Extending headlight life

Apparently he really is that stupid. Your point JD about every manufacturer, including Ford, using the same reduced power DRL's went right over his pointy little head.

Here is the halogen info from that ceiling fan site that you provided: Dimming Halogen Lamps: Line voltage (120V) halogen bulbs can be dimmed by regular incandescent dimmers. Using a dimmer with halogen bulbs actually has negative effects. When dimmed, the halogen filaments do not reach the 250 C needed for the halogen cycle to take place. This could cause the inside wall of the bulb to blacken reducing light quantity and life. Running the lamp at full brightness will help restore and clean the bulb.

Then you go on to say...

Funny, that's not what I read above. Bulb deposits will return to the halogen cycle once proper operating temperature is reached.

But this whole point is not applicable anyway. It's the people who run their ceiling fan lamps down to 30 - 40% output over a long time that will experience blackening in halogen bulbs. DRLs in Subaru vehicles operate at approx. 80% output which maintains the heat necessary for the halogen cycle to work. What evidence do you have to the contrary?

I'm sick and tired of you spewing crap on this NG. Go away and find something constructive to do with your life. Maybe you will even find the time to defend yourself against the Prodigy investigators who are now alerted to your constant abuse of this newsgroup.

YOUR "Sick and Tired" thats a laugh, It has everything to do with your lights...120 volts or 12 volts...ceiling fan or vehicle..they both vibrate.

Your quote of 80% is 20% below the rated operating voltage. It's in a lot of tech journals, read it again..and we have found in general they DO NOT clean up after a while.

In theory yes..in real life NO, they fail early. If you were so god damn smart you would install a lower wattage DRL that operates at the proper temp, but your bucket of shit cars have a LOT more problems then lights that fail early (like transmissions,engines and a lot of other cheap crap)

Will be a sad day when a puke in his Subaru can tell me he has more engineering skills than I have learned in my lifetime doing this kind of engineering work.

Reply to
Dr. Rastis Fafoofnik
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Tell us Dr. What is the relationship between voltage and brightness for incandescent lights? Is the 80% figure mentioned, voltage or brightness? Here's a clue, it isn't a linear function.

Reply to
Mickey

Disable your Daytime Running Lights. They have been proven to be a non-safety factor rated option which does not reduce your chance of an accident - period.

DRL's are NECESSARY for low profile motor-powered items like *motorcycles* (I never ride my HD without the headlight off) but using DRL's on cars and trucks makes as much sense as using a flashlight to find your way in broad daylight on a 95° July afternoon in Texas.

Disable the DRL's in a Subaru is rather easy. For most you want to unplug the large silver-colored resistor located on the passenger's side wheel strut tower and then place a small ziplock baggie over the wire connector you just unplugged. This is a 2-wire connector. Your headlights will then act like a NORMAL car, meaning they will be off when the switch is off.

Go the the URL below and select the "Disable DRL's" button and look up the Subaru section.

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Reply to
Matt B

Who called a doctor? Is somebody sick?

Why are you bothering with us lowly Subaru driving laymen and troll some other group? We're clearly not worthy of your presence..

Reply to
Remco

I agree that headlight bulbs are not in themselves expensive.

But my 2005 Forester requires some semi-major disassembly to get at the bulbs and replace them. I do not feel qualified to do this myself and having the dealer do it certainly jacks up the replacement cost.

Another triumph of form over function . . .

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Reply to
WisedU

You are correct Mickey, it's NOT linear(it's LOG). And filament temp is critical in Halogen recycle lamps.The article calls out the proper temp and how the "Recycle" works. The 80% figure was for VOLTAGE.

Reply to
Dr. Rastis Fafoofnik

Not true. The DRLs stay on whether the park lights are on or not.

Reply to
JD

The 80% figure used for DRLs is brilliance, not voltage.

Reply to
JD

Apparently he really is that stupid. Your point JD about every manufacturer, including Ford, using the same reduced power DRL's went right over his pointy little head.

Here is the halogen info from that ceiling fan site that you provided: Dimming Halogen Lamps: Line voltage (120V) halogen bulbs can be dimmed by regular incandescent dimmers. Using a dimmer with halogen bulbs actually has negative effects. When dimmed, the halogen filaments do not reach the 250 C needed for the halogen cycle to take place. This could cause the inside wall of the bulb to blacken reducing light quantity and life. Running the lamp at full brightness will help restore and clean the bulb.

Then you go on to say...

Funny, that's not what I read above. Bulb deposits will return to the halogen cycle once proper operating temperature is reached.

But this whole point is not applicable anyway. It's the people who run their ceiling fan lamps down to 30 - 40% output over a long time that will experience blackening in halogen bulbs. DRLs in Subaru vehicles operate at approx. 80% output which maintains the heat necessary for the halogen cycle to work. What evidence do you have to the contrary?

I'm sick and tired of you spewing crap on this NG. Go away and find something constructive to do with your life. Maybe you will even find the time to defend yourself against the Prodigy investigators who are now alerted to your constant abuse of this newsgroup.

YOUR "Sick and Tired" thats a laugh, It has everything to do with your lights...120 volts or 12 volts...ceiling fan or vehicle..they both vibrate.

Your quote of 80% is 20% below the rated operating voltage. It's in a lot of tech journals, read it again..and we have found in general they DO NOT clean up after a while.

