Light up the darkness

[AlanF1]

Any suggestions please for legal replacement bulbs over the standard Ducato fit?

Just driven back from Lincolnshire on narrow country lanes and I had not realised how bad the dipped beam is with the standard fit bulbs

 

[pappajohn]

Legally, no.
But look to changing to LED bulbs and swapping back for the MOT.
You may need CANBUS compatible bulbs.

 

[pappajohn]

DrewE127 recommends these.

KATUR H7 Led Headlight Bulbs Mini Design Upgraded Chip Extremely Bright 12000 Lumens Waterproof All-in-One LED Headlight Conversion Kit 55W 6500K Xenon White-2 Years Waranty Amazon product ASIN B07QXB6SW7

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Legally, no.
But look to changing to LED bulbs and swapping back for the MOT.
You may need CANBUS compatible bulbs.

May I ask what CANBUS compatible bulbs are please.
The idea of better nighttime visibility is appealing on a 21year old Motorhome, which seems to use Candles for illumination!

 

[Two on Tour]

I changed our headlamp bulbs over to Osram Night Breaker Unlimited.



Although the video is testing the Osram Night Breaker Lasers, but if your look at his graphs, the Unlimited come out on top.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ivory55]

Might sound daft but have you got the headlight adjustment turned down ?

 

[NicM]

May I ask what CANBUS compatible bulbs are please.
The idea of better nighttime visibility is appealing on a 21year old Motorhome, which seems to use Candles for illumination!

You won’t have a CanBus on 21 year old van, but it’s like network for cars/vans

 

[AlanF1]

Might sound daft but have you got the headlight adjustment turned down ?

Thanks but it is a brand new van so, whilst I will check, was hoping it was setup correctly when it came out of the factory!

 

[Lenny HB]

If you do a lot of night driving I wouldn't fit uprated bulbs like the Night breakers as their life is fairly short.
Everyone who has fitted the Katur LED have had them pass the MOT even though they are illegal including me.

I've always thought the standard Ducato lights aren't bad but the Hella projector lamps used in A Class vans are diabolical.

 

[donkey]

I have played around with various bulbs on various vehicles and found the biggest issue is a reduction in voltage at the bulb.
Many vehicles have undersized cables, long cable runs and poor switches and connections.
This issue is actually exaggerated if high performance bulbs are fitted, as they are rated at higher wattage, which results in even lower voltage at the bulbs.
Be careful with canbus systems, but if standard wiring try connecting a lead from battery positive, switch on the headlamps and then touch the lead to the appropriate bulb terminal. You will be surprised at how much brighter the lamps are, because they are now getting full battery volts. You may also want to try a lead from battery negative to the bulb earth connection, this can often show surprising improvements.
I have on really poor examples added relays for dip and main, adjacent to the lamps themselves.

Geoff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Lenny HB]

This issue is actually exaggerated if high performance bulbs are fitted, as they are rated at higher wattage, which results in even lower voltage at the bulbs.

They are the same wattage as standard builds otherwise they would be illegal and couldn't be E marked.

 

[pappajohn]

May I ask what CANBUS compatible bulbs are please.
The idea of better nighttime visibility is appealing on a 21year old Motorhome, which seems to use Candles for illumination!

My take on CANBUS. It may be wrong but the principle is the same.
CANBUS is a computer controlled wiring system.
Instead of a myriad of heavy wires it uses a signal wire to direct the power to wherever is selected.
If, for instance, you want rear lights, instead of a heavy wire to each bulb of each light there will be one or two heavy feed wires and a signal will be sent telling the computer which lights to send that power too.
It needs to sense resistance on that circuit and if the wrong resistance is sensed it will produce a fault code and bulb failure warning.
CANBUS LEDs have the resistance built in so won't produce a fault.

 

[donkey]

I agree Lenny, but many high performance bulbs exceed this figure. See the technical spec for Osram Night breaker Lazer. In put Wattage 68w.

https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3306064.pdf

Just saying.

Geoff

 

[Lenny HB]

I agree Lenny, but many high performance bulbs exceed this figure. See the technical spec for Osram Night breaker Lazer. In put Wattage 68w.

https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3306064.pdf

Just saying.

Geoff

Interesting they give a power input and a nominal wattage which are different, looks like a bit of fudging to me.

 

[donkey]

Good word that "fudging". I have found several that exceed the 55W, some by a considerable margin. I suspect that is why their life span is so short.
What I do know is the use of LEDs is enhanced by the lower wattage, enabling higher voltage at the bulbs, due to lower demand on the system. So a bit of a win-win.
It's about time some of the better conversion LEDs were approved for use.

Geoff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[NicM]

Good word that "fudging". I have found several that exceed the 55W, some by a considerable margin. I suspect that is why their life span is so short.
What I do know is the use of LEDs is enhanced by the lower wattage, enabling higher voltage at the bulbs, due to lower demand on the system. So a bit of a win-win.
It's about time some of the better conversion LEDs were approved for use.

