[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by condor

Low beams are focused to hit the road surface, and are more visible. High-beams by alignment, are such that they seem to be not there until the light falls on something. Hope you are getting what I trying to say............................................... ..... Hence suggest to re-look at the thought of upgrading the lights. If you do, I suggest getting HID's there rather than going for higher-power halogens.

I understand very well what you are saying. I've driven over 11 Lakh km in the last 27 years, and 50% of this has been in the darkness.
A Pune resident, I take up projects as far as VAPI in one direction and Belgaum in the other many times it is start at 0600 reach by noon, start back after site visit and meetings by 1700 and home by midnight.
I prefer to see the moron's and animals who step our of the hedges in the dividers well in time to slowdown, brake so brighter high beams are needed.
I was happy with upgrade to Philips 100/90 in my previous highway cars, Estate, Indica, Indigo, and Innova all of which ran a few lakh km.
Upgrade to 100W H1 just doesn't work as the bulbs just pop out of the holders due to heat, so suitable LED with lower K value (4200k / 4300k) will be preferred. HID in halogen reflectors just scatter.
Another issue with current day quad lamp cars is that the Low beams remain on when we switch on high beam, and our eyes adjust to the bright illumination near the car. I miss the older quad lamps where outer lamps had H4 and inner ones had H3. My dad's Contessa in the 90's had that, and only upgrade needed was from Halonex to Philips 60/55 in outer lamps and to 100W H3 in inner ones.


Rahul

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

Upgrade to 100W H1 just doesn't work as the bulbs just pop out of the holders due to heat, so suitable LED with lower K value (4200k / 4300k) will be preferred. HID in halogen reflectors just scatter.

I am really not sure if you can achieve the results you expect by switching the high beam to an LED bulb. If 100W is not feasible then you can try 80W H1s which are also available. The issue with using LED for high beam is that you do not get the same light density compared to halogen. Remember in case of a halogen, there is a single filament placed at focal point which outputs all the Lux, whereas with the LED bulb its an array of LED bulbs have their own localised hotspots which wont give you the sort of hotspot that is required for high beam. Instead you get a light output that is more distributed all over the place. For an LED source to give you a proper hotspot you need a TIR reflector, and will not work well with a conical reflector.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

I understand very well what you are saying. I've driven over 11 Lakh km in the last 27 years, and 50% of this has been in the darkness.
A Pune resident, I take up projects as far as VAPI in one direction and Belgaum in the other many times it is start at 0600 reach by noon, start back after site visit and meetings by 1700 and home by midnight.
I prefer to see the moron's and animals who step our of the hedges in the dividers well in time to slowdown, brake so brighter high beams are needed.
I was happy with upgrade to Philips 100/90 in my previous highway cars, Estate, Indica, Indigo, and Innova all of which ran a few lakh km.
Upgrade to 100W H1 just doesn't work as the bulbs just pop out of the holders due to heat, so suitable LED with lower K value (4200k / 4300k) will be preferred. HID in halogen reflectors just scatter.
Another issue with current day quad lamp cars is that the Low beams remain on when we switch on high beam, and our eyes adjust to the bright illumination near the car. I miss the older quad lamps where outer lamps had H4 and inner ones had H3. My dad's Contessa in the 90's had that, and only upgrade needed was from Halonex to Philips 60/55 in outer lamps and to 100W H3 in inner ones.


Rahul

Considering your experience with long distance driving, I would tell you that the current vehicle has not so ideal reflector setup, whatever you do on it is going to a bit wasteful. It is better to add a few AUX driving lights like a Hella 500 \ 700 FF series round halogen. There is no replacement (affordable) even today for a halogen bulb in a large round reflector, that is just the way it is. The entire setup can be had at around 6K, once the Hella is focused to complement the high beam, it works very well and can be switched off in city roads , a cover is also there to make it compliant to local traffic guidelines.

LED and HID in halogen reflector setup will scatter light all over, wasteful. Reliability is another concern. Beam pattern has unusual hotspots and shadows , will make night driving tiring.

[condor]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

HID in a halogen reflector? Or have I got it wrong?

This is something most of us think is not an ideal set up because a halogen reflector is simply not designed for HIDs and the beams normally do not do justice since they mostly spread than focus and also pose danger to the oncoming traffic due to the glare.

Absolutely, Parag. A headlamp design takes both into consideration. But hoping there is some improvement for him - and hence the suggestion to look up the threads for his car's model. Rather a hit-&-miss, at least learning from each other.


Btw, yes, my Low Beams are projectors. Good catch for others.

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

Considering your experience with long distance driving, I would tell you that the current vehicle has not so ideal reflector setup, whatever you do on it is going to a bit wasteful. It is better to add a few AUX driving lights like a Hella 500 \ 700 FF series round halogen. There is no replacement (affordable) even today for a halogen bulb in a large round reflector, that is just the way it is.

This is something I totally agree too. In the 90s my Dad's office had a few Ambassador cars and Mahindra MM540 Jeeps. All had Philips 100/90 in the 7" round stock lamps, and Hella Rally 500 with H3 bulbs on the bumpers wired to switch on with the high beams. None of today's aesthetically shaped lamps have the illumination they had.
Even then when I tried https://www.philips.co.in/c-p/11258U...headlight-bulb in the high beams, the illumination on the wall and in along straight lane was good. Only reason I did not buy was heat sink was not fitting properly as bulb is not at the center of bulb access, and the white light which I don't like.


