Improving Headlamps?

[ianperry3112]

Ed,

I'd suggest you do the wiring as planned and then see how it all looks before doing anything else - you shouldn't have to spend more than about a tenner and if that gives you enough light to feel safe you will have done really well :-)

Sounds like the Ph 2 fit is a bit of a faff with the need to replace the grill and indicators to do it properly, and I'm guessing you'd prefer to do it neat and tidily rather than leaving the car looking like a tinker's wagon.

Bit of a shame about the Mk 2 units, as that would IMO look pretty cool on the front of the car - but of course what you can do (trying to recall what car I've seen this on) is install a 5 3/4 quad set on bespoke brackets, accepting that the bottom 1/2" or thereabouts is hidden behind the bumper. Wouldn't affect the beam pattern unduly. You can get off-the-peg units that are smaller - certainly for the main beam and possibly for the dipped beam as well. Loads of relatively small circular or oval units are available on eBay (other internet auction sites are available) for reasonable prices.

[Porsche]

Sorry, about the quads being mk2 lamps. I had a search for Mk3 lamps on eBay and they were in the results.

I think Ian's idea above is good. I've seen this done on a Rover SD1, but I think it could be done on your Astra too. (And would look super cool).

Pride Of Longbridge, 18th April 2015 by Kevin Day, on Flickr

Pride Of Longbridge, 18th April 2015 by Kevin Day, on Flickr

[ianperry3112]

Ooh, a facelift SD1 with quad headlights - I'm having stirrings... Think I need to "take a moment" :-)

[heathrobinson]

I've heard good things about Philips LED bulbs, and you can find them fairly cheaply on the Bay of E. Like these maybe

[93fxdl]

My LED headlamps arrived today

So I now have some very bright, very white headlamps, just waiting till tonight to see what the beam pattern and illumination are like
Ttfn Glenn

[edessex]

I eagerly await the results!

[93fxdl]

Went for a spin last night,
The lights are much brighter than before, I will be checking the alignment as I am paranoid about dazzling others since they are so bright.
Seem to emphasize shadows, and the glare from reflective road signs can be distracting,
I would not say they are better than modern headlamps with good bulbs and wiring, but has mad a big difference to the poor lighting system on my t4.
On any vehicle with a marginal electrical system I would suggest it is a good upgrade,
But LED headlights are a bit of a minefield as to quality,
Ttfn Glenn

[dodgerover]

93fxdl what do you think now you've had them for a few nights? Do you have a link to where/ who you got yours from?

[93fxdl]

Dec 19, 2016 21:00:59 GMT dodgerover said:

93fxdl what do you think now you've had them for a few nights? Do you have a link to where/ who you got yours from?

They have improved the lights immensely, a couple of times with the old lights I was on high beam without noticing, or getting flashed at,I still need to adjust my lights, to try and get a better spread of light, I seem to have one in the hedge and one a bit low, the dip beam cut off is not as defined as with halogens, so might fail mot, but since they are simple plug and play, it would be easy to swap back.
I got mine from amazon, but cannot seem to post a link.
Might be better to look for Philips led lamps,
Provided the LEDs last as long as they are supposed to, they provide better lights for a bargain price, in my case I would have needed to upgrade the loom and fit fancy short lived halogens to get anywhere near the same level of lighting.
Ttfn Glenn
This may be a link, but last time I tried, it just brought up the amazon home page.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01LER2PZ0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482184747&sr=8-1π=SY200_QL40&keywords=h4+led

[dodgerover]

Techmax LED H4s? If so link is sort of working but it goes via a Walmart page but there is a proceed to amazon bit at the bottom

[93fxdl]

Yes, those are the ones I bought, link seems to work ok if you copy and paste it into a browser for some reason, strange, its not even the uk amazon it takes you to.
Ttfn Glenn

[ferny]

It's ProBoard (I assume) scripting which jumps on links to shops to make money on the click-through.

[Rebuilda]

I'm another one in favour of relays and relay kits. Nightbreakers or any of the higher temperature (4400K ish) bulbs will appear whiter and many will give you a better quality of light on the road and better definition on the cut off. I use Ring 'xenon' 4400k bulbs in the transit which used to be like having two candles... Vast improvement over standard H4's.
I looked at replacement LED bulbs and indeed 7 inch units made for commercial vehicles to fit in the kit cars. LED's emit light differently from filaments and I don't think they've got it quite right yet. The 7 inch commercial units are still prohibitively expensive but are designed to make the best use of LED technology.
With your lights being an awkward shape its going to be complex surgery fitting projector style units or uplift the existing system with relays and higher temperature bulbs.

[edessex]

FINALLY got round to testing voltages!

Across the battery: 12.3


Ignition and headlights turned on:

From the bulb feed (bulb out): 11.6

With bulb in:
Bulb + to Batt +: 0.9
Bulb - to body: 0.3

Bulb - to body: 0 ohms.

[welshpug]

what about with the engine running?

[edessex]

Didn't try with the engine running, would that make any difference?

[sb]

Dec 29, 2016 17:19:42 GMT edessex said:

Didn't try with the engine running, would that make any difference?

Yup, should see another volt or two.

[edessex]

Well, I'll try again with it running, but either way it's not as far off as I was expecting.

I'm unsure if a relay setup will make much difference...

[Rebuilda]

Probably stating the obvious but... 11.6V is 90% of the normal operating voltage (13.5 - 14V).
When tested with a meter you will only be trying to pass milliamps. this only requires a small contact patch to be clean. Passing enough current to light the headlight efficiently would require more of a contact.
I think you may have to measure the amps flowing through the circuit when the light bulb is fitted to see a discrepancy.

[edessex]

I set the multimeter to Amps, connected the bulb to the earth, and bridged the feed to the bulb + tab with the multimeter, but got no reading. I have a feeling I've had issues with the multimeter before. Bolts and Ohms work fine, but not Amps...