HDI XENON

[California Dreamin]

As someone who has done the FULL two relay mod with all new wiring to the bulb holders and using the Nightbreaker bulbs.
All I can say is, anyone commenting that their lights are poor needs to have a sit in my van at night!.....the difference in brightness isn't just slight, this mod really does bring the lights up to modern vehicle standards.

For the keyboard warriors that often pass comment without actually doing this themselves, they really do need to give this a go.

Martin

[AdrianC]

irrc if you dont have the relevant lenses for xenon its illegal, plus the heat out put is a lot higher and can melt the sealant/adhesive that holds the lens on!

Both those, plus "proper" HIDs (as opposed to Xenon-gas filled normal H4-style bulbs) legally require self-levelling (either suspension or lights) and wash or wipe. Most importantly, the MOT now includes a specific check for those...

[KINGPRAWN]

irrc if you dont have the relevant lenses for xenon its illegal, plus the heat out put is a lot higher and can melt the sealant/adhesive that holds the lens on!

When I posed that question to the guy that sells them , I was told that they produce less heat ... As they're 35watts?

[Plasticman]

well anyhow i got a package id forgot about, a brace of nightbreaker plus, also had a dig round the small shed and found a pair of I think raydot rectangular spots ,theyre period enough so may fit them , then i found a new unused mini/bmc foot dip switch so gonna have a play when i get a moments
mm

[AdrianC]

irrc if you dont have the relevant lenses for xenon its illegal, plus the heat out put is a lot higher and can melt the sealant/adhesive that holds the lens on!

When I posed that question to the guy that sells them , I was told that they produce less heat ... As they're 35watts?

Yup, he's right. HIDs are cooler and lower power, yet brighter.

James is right that a lot of bulb upgrades - 100w halogens etc - do chuck out more heat, and they DEFINITELY need relays installing if they aren't there from factory - I put a set of 100/80w H4s into my old CX - and needed a new light switch in about a fortnight...

[jamesc76]

Sorry got all muddled up!!!

HID's have electronics inside controlling the bulb that can be damaged by heat. Halogen lights don't.

Also, what you're basically looking at is a bolt of lightning that runs a lot hotter than a filament. And at the base of the actual capsule, there's the issue with heat and temperature. It runs at much higher temperatures but there might be an overall smaller amount of heat.


So what that means in essence, you have to watch out for having lights on with no air flow round them to keep there life span up!

Plus another big big factor is most hid bulbs are designed to run with a projector type lens to focus the light as they act completely different to halogens in there light pattern, most DIY HId kits will throw light all over the place and not give the correct MoT light pattern!