swimmingly

Anyone with IceShark's kit installed having problems with their bulbs burning out every couple of months? This is somewhat annoying and I'm wondering if other people are having the same problem.

This time, I raised my headlights, turned on the radio (I doubt this has anything to do with it, but I'll put it down just in case), and bam, the headlights flashed really white and bright (almost like a camera flash), then went dark. The bulb glass is clear (so I don't think it was finger oil or whatever), but the filament has been burnt. I think it may be an issue with the voltage being set to 14+, but I've been burning out bulbs like crazy (and becoming a pro at taking off/installing the headlamp covers).

I'm thinking about turning down the voltage on my voltage regulator and dropping it to around 14.2 (from 14.4) or so. Anyways, and similar stories or thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edit: And when I try out the high beams, they work. It's only the low beam that got burnt out.

Scootin159

The high power bulbs do not last as long, but I've yet to have one of mine "burn out" (in ~3 years). I have however had several bulbs explode as the cracked lenses leaked some water into the bulb on a rainy day. I seem to have a thing for cracking headlight lenses - 4 in the last 3 years.

swimmingly

I'm running 100/90 right now. Are you saying that if I bump down to 60/55 it should last longer? If that's true, maybe I'll replace them with lower wattage ones. I didn't really notice a difference between my old 60/55 and 100/90 that I have now in terms of light output so it'd be a nice sacrifice for replacing bulbs less often.

Wipeout

My experience is that the lenses are what make the difference, along with a harness of some kind. If you were to swap in 55/60s and this still happened, you have a problem with water getting in or something shorting the bulb out. Since both bulbs are going, I'm voting a short or something like that. Could the wires of the harness be rubbing against metal and shorting out on the body? I didn't pay enough attention when I originally installed my Rennbay harness and got it wrapped around the bar that lifts and lowers the lights!

SoCal Driver

Wonder if both elements are coming on. This would explain the brightness. Not supposed to last long with both elements burning.

V2Rocket

Check the fuse, it might be letting too much current through.

Got Me a Porsha

A short in the harness wouldn't cause a shorter bulb life. If the positive wires were bare, and touching ground, it would either burn the points off of the relay, or pop the fuse...fuse being first.

BOTH bulbs going is an overvoltage issue. It may be a flaky regulator, or a bad battery cable, causing the alternator to full-field (run wide open). I'm running 85w yellowstars in fogs, 100w driving lights, and 100/90w Narva headlamps at 13.8v on a stock regulator and have no problems. I drove it to Montana straight through, all night, everything blazing for almost 12 hours with no issues. I have also upgraded to the HimselHaus battery cables, which made a HUGE difference in my charging voltage.

The 100/90 narvas are good bulbs, but short lived. I'm going to start hooking the guys up with 85/80 osrams, since they have almost twice the life, and negligible difference in output. The osrams are a little pricier though...so it all works out the same in the end, as they say!

Got Me a Porsha

Fuses cannot regulate voltage or current.

They can only protect the circuit in the event of an overcurrent condition caused by another component in the circuit.

jpk

It's the voltage - try turning it down a bit, even to 14.0. With the voltage too high, the fillament burns hotter than it's designed for.

Wipeout

I stand corrected.

ejsaenz

This idea might be a little far fetched, but, have you checked the voltage with an AC voltmeter?? maybe the diodes in the regulator shorted and you may be introducing some AC voltage. I would suspect that this would also raise havoc in other electrical systems in the car but you never know......

Also Most lead-acid batteries have a float charge voltage of 13.8 Volts. Higher voltages are ususally used to equalize battery banks, but only occasionally. Standing voltage is 12 Volts.

Got Me a Porsha

Yes, I have had this happen. I noticed it as a buzzing noise in the radio. It was soon followed by low charging, and finally a dead battery. When the diodes finally fail, they allow the battery voltage to run through the alternator backwards, and it wants to be an electric motor. The belt will not let it spin, so it just gets hot, and kills the battery! I have not tried to measure it, however.

swimmingly

Should I hook it up to an oscilloscope and see if I'm getting any AC in the system?

Scootin159

Seen this as well...in my case it was a bit more severe as I could see the volt meter do a nice full-tilt dance at about 5hz. Also noticed the radio doesn't work anymore....

Jaak Lepson

Agreed ... the voltage is too high.

In warmer climates such as yours the voltage should be lower to prevent the battery from being boiled dry. 13.4 VDC sounds about right. The only time it should get to 14 VDC is when the battery has a low charge and the ambient temperature is below freezing. As the battery charges the voltage should drop down to close to 13 VDC.

The higher wattage lights have a smaller filament that "burns" brighter thus susceptible to damage from vibrations. Stick to a lower wattage bulb ... also these can take a higher voltage as well as absorb more vibrations.