Headlight brightness issue

Tezza

Tezza

Free Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2008
Posts
243
Likes collected
70
Location
South Wales
Funster No
3,966
MH
Benimar Mileo 286
Exp
around 26 years
Good evening

Is anyone having or had trouble with headlight brightness?

I have a 2015 Benimar 286 and am finding the light given off by the head lights on normal beam is not that bright. I see more and more cars with these new brighter white/blue tint beams, assuming my bulbs are the std fit ones would I see a difference if I change to these new fandangled ones. Apologies I have no idea what they are called, apart from I know they are more expensive but are supposed to last longer.

Any ideas anyone?

T
 
I've never thought the Ducato headlights were particularly good, possibly due to their high position, but there again I don't drive the van much in the dark. Not much help I know but I think there might be an issue with the blue/white bulbs being fitted to "standard" headlight units. Perhaps a good auto spares shop can advise if nobody pops up on here with a more definitive answer.
 
Thanks for replying, I have a service booked for a few weeks time so will discuss with the lads then, just wondered if anyone had any previous experience.

T
 
Our Peugeot based van had the same headlights and I agree, they are rubbish. You could try Halfords range of brighter bulbs ( if they sell the equivalent bulb) but make sure your wiring can cope with the extra wattage.
Of just drive slower............

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No problem converting them to HID bulbs (those are the blue ones)

You would need a 4000k bulb for a crisp WHITE light.
Bright blue could be up to 9000k and would be worse than useless....the bluer the light the less beam range they have.
K is a measurement of light colour (spectrum) output...Kelvin.

On top of the cost of bulbs, maybe £30 each for half decent ones, you need ballast drivers at around £100 each.
The ballast is there to increase the required voltage to ignite the gas in the bulbs from 12v to 18,000v, yes...eighteen thousand volts.

You WILL, of course, need twin headlamps as I don't think you can get combined dip/main HID bulbs. Could be wrong as things do improve over time.
 
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I thought HID's are illegal as well unless you have lamp washers and self levelling?

Mike
 
taffybloke said:
I thought HID's are illegal as well unless you have lamp washers and self levelling?

Mike
Click to expand...
Correct, and without fitting a complete new headlamp unit with correct reflector you will not get the correct beam pattern to pass an MOT.
 
pappajohn said:
On top of the cost of bulbs, maybe £30 each for half decent ones, you need ballast drivers at around £100 each.
The ballast is there to increase the required voltage to ignite the gas in the bulbs from 12v to 18,000v, yes...eighteen thousand volts.
Click to expand...

Blimey ..... Sounds like Chernobyl .....:confused:

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F
Lenny HB said:
Correct, and without fitting a complete new headlamp unit with correct reflector you will not get the correct beam pattern to pass an MOT.
Click to expand...
forgot about the washer and leveller issue, but I'm not so sure about the reflectors.
The bulb will be designed for any reflector in the same way a standard halogen bulb will fit most normal headlamps.
 
pappajohn said:
F

forgot about the washer and levelled issue, but I'm not so sure about the reflectors.
The bulb will be designed for any reflector in the same way a standard halogen bulb will fit most normal headlamps.
Click to expand...
Fairly crrtian without the correct refector to contain the beam spread they can not focus correctly, they cause dazzel to oncoming traffic and although the light it brighter the beam is so poorly focused you don't gain much.
 
I had HID's on a Jag with projector dipped headlights and they made a vast improvement in the lights over the standard bulbs and it still passed it's MOT. Still illegal though.

Mike
 
There is another hurdle.....
With HID main beam, in use the dip beam MUST remain lit when main beam is selected.
My Chrysler has HID main and halogen dip.
On main beam the dip IS also lit.
Not a bad thing as it gives even more light both close and distant.
There is a recommended upgrade kit available for the car and is a very popular upgrade in the owners club and nobody has reported an MOT failure due to inaccurate beam pattern.
 
Sas r us said:
Blimey ..... Sounds like Chernobyl .....:confused:
Click to expand...

