will have a ground for the headlight cct right on the body near the headlights, clean with steel wool and reattach this to see if it improves the voltage

The halogen bulb works on a gas cycle that returns vaporised metal from the filament back to the filament and so increases the lamp life, this concept was used not to really increase the life of the lamp but to increase light output and still maintain the life of the lamp. The lamp is designed to work at 14V and will give correct light colour at this voltage, less voltage reduces light output and shifts the colour towards yellow.

There is a big difference in light output from say 12V to 14V as anyone who turns on their headlight without and then with the car on can tell.

Anil_Sooknanan · Postby **Anil_Sooknanan** » June 11th, 2007, 9:09 pm

^^^^ anyone want this done check meh :wink:

axe · Postby **axe** » June 11th, 2007, 9:47 pm

i bought the bulbs at MASCA in la romain ($180.00 for the lot)..is this cheap?,
i kno my alternator is charging at 14V..i have to check it at the bulb....thks for d advice..

demented · Postby **demented** » June 12th, 2007, 7:46 am

http://bulldog.ninthgate.net/headlite.htm

Read here ^^^

the aim is to power the headlight bulbs with a shorter wiring direct from the battery to the bulb via the relay, using a bigger wire than stock. As you can see in this post above the current drawn now is 30A rathe than the stock 15A or 20A in most vehicles.

axe · Postby **axe** » June 12th, 2007, 3:07 pm

this looks good...thks

chiquita · Postby **chiquita** » June 15th, 2007, 1:55 pm

buff the lights... lol

axe · Postby **axe** » June 16th, 2007, 11:17 pm

buff?............my lites r shining from using mother's plastic polish....its the intensity of the bulbs im trying to improve....

blownb310 · Postby **blownb310** » June 16th, 2007, 11:32 pm

I read that the optical quality of your original headlamps can limit the effectiveness of installing higher watt bulbs. In other words, you can put higher watt bulbs into your stock lights but many times they will not give you the increase in lighting you are seeking. Sometimes only higher quality lights with better optics can do this for you.

There is a great article on this here. Look under "Assessing The Beam Control of Your Lamps" to understand what I'm referring to.

Cheers,

Mike

Anil_Sooknanan · Postby **Anil_Sooknanan** » June 16th, 2007, 11:33 pm

right thats why you have to use a relay

Shio · Postby **Shio** » June 17th, 2007, 9:30 am

hid hid hid

equipped2ripp · Postby **equipped2ripp** » June 17th, 2007, 4:52 pm

yep... using a relay would brighten the light

axe · Postby **axe** » June 17th, 2007, 7:51 pm

explain HID to me

chiquita · Postby **chiquita** » June 18th, 2007, 10:30 am

the past tense of 'hide'
i'm sorry guys... i had to humour myself!
hence why i said buff the lights!
i kno u wanted the lights to be brighter...
lol :wiggle:

demented · Postby **demented** » June 18th, 2007, 11:20 am

^^^

axe · Postby **axe** » June 18th, 2007, 3:53 pm

chiquita......very funny.......ha ha ha

chiquita · Postby **chiquita** » June 20th, 2007, 10:31 am

sorry i had to add a little humour...
daz jus me! lol

blownb310 · Postby **blownb310** » June 20th, 2007, 5:15 pm

Are you guys serious about adding a relay and getting the power to the headlamps straight from the battery [like you would for added driving lights]? does the factory wiring have that much resistance that your lights aren't bright enough for you?

axe · Postby **axe** » June 20th, 2007, 5:46 pm

man the brighter the better........
i like my lights to lite up a whole stretch..
especially on those lonely country roads....

Anil_Sooknanan · Postby **Anil_Sooknanan** » June 20th, 2007, 5:57 pm

blownb310, seems like your not aware of the big diffrence it makes :cry:

turbonator · Postby **turbonator** » June 20th, 2007, 10:59 pm

Boi dem relay and dem does make ah BIG difference. And das using d stock h4 bulbs eh.

Anil_Sooknanan · Postby **Anil_Sooknanan** » June 21st, 2007, 6:28 pm

^^^^ ah look ah man who could give you a good run down on d difference :wink:

axe · Postby **axe** » June 21st, 2007, 6:53 pm

anil ah still waiting on a costing...pm me...address too

Anil_Sooknanan · Postby **Anil_Sooknanan** » June 21st, 2007, 7:03 pm

arite the price is all about how you want it wired i can do it the cheap way but the thing is i have to cut your stock wiring which i won't really advice you to go that way or the other way is that i wire it in such a way that you don't even tsmper with the original wiring it's just like a whole new harness you can take it out in a few mins and slap it into another car quick and easy (incase you want to sell the car) and it's a lot neater that way plus the type of wire i use you won't run into problems like the lamp sucket sticking onto the light also the light switch inside your car isn't under stress so as you can see it's all about what you want so different prices turbonator, was shocked too when i wired it for him

turbonator · Postby **turbonator** » June 21st, 2007, 10:05 pm

^^ Shocked yuh say :roll:

But seriously axe anil know wha he doing. He wire up my one so he didn't have to cut d original harness, so in d event dat yuh want yuh original system is just a matter of jacking out d relay harness and yuh on like boil corn.

chiquita · Postby **chiquita** » June 22nd, 2007, 8:39 am

ok guys...
i finally can post something of relevance to the topic

my right high beam light (the bulb) broke in half last night (don't ask how, i dunno)
here's what's marked on the bulb:
" H4B 12V 100/90W"

the bulb itself is actually blue (i like!) and lights like normal.
how much do these bulbs cost?

and where can i buy them?
i'm located in st. clair right now...
someone was telling me abt car boutique in st james
are they reasonable?

i know u hadda buy them in pairs :lol:

so...
is it abt $140 for them?

also another thing, i know these are illegal eh but...
i want blue strobe lights for my park lights... lol
where can i get these?