Headlight bulbs. How much is too much?

[olliecampbell]

So I've just picked up a new-to-me S60 and am working through the bits and pieces I noticed on the short drive back.

The previous owner upgraded the headlight bulbs with Halfords 200% brighter ones (55w).

Having read around the forums I know that the connectors can melt, which leads me to my question...


How much power is too much for a headlight bulb?

[Simmy]

ceramic headlight bulb connectors are available if you experience any plug melting but 55 watt should not be a problem.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by olliecampbell

So I've just picked up a new-to-me S60 and am working through the bits and pieces I noticed on the short drive back.

The previous owner upgraded the headlight bulbs with Halfords 200% brighter ones (55w).

Having read around the forums I know that the connectors can melt, which leads me to my question...


How much power is too much for a headlight bulb?

A standard H7 dip bulb is 55 watts. I don't know how you can double the brightness using the same current flow..?

[volvosam]

The claim to be 200% brighter clearly does not derive from higher power as 55 watts is a std bulb power.
I guess that the claim is based on the beam pattern and the design.
I have used Osram Night Breaker (or something like that) in the past and they are noticebly better than a std cheap bulb and also rated at a std 55 watts.
You definitely want to avoid anything rated at more than 55 watts because it can cause connectors to melt and can even cause fires.

[V70roma]

Originally Posted by Clan

A standard H7 dip bulb is 55 watts. I don't know how you can double the brightness using the same current flow..?

Watts is the power of the bulb not the brightness and in the old days when most bulbs were a similar design with a typical design life of 1000 hours watts could be used as a shorthand for brightness.

You could in reality have a 100 watt bulb with a very thick filament producing very little actual light that would last years or by contrast you could have a bulb with a very thin filament producing loads of light but might only last an hour (as in some bulbs used for photography) So same wattage but maybe 10 times as bright in Lumens (a measure of brightness)

There is no doubt a specification for automotive bulbs but from a physics point of view watts is power not brightness.

Now to confuse things even more we've got led lights so watts are even less relevant perhaps it's time we started using lumens.

[stuart bowes]

that is the main thing to remember isn't it, life span

the 'ultra bright' options definitely don't last as long, I had some Osram ones that did just over a year. someone tried to convince me they were possibly fakes but they looked totally genuine to me in every way

the Philips ones I went to next have done nearly 2 years now

and as we all know, changing headlights on these cars is not something you want to have to do regularly, you need time in between for your hands to heal

[MDS40]

I found the Phillips ones outlasted Osram units also.
On the S40 you can change a headlight bulb in under 2 mins

I also raised the headlight adjustment a fair bit and this was a great improvement over the factory setting which is way too low.

[olliecampbell]

Thanks everyone.

I'll stick with 55w items. I've recently been using Osram Night Breaker Laser 150% in the BMW and Skoda, but will take a look at the Phillips units. Ring and Twenty20 had some decent reviews the last time I checked.

I'm not looking forward to changing them....but it'll be a good excuse to have a poke around behind the bumper.

[lynns hubby]

Originally Posted by stuart bowes

and as we all know, changing headlights on these cars is not something you want to have to do regularly, you need time in between for your hands to heal

What a design !!!!! the back ones aren't much easier either. You need hands like a 3 yr old.

[stuart bowes]

I know right lol they definitely spent more time designing the outside of the car than they did with in the insides

lets not even get started on that centre console

still gotta love em eh