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Which bulb?

Passion, instruction, buying, care, maintenance and more, any form of vehicle discussion is welcome here
vrdiver
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Which bulb?

#168280

Postby vrdiver » September 23rd, 2018, 1:44 am

Driving this evening, I discovered one of my dipped headlight bulbs has failed.

It's a standard H7, but a quick google and a visit to a bulb supplier came up with 16* (road legal) choices, ranging from "standard" to "apparently rather bright". Bang went my theory of just ordering another bulb from a selection of one...

I do find the dipped headlights a little dimmer than I'd like, but don't want to replace them with something that would be unpleasant to oncoming motorists. (Yes, I'd be replacing the pair rather than just the blown bulb).

Any suggestions welcome!

VRD


* The 16 (I only looked at the first website that google offered):
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-tw ... -bulb.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ph ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-tw ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... ation.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ph ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ph ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-tw ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ri ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ri ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... -pair.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... ulth7.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/abd-p ... px26d.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... -bulb.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... -bulb.html
https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-os ... bulbs.html

Urbandreamer
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Re: Which bulb?

#168289

Postby Urbandreamer » September 23rd, 2018, 7:56 am

I've no real advice with respect to brightness and I haven't been through your list.

However are any of them LED ones and have you changed the bulb on your car before?

Yesterday I changed my sidelight bulb to an identical filiment bulb. BIG mistake.

On my car you could with practice and tools changed the bulb in 10 minuits. It took me days before I daired and 30 min to do. You have to remove the headlight assembly and at least ease the bumper out of the way if not remove it.

If it's the same on your car, go for something that has a long life and change the other bubs in the units at the same time.

bungeejumper
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Re: Which bulb?

#168302

Postby bungeejumper » September 23rd, 2018, 9:35 am

Can't advise on brightness or colour, except to say that if you do decide on higher brightness (Osram Nightbreakers, etc), you need to reckon on replacing the bulbs every 18 months or so, because they burn out fast. The reason they're brighter is that they're using a thinner filament.

Experience has taught me that yes, it's generally best to replace both bulbs at once. I've had several occasions when a new bulb on one side has (coincidentally?) been closely followed by the other one failing. The physics of that situation passeth my understanding, though. And it will help to ensure that your headlamps will be both the same brightness.

Finally, dammit, by the time you've contorted your body to the required shape for replacing one bulb, and by the time you've figured out how the fitting clips and other gubbins work, you've got all the skills you need to do the other side in just a few minutes. Why let all that valuable knowledge go rusty? :lol:

Depending on the car, there may be complications such as needing to move the battery or remove the wheel arch liner, or getting a child to do the job because they have smaller fingers. (Yep, I've changed the nearside front on a Mk 1 Focus.....) A good torch and the loan of a six inch make-up mirror can help you get a better sighting of the back of the bulb. Don't forget the sticking plasters for your fingers.

BJ

Slarti
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Re: Which bulb?

#168394

Postby Slarti » September 23rd, 2018, 3:37 pm

My first port of call would be the car's handbook, to see what is says can be used.

Slarti

vrdiver
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Re: Which bulb?

#168402

Postby vrdiver » September 23rd, 2018, 5:13 pm

Slarti wrote:My first port of call would be the car's handbook, to see what is says can be used.

Slarti

"Genuine parts". The manual states it's an H7 type bulb and the search I did was for bulbs compatible with my make and model (a Mk6 golf estate). Youtube provided enough video that I think it's a reasonable job for me, but my local garage will always step in if I make a pig's ear of things :oops:

I'm not worried about warranty; that's long passed ;)

Which brings me back to the question of "which H7" for a decent durability and light output?

VRD

Slarti
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Re: Which bulb?

#168431

Postby Slarti » September 23rd, 2018, 6:19 pm

vrdiver wrote:
Slarti wrote:My first port of call would be the car's handbook, to see what is says can be used.

Slarti

"Genuine parts". The manual states it's an H7 type bulb and the search I did was for bulbs compatible with my make and model (a Mk6 golf estate). Youtube provided enough video that I think it's a reasonable job for me, but my local garage will always step in if I make a pig's ear of things :oops:

I'm not worried about warranty; that's long passed ;)

Which brings me back to the question of "which H7" for a decent durability and light output?