Never wear Russian under pants or Chernobyl fall out ;)

I dont drive much at night and haven't got a Fiat base so cant help much . Interesting subject though (y)

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A couple of spotlights might be a better option , they can work on normal and main beam .


Vlad
 
Crikey, I thought I'd left this topic behind on the motorcycle forums - where it gets done to death.

The bottom line is that any retro-fitting of HID bulbs into 'normal' reflectors is illegal, I have all the relevant documentation / links somewhere but probably not the will to live to go and find them lol. HID reflector units have to be checked by law and are given a pass certificate. Any 'home conversion' that doesn't go through this process is therefore illegal.

Having said that, MOT stations are not allowed to dismantle units to see what's in there, so as long as the dispersion pattern looks ok they won't fail it. Similarly, the average PC on the beat knows as much about International headlight laws as he does about money laundering, so you're pretty safe there too. The only place you are likely to come to grief is if you are involved in an accident, especially at night. If the oncoming driver claims that they were dazzled by your headlights and they turn out to be illegal then you can guess what your insurance company will say ...

You can fit 'Night-breaker' type bulbs or you could drive slower at night, both work for me (except when you're blinded by HID's coming towards you - grrr ;) )
 
Many Thanks all for taking the time to reply, I was looking at the Osram and Philips Night breaker type bulbs, so will see what the lads say at servicing time in 2 weeks.
I must admit it's been noticeably worse since I have been driving in Scotland, I found the unlit roads very bad with my current lights, hence the question.
 
Tezza said:
Many Thanks all for taking the time to reply, I was looking at the Osram and Philips Night breaker type bulbs, so will see what the lads say at servicing time in 2 weeks.
I must admit it's been noticeably worse since I have been driving in Scotland, I found the unlit roads very bad with my current lights, hence the question.
Click to expand...
The Night Breaks are good but have a fairly short life, I used to sell them and got quite a few customers whinging about the life.
 
Lenny HB said:
The Night Breaks are good but have a fairly short life, I used to sell them and got quite a few customers whinging about the life.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the down-side, how long they last and how much they cost. On bikes they don't suffer bumps / off road well ... hopefully that's not so much of an issue with a MH ;)

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Plenty of hid kits on eBay. Easy plug and play fit. Make sure you get the right replacement bulb fitting. If yours is dual filament dip and main in same bulb forget it.
Had one on the bike on dip beam- it was like looking at the sun but still didn't the silly bitch pulling out in front of me.
 
The only way to up the headlight brightness short of replacing the type of bulbs is to fit a relay kit wired to the battery and alternator. This way the full voltage is going to each headlight from the relay which draws its current from the vehicle battery/alternator. The relay is then switched in the normal way from the vehicles light switch. I fitted a boomslang loom to my defender as the Defenders light switch tends to melt after a while, fitting the relayed loom stopped the full current going through the switch and the resulting voltage drop as the relay now handles the voltage direct from the source using thicker gauge wiring with reduced voltage drop meaning more voltage at the bulb and hence brighter headlights. Easy enough to make an adhoc system but there are upgrade kits out there which are vehicle specific as well as loads of how to posts.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html
 
Vlad The Impaler said:
A couple of spotlights might be a better option , they can work on normal and main beam .


Vlad
Click to expand...
But are only legal when used on main beam.That's why they are normally operated through a relay to come on when main beam is selected.

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gus-lopez said:
But are only legal when used on main beam.That's why they are normally operated through a relay to come on when main beam is selected.
Click to expand...

And they have to be switched, a light bar gives more light and is easier to blend into the front of the van over fitting large spots. The below video is crap quality but shows the light bar output I fitted to my Puma Defender, the headlights are LED as well and the sequence is low beam, high beam and then the light bar is switched on in high beam.

 
Only down side to light bar is you can't use with traffic on two road.
 
A lightbar like spotlights are just an aid to high beam so would only come on when you select high beam.
 

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