Caspers Headlight Brightener

[daveismissing]

Wondering if 100W H1 is brighter than 55W HID....hmmmmm. ...

HID bulbs typically produce 71 lumens of light per watt compared to 18 lumens of light per watt for standard halogen bulbs.
               18        71
Watts   Lumens   Lumens
100      1800          7100
55        990          3905
35        630          2485
 

[Steve Wood]

The human eye does not seem to see an increase in lumens on anything approaching a linear scale...and lumens may not reflect increased distance either as that is more a measure of focus, I think, than output.  Will be interesting.  Perhaps I said that wrong...given the same number of lumens, distance will be affected largely by focus?

OH, well, I always preferred playing with matches more than flashlights in my formative years

[daveismissing]

Do we believe a sealed beam HIGH has a tighter beam than a LOW.
Or is it just a matter of alignment in the vehicle?

[Steve Wood]

sealed beam?  Didn't know we were talking sealed beams...I was talking reflectors with replaceable bulbs....and some of those reflectors have varying focal patterns...whe ther it is standard to do so, or just exceptions, I don't know

[1KWIKSIX]

I believe going with the 100watt (incandescent style ) high beam (H1) is the only way to go.
 
Have been told that HID's do not like to be turned on / off quickly, basically they must stay on for at least 5 seconds or damage to the ballast will eventually occur (maybe after 50 times) then your ballast will Kack out.
 
If you used an HID for high beam, what happens when you go to flash quickly on hi beam....typica lly done to warn oncoming motorists of a radar trap, or some other hazzard they are approaching?
 
I think you see my point.....that is whay most vehicles I've seen (except the really high end ones that have a Halo ring on the high beam lamps) have HID's for low beam (cause they stay on all the time) and the H1 incandescent style bulb for high beam which can be flashed on or off rapidly with little or no consequence to the bulb.
 
If you want HID's for high beam.....you would need to have a halo ring on those lamps which are constantly on.....believe this would alleviate the issue , but I doubt you'll find these easily.
 
Besides , if you did go this route, it would definitely stand out and would not look very stock.
 
Please correct me if I am wrong & my line of thinking is off base.
 
Just my 2cents (& very limited knowledge on automotive lighting).
 
 
dave

[Steve Wood]

There are the the hi/lo hid's that pull the bulb in and out, but, my feelings are mixed after a lot of research.

Then there is the option of simply running the standard hid's in the high beam as well...couple of variations come to mind...aim them differently and/or use the 55w hid bulb.  I guess one could simply aim them the same and let them be on all the time, but, sure as heck, you will get stopped for running when all four are illuminated and accused of being a menace to society.  I don't recall what I read about the fully digital ballast and turn on time, tho.

I suspect you are right in that the simplest, cheapest is to just run regular bulbs and use them primarily for a flash

[daveismissing]

I assume the h1/4  housings just copy the sealed beam reflector profile.

May have a point about the repeated starts- bears some research.
May be less of an issue on digitals. I'd assume the inductors and power semiconductors are
not selected to supply startup currents continuously- not at twelve bucks a ballast.
 

[turbojd]

There are a couple ways you could go about the high beams, I see alot of "bi zenon" kits that have hid "low beam" and a "halogen" bulb for "high beam" I think I would prefer this choice as the hid takes a few seconds to ignite to "full brightness" Good point brought up about the quick flashing of the high beams also.

[1KWIKSIX]

There are a couple ways you could go about the high beams, I see alot of "bi zenon" kits that have hid "low beam" and a "halogen" bulb for "high beam" I think I would prefer this choice as the hid takes a few seconds to ignite to "full brightness" Good point brought up about the quick flashing of the high beams also.

My point exactly!
 
So that's why I'm going with H4's with  HID's for low beam...(these will br wired to stay on when I demand High beam).
Hi beam will be the outside H4's with HID's on and at the same time the inside pair of H1's with 100watt Halogen bulbs.
 
All 4 will illuminate when High Beam is called for.....if you need a quick flash of high beam, no problems....as the inner H1's with halogen bulbs will flash with no issues.
 
Sounds so simple....just have to wire a relay for the high beam so the buicks' hi beam switch doesn't take the load.
 
 

[jason]

Have you considered simply doing an H4 conversion ?  Very easy, very noticeable difference.  The H4 housing is glass with a much better reflector, giving a nice, sharp cutoff pattern, and the bulbs have much higher wattage.

seller rimiinc has the kit you want on ebay at a really good price.   It includes new H4 and H1 bulbs (60/55W and 100W respectively).  You'll also want an upgraded harness with relays in order to avoid burning the stock headlight switch.  You could make your own but the at $30 it just isn't worth your time.  the 2x H4s and 2xH1 on high-beam will draw more currant than the stock switch can provide.  Optionally, you can order the pigtail connector to make life a bit easier on yourself, or you could swap the 2 pins on the low-beam plug on the car.  Keep in mind you'll still need to do this even if you get the harness.


2x Autopal H4/H1 conversion = $60
Matrix 01-133 Harness = 30

Sub-Total: $90

optional:
1x pair [ul=http://www.ebay.com/itm/270321339119?_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649&item=270321339119&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MESELX:IT&vxp=mtr]heavy duty H4 pigtail: $6
H4 bulb upgrade: 100/55W or 100/90W (pushing it...expect to get flashed on the road, though the sharp cutoff helps): $4.  Mention it with your order

total: $100

[ULYCYC]

I did the conversion years ago.  A friend of mine was a dealer for Hella so I had unlimited supply to tryout.  Long story to short, Hella H4  was the overall best. The 100 watt and 160 watt H1 and H4 bulbs melted the leaded bulb mounts and or distorted the clip screw then lost ground. After a long run the High watt bulb bases turned black and blue. They were real blinding bright but only lasted a few months.  I made my own hotwire kit to run low/high beams since they will burn out the headlight switch. Also the Hella offroad  headlights had the best reflective lens.

EDIT: I did not compare to HID's at the time. They were over $500 then

[Steve Wood]

I have seen nothing that shows that  H4 conversion with a conventional bulb of any wattage compares to the HID conversion when properly shielded when it comes to cut off or evenness of light distribution.

The Autopal housings are quite good for the cost.  They are not certified as true European E Code lights altho they are E marked which is not the same thing from what I read.  On the other hand, they do seem to be a pretty good copy and do provide a similar cut off.

The Hellas are better performing, but, probably not twice as good so the price/performance ratio is not as good.

The Cibies would appear to be the cream of the crop, but, you have to be prepared to suffer for that label as they are normally way on up the pricing scale.

Marchal used to have a very good reflector but I have not seen them in a long time.

In the end, almost anything is better than US code lighting if you make the effort to assemble a "kit" that does not blind the oncoming drivers and stay away from the blue lights.

[Scoobum]

Someone needs to start selling these "kits" for plug and play idiots like myself.

[turbojd]

The Autopal H4 housings are a "good quality" H4 housing as far as cutoff and light distribution. I have yet to be flashed one time with the D2s hid conversion. I pass the "law" all the time. And if it matters, I am using the 6000K bulbs.

[jason]

I have a set of Bosch SBQ46 H4 housings and in all honesty the Autopal lights seem to be an exact replica.

Someone needs to start selling these "kits" for plug and play idiots like myself.

The std (non-HID) H4 kit is plug if you buy the Matrix upgraded wiring harness and pigtail.  It will prevent the switch issue Ed referred to.  The pigtail just swaps the poles on the low beam light so you're powering the correct circuit.  if you don't want to "push in the pins" yourself, you can order this pigtail, and it will truly be plug and play. 

Stock sealed beam


 H4


 
Pigtail