Headlights or my eyes?

[roks]

I bought a pair of Osram or Phillips night breaker or day breaker or something. Initially it appeared brighter than the stock but after a year I cant tell the difference.

The lenses are clean and haze removed but I sometimes seem struggle to tell if my headlights are on, so end up checking the stalk.

Is it me or do the reflectors get weak eventually? Or are the London street light too bright.

 

[Heidfirst]

bulb output does weaken over time & uprated bulbs have a shorter design life to start with. But it could be your eyes or that the street lights are very bright.

[Anthony Poli]

The modern led street lights don’t help.


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[oldcodger]

Hi,

Have used Nightbreakers for some years, suspect they do loose a bit of brightness over time as they do burn brighter and so do not last as long, a simple trade off.

My first ones ran for 3 years before one popped, replaced the pair.

Yes, the reflectors do get a bit dusty, partic if the black cover cap is missing, but little you can do to clean inside as far as i know ..

As yours are only a year old, I would perhaps wonder if you have a bad earth connection  etc.

Easy enough to test, turn your lights on, measure the voltage across the Battery terminals and then across the bulbs terminals, is there a significant difference ?

Assume your Battery voltage / Alternator output is good ?

[Colourd]

Or a remote possibility your Battery is suffering due to age and or short runs ? maybe down on volts / amps ?

Do they seem dimmer even on bone dry roads ?

[roks]

Yes, alternator putting out 14.4v, Battery drops to 12.3-4v after resting for a day or so.

Longest trip was 40miles made not difference, does the weakness of Battery affect the lights  when engine running?

Dry roads are about ok, its the wet roads that are hard I find.

 

[oldcodger]

Assume you are talking about a pair of nightbreaker  bulbs for the dipped beam ?

How does the main beam look like compared to the dipped beam ?

If the main is much brighter, it suggests the nightbreakers are fading.

If they are both dim, then it suggests a wiring /voltage problem,  then you really need to measure the voltage at the bulb connector  with the lights on , and also while in the same condition, across the Battery terminal and see if there is a marked difference.

You may have to disconnect the wiring socket  from one of the bulbs to check the voltage, if the wires are not exposed enough to get the test probe on.

[roks]

By dipped beam, you mean the first twist on the stalk? And the main beam is 2nd twist? Yes the main is brighter but not as before.

Then there's the "blind the other driver" beam which is bit more brighter but I never use that....

I get annoyed when some people have their high beam on all the time, in your eyes...not to mention the Chelsea tractors with HID lights at your eye level.

[Colourd]

These are what I have in my dip beam, although not from there - Here

On mine, when I put the main beam on, there's not a lot of difference, as they are originals presumably basic bulbs

Anyway, if you twist your stalk once you get sidelights and again gives you dip beam if the blue light doesn't appear

On dip, no blue light, push stalk forward, blue light appears, that's main beam, pull back, no blue light, that's dip beam - all basic stuff you should know already

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Ring and Halfords upgrade bulbs are both made by GE under their Alite brand.

[007matt]

Light bulbs degrade over time, unlikely to be your eyes. It's dipped lights are u talking about. Main beam is the one that blind others, use when no one is in front or opposite in dark roads. 

[Byzii]

51 minutes ago, 007matt said:

Light bulbs degrade over time, unlikely to be your eyes. It's dipped lights are u talking about. Main beam is the one that blind others, use when no one is in front or opposite in dark roads. 

Damn, the terminology gets really twisted when so many people are involved, that makes everything more difficult to troubleshoot.

There are 3 kinds of lights I've heard being used - daylight running lights or DRLs, main beams and high beams. Main beams being the standard beams used at night in regular trafic or during day time as well if the car is not equipped with DRLs. High beams are those you're using on the highway.

The same thing is with engine startup and so on, a lot of people are confusing "ticking over" and idling. When someone says that the engine is ticking over for a few minutes, it really gets confusing.

[007matt]

1 hour ago, Byzii said:

Damn, the terminology gets really twisted when so many people are involved, that makes everything more difficult to troubleshoot.

There are 3 kinds of lights I've heard being used - daylight running lights or DRLs, main beams and high beams. Main beams being the standard beams used at night in regular trafic or during day time as well if the car is not equipped with DRLs. High beams are those you're using on the highway.

The same thing is with engine startup and so on, a lot of people are confusing "ticking over" and idling. When someone says that the engine is ticking over for a few minutes, it really gets confusing.

I do prefer your method as most people understand it better i think. But not the DSA on Q11: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-show-me-tell-me-vehicle-safety-questions/car-show-me-tell-me-vehicle-safety-questions

[DeTomato]

Those sort of brighter bulbs can run very hot. With Corolla Plastic lenses, this can create a fading of the plastic shine inside the headlight plastic clear lenses which makes the light appear dimmer.