Team-BHP - Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vysakh (Post 4182090)

Thanks. Are the Osram nightbreakers the ones that produce the white light? Also, are they direct plug and play?

I had considered auxiliary lights, but my long distance night rides are rare, like once in 2 or 3 months and so rejected that idea.

DrHoneycake beat me to it. Osram NB are direct plug and play. They are the same wattage as the original bulbs (if your car comes with Tungsten Halogen type bulbs).

I was of the same mind like you when it came to Auxiliary lights - but a recent drive in the narrow state Highway made me change my mind. When it comes to safety, the relatively small amount and the trouble we take to outfit is no big deal at all.
That is why I opted for LED Lightbar which will consume relatively less current and probably outlast several cars. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by drhoneycake (Post 4182235)

Osram Nightbreakers are great bulbs, they offer quite a bit of improvement over stock halogens.

With regards to the colour, they aren't HID/LED white, but are slightly whiter than stock halogens.

Yes they are plug and play, find out your bulb type from your car's manual , get the same one and it's a direct swap.

Sent from my iPhone 6 using Team-BHP

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prowler (Post 4183058)

Thanks. Will get 'em nightbreakers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcpranav (Post 4175747)

Hi friends,

Query:
I see two popular brands of wiring harness with relay: Philips 130/100 and Hella 130/100. Does one have any particular benefit or high reviews ?
I feel of buying the Hella kit.
Anyways, I will be using the Philips Rally 90/100 bulbs, and higher watt wiring kit is just for added safety.

regards,
Pranav

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixantz (Post 4175800)

You just have to be sure that the gauge of the wires and overall build quality of the connectors/fuses/holders etc are good. The fuse sockets should have good thick metal inside or else they get corroded/loose connection issues pretty soon.AFAIK there are no real reputed brands like Hella etc selling wiring harnesses in India. All or most of them are local or Chinese guys going on and stamping whatever brand name they fancy.

Also there are more spurious "Hella" stuff than there ever was the real thing, be it wires or bulbs or horns or whatever. Ditto with other brands like Philips etc. So the only stuff at best you can be sure of as a brand are the bulbs. I'm not saying they are foolproof as these also are found duplicate in abundance but chances of getting the real thing where bulbs are concerned is a lot more easier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren (Post 4175950)

I have been using Hella 130/90 Rally bulbs with relay in my Grand i10 since last few months. The difference in output compared to stock is significant. I think 100/90 is adequate and lesser heat. It would be good if you get hold of a ceramic bulb holder too. I have posted the video link of 130/90 output on this thread few weeks back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr (Post 4176407)

Hella has a manufacturing and trading facility in India. From Hella India online shop: http://www.shop4hella.com/hella-head...s-90-100w.html

I did purchase Hella (Lighting) Wiring Harness 130W (box said manufacturing in Gurgaon, India) from Amazon @ Rs.900, and today got it installed at a local accessories shop. The Hella unit looks very premium and hopefully it will last long, and mechanic properly did earthing. Hella India even has online shop.
Also put a new set of Philips Rally 90/100 bulbs, purchased from local shop for Rs.250 each, existing ones of same specs will be kept as spare.

I had put the Philips heavy duty 100/130 wiring harness just few months back, but recently I noticed that at few places the wire was burnt - most possibly the earthing wasn't done properly. I didn't want to take any chances on headlight, especially for my upcoming family trip.

In past I have used quite few wiring kits - Philips, Minda, Super (!), and always the fuse area had given up by melting near the contacts, maybe because of engine heat or heat within wiring or improper earthing.

apart from headlight, I do have the Led installed as Aux / backup. I use them sometimes, and they are really superb, bright.

slight OT: Very very long back I had got the headlight replaced (under warranty!), as the leveling motor wasnt working.
After using these headlights for few years, all on 90/100 Rally bulbs (via relay kit), they have surely put some negative effect. The inside of light (reflector & cone area) seems a slight dull, nothing serious to worry. However the external plastic cover (front of headlight) has seen quite chipping & hardening. Few months back I tried a bit using rubbing compound & tooth-paste etc, but it didnt work, or maybe I didnt put enough efforts! Eventually, I will have to try to get it polished from some shop, or totally get new set of headlight assembly.

regards,
Pranav

Posting on behalf of a friend who want's to know if what we see in the attached pics are genuine morimoto burners or cn light ones.