In theory yes..in real life NO, they fail early. If you were so god damn smart you would install a lower wattage DRL that operates at the proper temp, but your bucket of shit cars have a LOT more problems then lights that fail early (like transmissions,engines and a lot of other cheap crap)

Will be a sad day when a puke in his Subaru can tell me he has more engineering skills than I have learned in my lifetime doing this kind of engineering work.

I would guess by the garbage you try to convince of of, you would have difficulty spelling engineering much less practicing it. As I said, virtually every manufacturer that sells a car in Canada installs DRLs in the same way. I have had three DRL-fitted cars with halogen bulbs (all different manufacturers), and none of them had the bulbs blacken, fail prematurely, are behave in any manner other than expected.

Reply to
JD

I would love to see your 'proof'. DRLs reduce the chances of head-on collisions on two-lane and non-divided highways. Ample studies were done by the insurance industry which is why they reduce the rates for functioning DRLs

They are not to help you find your way, they are so other people can see you and judge your distance.

Reply to
JD

This makes no sense. A new low-beam bulb costs $9, so what are you saving. With less light the distance you can see at night is shorter providing less time for you react to road hazards or people. One accident can cause injury and thousands of dollars. Your thinking makes no sense.

Adam

Adam

Reply to
Adam Helberg

I agree. DRL improve your chances of being seen and of being correctly identified as moving towards the observer. On the other hand there is no valid reason for disabling the DRLs. The cost of a light bulb is neglible and the extra amount of power is negligible as well.

Adam

Reply to
Adam Helberg

[...]

Surprising as it might seem, there is plenty of evidence to show that running headlights during the day on motorcycles is ineffective as an anti-collision measure. If a car driver is not going to see a motorcycle, he/she won't see it whether or not the headlights are on. Having said that, I like the feeling I get when I run my bike with them on. Same applies with my British racing green jeep. It can't hurt to be more visible, I always say.

GW

Reply to
georgew

The reason DRLs, and third brake lights, and all the other gimmicks that get tried over the years seem to work well is because when they're tested and introduced they are the exception. Before DRLs came out if you saw a car with lights on during the day it really stood out and grabbed your attention. The same with motorcycle headlights, and mostly the same with 3rd brake lights. Now that everyone has them they no longer stand out, nobody really notices. In fact, I'm more inclined to notice a motorcycle that doesn't have its lights on, the same as a car without DRLs.

JazzMan

Reply to
JazzMan

I am the opposite. I find it much easier to judge the distance of a car with DRLs on. And, whether one has annecdotal eveidence to the contrary or not, the insurance industry has done several studies that show they are safer. Its the reason that they reduce rates for functioning DRLs (or more correctly, increase the rates for cars not fitted with them). They tend not to do that without substantial research into risk factors.

At any rate, again, I would love to see this 'proof' or 'evidence' that they don't help. I have seen plenty that shows that they do.

Reply to
JD

As I said , I like to run my lights in times of low visibility during the day or night.

A number analyses in Australia have shown that DRL's may be marginally effective at reducing accidents but the margins are fuzzy. In recent years there has been increasing interest in dedicated DRL's that are cheaper and more effective than headlights. At present, in Australia at least, the jury is out and there is no legal requirement for DRL's. This was not always the case for motorcycles and there are plenty of pre - '98 vintage MC's running around with worn out hard - wired headlights shining dimly during the day.

A couple of interesting studies, and there are plenty more if you want to google for yourself:

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Reply to
georgew

I just read those articles. The conclusions don't look marginal at all; 20% reduction in daytime head-on accidents. In addition, the study also recommends DRLs become mandatory in Australia.

Reply to
JD

Yes, and it seems my earlier comments were a bit out of date. However some State and Federal laws were in place a few years ago that mandated hard-wired headlights in motorcycles, and these have been withdrawn. The studies in the links do not necessarily recommend hard wired headlights, they tend more toward purpose-built daylight warning lights, and I guess that was more to the point in this thread. The whole thing is still not clear to the experts, let alone to klutzes like me. Margins are fuzzy as I said. Cost-benefit margins are even less clear, and that's what those links were about. I repeat that I use my own headlights in daylight when I'm in doubt about the visibility of my vehicle, because common sense dictates that I'm more visible with them on.

Reply to
georgew

long BEFORE daytime running lights were mandatory, i started driving with my lights on. even though my car is equipped with daytime running lights, i automatically flip on the headlights before putting the car in gear. and i sometimes even use high-beams during daylight when i want extra visibility, such as passing a line of stopped cars.

visibility is useful, and *sometimes* helps other drivers' judgment, by making them think i am closer or moving faster than i actually am. it isn't guaranteed, and it doesn't do much for the braindead or the cellphone-challenged, but every little bit helps.

whether or not headlights during daytime can be proven to be safer, it's not hard to understand why having *less* lights than other cars is more dangerous - most people have seen cars without lights (or with burnt out headlights) at night. the "stealth approach" throws off our judgment of both speed and distance.

i don't think i replace my headlights more than the average (about every 3 years), so i wouldn't worry too much about that. and if it's really a pain to replace them, i'll just pay a little extra for longer-life bulbs.

but i was astonished to find a lobby group online who adamantly opposes daytime running lights, for all kinds of really silly reasons, including a driver's "right" to turn off their lights! just like the "right" to crash a motorcycle without a helmet. now i can add "extended bulb life" to that list...

Reply to
tom

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