higher wattage on headlight and fog light bulbs
Jun 23, 2009, 01:12 PM
#2
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i'm by no means an expert, but that is almost never good. Either they will overheat the housing or something else. Circuits are designed with certain elements and usually have very little in terms of leeway.
Jun 23, 2009, 01:17 PM
#3
increasing the wattage on halogen bulbs means that it'll emit more light and heat. the heat can damage the headlight housing and the extra voltage necessary to power the bulb might cause you to blow a fuse or melt a wire (i've seen this happen). if you run HIDs, they have more lumens (light/brightness) while running cooler than halogen bulbs. the downside to this is that you need to but a kit that has a HID ballast. also, the headlight housing you have now is a halogen housins, so your HIDs would basically be shooting all over the place...blinding people. this can cause you to be pulled over, high beamed by others, and what not.
Jun 23, 2009, 01:33 PM
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While everyone is speaking the truth, as long as you don't go crazy you are probably fine. Just keep an eye on things, especially for the fogs as those aren't typically setup as well for higher wattage bulbs.
I changed my 35w stock SuperDuty fog lights to 55w (common mod for those trucks as the fogs suck) and never had an issue while running them almost continually. Just keep an eye on the housing and you'll likely be fine. Of course, do this at your own risk. haha!
I changed my 35w stock SuperDuty fog lights to 55w (common mod for those trucks as the fogs suck) and never had an issue while running them almost continually. Just keep an eye on the housing and you'll likely be fine. Of course, do this at your own risk. haha!
Jun 23, 2009, 02:57 PM
#6
The guys around here, when they're designing stuff that doesn't directly endanger life and limb, I think use as little as 25-50% safety factor. Meaning a 65 watt fixture, electrically and thermodynamically might go to 75 watts and not much more.
However, if I'm designing a ceiling bracket that holds hundreds of pounds of fixture, I generally go for 200% to yield as a minimum.
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Jun 23, 2009, 03:14 PM
#8
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What does the manual say the stock bulbs/sockets are rated at? You just have to ask yourself, is it worth the risk of a ~$600-$1200(if you're HID) pair of housings if they melt them.
Jun 23, 2009, 05:40 PM
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Also, just because the packaging reads 80w, does not mean the bulb actually is. I have seen some brands packaging that refer to the wattage as the sum of both bulbs. So 80w is actually 40w per bulb.
Jun 23, 2009, 05:52 PM
#10
It depends on how far you're pushing it and with what bulbs. For fogs, I wouldn't go above the stock rating at all given that it's a small space and heat can thus build up quickly. By contrast, I run 65W headlight bulbs (which are 10 over stock) and haven't had any issues yet nor has anybody on NASIOC with the same setup. If it calls for 55W and you run 80W though, you could have serious issues.
Jun 23, 2009, 07:15 PM
#11
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yahu - what do you think on this one?
Last edited by dyck888; Jun 23, 2009 at 07:18 PM.
Jun 23, 2009, 07:28 PM
#13
this is prolly off topic, say you get a Projector Housing (kinda what comes stock HID-ready, only without the HIDs), are you better off going with brighter/whiter halogens (like those Osram night breakers) than doing some aftermarket HID setup? assuming these are stock, factory Projector housings without HIDs
Jun 24, 2009, 03:43 AM
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I'd go HIDs myself. E.g. - We had a 2006 Pilot as a family vehicle that came with projectors. Installed HIDs and there is definitely not a strong cutoff, but they weren't bad. You could definitely tell they weren't as focused but they were still much better than halogens and not overly annoying for oncoming cars.
One really nice feature of HIDs is the spectrum of light that they produce (on the applications I have used) really hit reflective material much further. You can see the little reflective "turtles" on the road further, signs, and also animal eyes. Very good when driving in Montana in the middle of the night!
One really nice feature of HIDs is the spectrum of light that they produce (on the applications I have used) really hit reflective material much further. You can see the little reflective "turtles" on the road further, signs, and also animal eyes. Very good when driving in Montana in the middle of the night!