Geoff

The LED it’s self will be less than 12v, it will have built in control for it so it will always see the voltage it needs.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

My take on CANBUS. It may be wrong but the principle is the same.
CANBUS is a computer controlled wiring system.
Instead of a myriad of heavy wires it uses a signal wire to direct the power to wherever is selected.
If, for instance, you want rear lights, instead of a heavy wire to each bulb of each light there will be one or two heavy feed wires and a signal will be sent telling the computer which lights to send that power too.
It needs to sense resistance on that circuit and if the wrong resistance is sensed it will produce a fault code and bulb failure warning.
CANBUS LEDs have the resistance built in so won't produce a fault.

Thank you Pappajohn for that explanation.
But yet again I notice the ultimate reliance on a central “brain”, ie a Computer.
What happens when the Computer “ Brain” dies?
All , I suspect, is lost, in both power management and electrical functions?
And this is on an ICU based, heavy fuel vehicle.
Goodness knows what will happen on an all electric vehicle , be it a car, truck or even a Motorhome.
Think I’ll change to a Horse and covered waggon, traditional traveller style, with an open fire and a bucket for washing.
Far less complicated , but then I am a bit of a Luddite.

 

[68c]

Thank you Pappajohn for that explanation.
But yet again I notice the ultimate reliance on a central “brain”, ie a Computer.
What happens when the Computer “ Brain” dies?
All , I suspect, is lost, in both power management and electrical functions?
And this is on an ICU based, heavy fuel vehicle.
Goodness knows what will happen on an all electric vehicle , be it a car, truck or even a Motorhome.
Think I’ll change to a Horse and covered waggon, traditional traveller style, with an open fire and a bucket for washing.
Far less complicated , but then I am a bit of a Luddite.

Have to say I do love the idea if travelling across the prairie in a covered wagon, a strong young woman with you facing the unknown. Somehow driving up the A1 alone in the pouring rain does not seem the same.

 

[Trout bum]

Fitted led bulbs to my van both dipped and main beam bulbs after watching you tuber fit them on his van , incredible difference much crisper and very white bright lights had them fitted for 2 years now and no issues with mot , would never fit normal halogen bulbs again ,

 

[dazandandrea]

Osram night breakers, and driving almost entirely at night not had them fail in 3 years of use.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Headrush]

I don't see why the mot would be a problem. As long as the light pattern is correct, there's no reason to look at the bulbs. The examiners aren't allowed to strip things down to inspect them.

 

[ManTheVan]

Everyone who has fitted the Katur LED have had them pass the MOT even though they are illegal including me.

Errm, except me! As I explained in Drew’s thread, the MoT technician invited me into the bay to see why the Katurs resulted in an MoT failure for our MH. The light pattern was all over the place.

Nightbreakers were our saviour.

 

[the.postman]

Are you sure it's the bulbs you want to change and not the headlight lens/cover that need a refurb?

A good lens refurb can make all the difference.

 

[Minxy]

Before you go down the route of changing the bulbs check your cab battery, we had similar issues on a previous car where we changed the bulbs but it made very little difference, shortly afterwards the battery died and was replaced FOC as it was under warranty still however the recovery chap who did it put in a much better one as the original was one of the cheapest the manufacturer could get away with, the difference was immediate and the lights worked as they should have from the start, so it was either down to the battery failing or just being crap from the start.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Before you go down the route of changing the bulbs check your cab battery, we had similar issues on a previous car where we changed the bulbs but it made very little difference, shortly afterwards the battery died and was replaced FOC as it was under warranty still however the recovery chap who did it put in a much better one as the original was one of the cheapest the manufacturer could get away with, the difference was immediate and the lights worked as they should have from the start, so it was either down to the battery failing or just being crap from the start.

Headlamps are powered by the alternator though

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

Headlamps are powered by the alternator though

But if the battery is crap and taking the juice it will affect the output - I'm not a mechanic, all I can state is what happened in a 'real' situation rather than a theoretical one. When driving on country roads it certainly made a heck of a difference.

Broken Link Removed

 

[Lenny HB]

Headlamps are powered by the alternator though

Probably a Smart car with a PP3 battery.

 

[Wagoneer]

I've always thought the standard Ducato lights aren't bad but the Hella projector lamps used in A Class vans are diabolical.

Agree. The Hella projector lamps (especially on dip) are no better than candles.

Think you might be able to upgrade to an Xeron (spelling ???) version - anyone done that ?

 

[NicandJay]

I changed our headlamp bulbs over to Osram Night Breaker Unlimited.



Although the video is testing the Osram Night Breaker Lasers, but if your look at his graphs, the Unlimited come out on top.

Did they make much of a difference in real driving for you as my 2021 fiat based Burstner is still using the candles of a birthday cake it would seem and I would like a change but not to led.
Thanks

 

[dunnah01]

I've tried most types of bulbs including LED, Night Breakers etc but the only ones to make a significant difference were HIDs. The problem was occasionally people driving the other way disagreed so they had to go, even though they passed the MOT back in the day.
Drove from Cheshire to Lincolnshire last night in the moho on std halogens on sopping wet, dark roads and I doubt any headlight bulb upgrade would be able to make it a less than horrible experience.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}