New laws on LED bulbs in halogen headlights since 01 Jan

[Aljsv]

I didn’t know that.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You must have been trying the el-cheapo carp that passes for LED bulbs on ebay, i have a few pairs of those floating around that i'll eventually use for something but not in a car.

As for 100/80W bulbs, they're illegal for road use anyway, not to mention burning the reflectors quickly and the wiring loom too.

More should be done to get the good LED bulbs approved legally, good ones are far better than H4 bulbs.

By the way, you know on H4 bulbs, under one filament you have that little shield? That's to prevent light radiation in all directions on dipped beam.......................

I was using " Classic car LED's " and "Nighteye" ... and a brand I cant remember .. which both were recommended , but obviously not for a volvo reflector , Perhaps they work better in a round headlamp/reflector assembly .. I have been using 80/100w H4 for decades in my other classic car 4 x 100w main beam is impressive so will stick with those .

The shield on an H4 on DIP blanks out the lower half of the reflector which prevents light coming out to the upper part of the horizon you see on the beam tester ..

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Clan

I was using " Classic car LED's " and "Nighteye" ... and a brand I cant remember .. which both were recommended , but obviously not for a volvo reflector , Perhaps they work better in a round headlamp/reflector assembly .. I have been using 80/100w H4 for decades in my other classic car 4 x 100w main beam is impressive so will stick with those .

The shield on an H4 on DIP blanks out the lower half of the reflector which prevents light coming out to the upper part of the horizon you see on the beam tester ..

Dipped beam on my 760 ^^^^^^^ no bleaching!

That's exactly what i said about that shield, it prevents light reflecting off the bottom of the reflector which would actually send the light upwards - angle of incidence + angle of reflection etc.

Also brings me neatly on to 100/80W, 60/55W bulbs etc - the higher figure is for dipped beam because of the losses encountered by the shield so that light output isn't reduced considerably. Granted it's only a slight increase for dipped beambut necessary to overcome the losses from that shield. Test it with an ammeter if you don't believe me!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Dipped beam on my 760 ^^^^^^^ no bleaching!

That's exactly what i said about that shield, it prevents light reflecting off the bottom of the reflector which would actually send the light upwards - angle of incidence + angle of reflection etc.

Also brings me neatly on to 100/80W, 60/55W bulbs etc - the higher figure is for dipped beam because of the losses encountered by the shield so that light output isn't reduced considerably. Granted it's only a slight increase for dipped beambut necessary to overcome the losses from that shield. Test it with an ammeter if you don't believe me!

you got your dip beam sorted :_

You must have got Chinese H4 wired the wrong way ... Higher current is always main beam in the centre since I first started using H4 in the mid 1970's :-).

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Clan

you got your dip beam sorted :_

You must have got Chinese H4 wired the wrong way ... Higher current is always main beam in the centre since I first started using H4 in the mid 1970's :-).

Full beam too ^^^^^^^

Higher current/wattage has always been the dipped beam for the reasons i've said, when i've measured the current and checked on bulb specs and also when i did my auto electrical stuff, it was always that way. You're making better use of the reflector on full beam, without the shield to cut half the light out so you don't need as much power.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Full beam too ^^^^^^^

Higher current/wattage has always been the dipped beam for the reasons i've said, when i've measured the current and checked on bulb specs and also when i did my auto electrical stuff, it was always that way. You're making better use of the reflector on full beam, without the shield to cut half the light out so you don't need as much power.

I never thought that, I have been using them for 40 years and just proved it by checking 2 random H4 bulbs i have , have another look at yours ?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Clan

you got your dip beam sorted :_

You must have got Chinese H4 wired the wrong way ... Higher current is always main beam in the centre since I first started using H4 in the mid 1970's :-).

When you say the main beam in the centre, you don't mean the centre pin and the common pin are main beam, do you?



I just dug out two H4 bulbs that i thought were good but turns out they're main beam only, i'll have a look for some others.

[minibull]

What voltage do the halogens get supplied to them?
I'm sure I read it was restricted to 12v and even less for the daytime light function.

[andy_d]

it Depends on Which volvo,
some get "less than 12v" as there day time light option (similar ish but not the same as dim-dip) Some get 12v But at a 60% duty cycle using "PWM" controllers ..

[minibull]

Bulb makers base their wattage output on a supply voltage of 13.2v, so at only 12v supply they wont be getting the 55/65 watt output where most cars will be supplying over 14v to the headlights.