VRD


In that case, I'd probably be going round to my local spares shop and asking what they had in stock and buy that. The same as I do for windscreen wipers, when they get destroyed by ice. :)

Slarti

MonsterMork
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Re: Which bulb?

#169082

Postby MonsterMork » September 26th, 2018, 9:36 am

Please note that if you change from one of the standard halogen bulbs and instead fit an HID type (usually done because of it's greater output) then it is an MoT fail these days .....

Section 4.1.4, Compliance With Requirements, in the manual: Existing halogen headlamp units shouldn’t be converted to be used with HID bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.

https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/ ... tion_4.1.4

For those of you who have the fun and games of having to completely remove the headlamp in order to change the bulb it would be a wise move to head to your local MoT place and ask them to check/set the beam pattern on the headlamp tester, as removing the lights can occasionally lead to them being mis-aligned when refitted. And it also means you know your headlights are properly set :) Some places may do this for free, others may charge for it, just smile sweetly and ask.

scotia
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Re: Which bulb?

#169260

Postby scotia » September 26th, 2018, 7:11 pm

I agree with the earlier contributor who suggested you choose one with a long life. Some years ago, while transiting across central Scotland late at night, I was stopped by a police car, the occupant of which had observed that one of my dipped headlights was not working. And he maintained that I could not travel back home (about 40 miles) without a replacement. He queried my route, and directed me to a motorway services filling station about 5 miles away. When I got to the service station there was a second police car waiting and watching. So I had no choice but to purchase a new bulb, and fit it in a services car park around midnight. Fortunately it did not involve removing the bumper, but it was not a pleasant task. So I vote for long life bulbs.

bungeejumper
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Re: Which bulb?

#169367

Postby bungeejumper » September 27th, 2018, 9:00 am

scotia wrote:I agree with the earlier contributor who suggested you choose one with a long life. Some years ago, while transiting across central Scotland late at night, I was stopped by a police car, the occupant of which had observed that one of my dipped headlights was not working. And he maintained that I could not travel back home (about 40 miles) without a replacement. He queried my route, and directed me to a motorway services filling station about 5 miles away. When I got to the service station there was a second police car waiting and watching. So I had no choice but to purchase a new bulb, and fit it in a services car park around midnight. Fortunately it did not involve removing the bumper, but it was not a pleasant task. So I vote for long life bulbs.

When driving in France, of course, you're required to carry a full set of replacement bulbs for the entire car. The fact that you often haven't got a snowball's chance in hell of fitting one yourself - or not by the roadside, anyway - isn't considered important.

Many years ago, I was pulled over by a gendarme for a random roadside check. Both the car and my documents passed the inspection with flying colours. (By golly, he was more than thorough - probably bored.) Fortunately, though, he didn't notice that my bulbs were for an ancient Mini that I'd sold nine years previously, whereas I was driving a Citroen. :lol:

BJ

vrdiver
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Re: Which bulb?

#169418

Postby vrdiver » September 27th, 2018, 11:55 am

Just to wrap up: I ordered a pair of Osram Night breaker bulbs (eurocarparts.com*), watched a youtube video on how to fit them and swapped both bulbs over - amazingly enough without touching them with my fingers or dropping them.

Even more impressive: the new ones actually work, which was a bonus :)

VRD


*Their system lets you put in your reg and filters for compatible parts accordingly. NB. no connection except as a satisfied customer.

PrincessB
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Re: Which bulb?

#169489

Postby PrincessB » September 27th, 2018, 2:11 pm

Just to wrap up: I ordered a pair of Osram Night breaker bulbs (eurocarparts.com*)


I was going to mention these as I was in the same situation a few months ago. I also fitted as a pair, in this case replacing the higher brightness units from Halfords which I fitted when I bought the car as the original bulbs were pretty awful.

The Night Breakers are way better than the Halfords ones, so another recommendation here.

watched a youtube video on how to fit them and swapped both bulbs over


As I understand it, you're really looking for the same wattage bulb as a replacement. The sell non legal higher power bulbs for rally use - I doubt this will be a problem with the fairly large headlight enclosures on most cars, but I have heard stories of people upgrading the bulbs on scooters with higher wattage units and managing to melt the plastic reflector with the extra heat.

B.


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