Quote:

Saw an offer (advertisement) from avstuning (who is the official distributor for Morimoto in India) on FB about morimoto 5five 4300k D2S bulbs for Rs1499. Impulsive decision, after a small conversation on their FB page, ordered a pair for myself so that I could replace my existing 5500k with the 4300k morimoto's. The burners got delivered today.

Surprise1: packing was of 3five and not 5five. Pinged avstuning on whatsapp and the response was, only the packing is different. But the bulbs are genuine 5five.
"Sir the packing is 3five. But the bulbs are 5five"

Surprise2: no morimoto brand imprint on the bulb base. Avstuning said old stock. So no branding.
"Its not cn lights. These are old stock. Thats time cn lights used to replicate Morimoto"

Surprise3: CNlight logo on the bulb tip and the bulb base. Avstuning says it is a compliance code (the ignorant me did not realise it to be CNlight logo at first and thought it to be the usual '3' of the 3five) and they're genuine morimoto bulbs.

Suprise4: the audacity of the seller in blaming me of having ulterior motive, and questioning me as to how I was sure that the CNlights that I have, are genuine.

Note: This is not an attempt to defame anybody or any firm. Just a genuine attempt to not let others get cheated.

Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here-bf6174032300e7d7043ecbe540eaeeea1.jpg

Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here-57fec7cfa282a8d290c8060f5c2364031.jpg

Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here-45053d9ff672e1d36577a9c2795471121.jpg

Auto Lighting thread : Post all queries about automobile lighting here-e5f179cc3779cf219028944f0ac3b1ae1.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoneCollector (Post 4192940)

Just saw this on Twitter shared by Autocar India so thought of sharing it here. Quite informative.

Based on my friends' and my experience Autocar is quite inaccurate as far as Lumens output is concerned.

A 55W halogen bulb will give 1200 (new) to 700(aged) lumens.
A 35W HID will give about 3000 lumens. This will also drop as the system ages.
A LED driven at 30W (by measuring actual current drawn) will yield 3000-4000 lumens. But a lot of the light will be blinding to oncoming traffic. It is very difficult to focus the beam properly unless the entire projector is designed for the led bulb. Almost all light bars are a waste of money. And chinese bars/bulbs have exaggerated claims of output.

I do not have any experience of laser lights and so will not comment on these.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aravind.anand (Post 4193111)

A noob query :

If I am just going to replace the bulbs in my car (basic halogens, without projectors) with new Osram Night Breakers, would I have to get the alignment/focusing done? Or, is that required only when I replace the headlight completely?

Have been thinking of ordering Osram NB online, but holding back the decision, as I do not know if it would affect the focusing of the headlamps or not.

When I replaced the bulbs in my car, I found that the bulb capsule of one of the old bulbs, was crooked from the base. I had to do the alignment after installing the new bulbs, perhaps due to the difference in filament positions caused by the tilted bulb capsule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mafioso (Post 4176129)

In my quest for better lighting especially for Highways, I started to look out for Headlamps upgrade for my 2015 Skoda Rapid. This model comes with projector lamps for low beam and a separate bulb for high beam, which is H7 bulbs. Couple of shops in JC road Bangalore said they can't put a relay as the H7 bulbs come with 2 pins unlike the common models which comes with 3 pins. Now I have found a shop near my house who showed me a relay, Eagle Eye brand and promised that he can upgrade the H7 bulbs to 100 watts using this relay setup which would be a plug and play without slicing any OEM wiring. He was also suggesting that the projector lamps which are H7 bulbs but with 60W can also be upgraded to 100W using the same relay with some wiring additions to relay.

I'm not sure what bulbs are in the projectors and I'm not fully convinced on modifying the projectors! For now thinking it is better only to upgrade the High beam bulbs - any suggestions on this would be highly appreciated!

I have a Skoda Laura that has halogen projectors for low beam like yours. I've been running a 35W CNLight 4300K H7 bulb with 35W DLT X3 Canbus ballast for the past 2 years in my car without any issues. I do a lot of late evening/night highway runs and the improved lighting is a boon to me. I did the installation myself, and there was no need to cut/splice anything. I got the kit from Aliexpress.

Having said that, I still feel the OEM projector lens on the older Skoda isn't really that great when compared to the new generation.