Rahul

[condor]

You can add a projector in a regular lamp, but it is not easy. Here is one example @Varun560061 and myself did for our A-Star. Note that the A-Star was easy to work on. The connector does not extend too much outside the dust cap.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...ml#post4684351 (Maruti Suzuki A-Star Auto - Road Test)

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

This is something I totally agree too. In the 90s my Dad's office had a few Ambassador cars and Mahindra MM540 Jeeps. All had Philips 100/90 in the 7" round stock lamps, and Hella Rally 500 with H3 bulbs on the bumpers wired to switch on with the high beams. None of today's aesthetically shaped lamps have the illumination they had.
Even then when I tried https://www.philips.co.in/c-p/11258U...headlight-bulb in the high beams, the illumination on the wall and in along straight lane was good. Only reason I did not buy was heat sink was not fitting properly as bulb is not at the center of bulb access, and the white light which I don't like.


Rahul

Good thing is that Hella is still around, and though far more expensive than it used to be, its still the go-to decent lights around for the money. I have a pair of them (700FF wired to high beam with switch) in one of my vehicles, fitted for decorative purpose than actual use, but the one time I used it - I`m a fan of it.

Among the many issues of LED is the color temp, I could not get to like it as the LED itself is blue (White LED still eludes us) , it isn't as bright as well in the spec sheet in comparison to a 55/60W H4.

[IndigoXLGrandDi]

What is so special in this Philips 12342 60/55W H4 Bulb that Mahindra is selling it for Rs. 427/- on m2all website when the same Philips 12342 60/55W H4 Premium Halogen Headlight Bulb at Amazon.in cost Rs. 100/-?


What are your opinions on the above as well as below Bulbs?
Uno Minda H4 60/55W Blue Coating Headlight Bulb cost Rs. 124/-. What is this Blue Coating thing?

Uno Minda H4 60/55W Halogen Headlight Bulb cost Rs. 90/-

Uno Minda H4 60/55W Ultimate Yellow Headlight Bulb cost Rs. 200/-. Is this Street Legal?

[Rizzysson]

If the majority of the bulb is blue, then the bulb is likely not worth using. Any sort of colored tint on the bulb reduces light output, which is the opposite of what you want.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by IndigoXLGrandDi

What is so special in this Philips 12342 60/55W H4 Bulb that Mahindra is selling it for Rs. 427/- on m2all website when the same Philips 12342 60/55W H4 Premium Halogen Headlight Bulb at Amazon.in cost Rs. 100/-?

12342PRC1 , that is made in china by Lumileds IIRC - if it is original it's by far the best available at stock wattage.

What vehicle are you planning to fit this in?

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

12342PRC1 , that is made in china by Lumileds IIRC - if it is original it's by far the best available at stock wattage.

This SKU is of the Philips Vision, and available on Philips site.

However - the Lumileds site doesn't mention this particular model number.
Link - Lumileds H4 Halogen product list

Or if the product name says PRC1 on Philips site, it means its made by Lumileds under one of their mentioned names on their site?

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

This SKU is of the Philips Vision, and available on Philips site.

However - the Lumileds site doesn't mention this particular model number.
Link - Lumileds H4 Halogen product list

Or if the product name says PRC1 on Philips site, it means its made by Lumileds under one of their mentioned names on their site?

You are right, the Philips portal has it and Lumileds which is their sister concern does not. This one has good specs, 1815 Lms output, which is awesome for a 55/60.

I found the boxes finally.







Looks like Philips branded made by Lumileds, all the same.

[northstar*]

Hi guys, need some expert help here.

Background: My car got its right headlamp replaced just before the lockdown. It seems the service centre messed up the alignment completely. Now the right lamp beam is pretty high compared to left. I have to keep the headlamp leveller at 4th to get the beam pattern I had before in the 1st position and then the left side goes dark completely. I need to sort this immediately as my car runs 50% of its time at night. I have 100/90 bulbs, so don’t want blind anyone either.

Question: Is it possible to sort this alignment by adjusting the screws (I understand that there are screws to adjust x and y, but have zero experience with that), can it be done as DIY or need to get it done at the service centre?

Low beam pattern with leveller at 1st position.

[scorpian]

Originally Posted by northstar*

Hi guys, need some expert help here.
Question: Is it possible to sort this alignment by adjusting the screws (I understand that there are screws to adjust x and y, but have zero experience with that), can it be done as DIY or need to get it done at the service centre?
Low beam pattern with leveller at 1st position.
Attachment 1995683

Can be defintely done at home, open the hood and look closely at your headlamps there will be marking for left to right and up/down adjustment for the lamps. Park the car on a level surface facing a wall so that you can see the beam pattern. You can adjust it so that both beams are at the same height. You can further read on this on Google as to the perfect distance etc to be maintained from the wall as I can't remember it at the moment. Adjust it as per your needs and that will be any day better then someone else doing it.

[Kosfactor]

@northstar - A small difference can usually be corrected using the alignment screw on the back side of the headlamp assembly like this . In here I see a lot of variance, probably a good idea to check a few things apart from the alignment screw.



I would recommend first take off the bulb check if the bulb is straight and there is no manufacturing defect on them and reinstall it, making sure it is seated properly.

It also possible that the following mounting fasteners are loose and causing the headlamp to get misaligned.



A suitable spanner should be able to set this in place, a good DIY exercise,all the best.