Thread: - RANT - HID low beam conversions

Originally Posted by Hymie

Just tonight I near as dammit had a prang at a roundabout.
<snip> damn it was a close call.
I hate driving at night these days, I must be getting old....
Have to trade the Disco in on a Volvo.

Sorry to burst your bubble, it seems that Volvo drivers have migrated to Subaru Forrester these days!

My pet hate are the racks of rooftop lights that hit you at eye level and mostly seem to be used by the irresponsible class who won't dip until the last second. Aimable Unity spotlights were handy in my trucking days. You could aim these right into the eyes of the oncoming driver to give them a taste of their own medicine. You can also turn them around to shine at the p****s following who won't dim their lights. The legality of rooftop lights is doubtful. You certainly can't get a straight answer from Qld. Transport. I got four differing answers from four QT officers.

The current fashion for using foglights in urban driving and clear visibility has become a point of danger. Some of these are dazzling. Tossers use them in clear violation of the regulations that say they may only be used in conditions of poor visibility, must be used in conjunction with sidelights, and must never be used in conjunction with headlights. A couple of junior constables could recoup their annual salaries in a couple of nights standing on any main road in Brisbane handing out on the spot fines for such usage.

Originally Posted by Lotz-A-Landies

Sorry to burst your bubble, it seems that Volvo drivers have migrated to Subaru Forrester these days!

I thoght they had gone to Lexus.

Its probably been said, but cant be bothered reading through ALL the posts.

The biggest problem with HID conversions is those who put them into glass refracted lenses, ie, everyday standard headlights with the pattern on the glass.
These headlights create glare as although they are designed to disperse the light into a pattern, the amount of erroneous light is still quite high due to the light passage inside the glass. Anyone who remembers back to school science or who has a certain Pink Floyd album will remember the light bean thru a prism!
As standard glass reflector headlights are by no means geometrically perfect or have accurate prism design, the efficiency is low as is the accuracy. Even standard halogen bulbs cause a dazzling effect.
HID in these types of light bodies is dangerous.

In a rear reflector type headlight ala "crystal" type lenses, its a vastly different situation and accuracy is far better and glare is greatly reduced hence the use of this design is now a standard feature on all new cars.

There are a number of car makers using HID in this type of lens. What makes the difference is getting the correct HID bulb from the right makers designed for retro fit into the specific rear reflector lens. Get a cheap one and most likely the gas arc position will be incorrect for the reflector type.

Philips make a kit specifically designed to suit a lens made originally for halogen based bulbs and these are what go into a lot of OEM HID options lists.

Although the cheap price of HID at the moment on eBay attracts a lot of people, you will still get what you pay for.

A few examples:

CHEAP!!! HID KIT XENON CONVERSION H1 H3 H4 H7 H119005 9006 - eBay Xenon Lights, Lights, Indicators, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 12-Jul-10 12:28:03 AEST)

QUALITY: PHILIPS H7 XENON HID*6000K PURE WHITE LIGHTS KIT - eBay Xenon Lights, Lights, Indicators, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 06-Aug-10 02:46:15 AEST)

Regards


Andrew

Originally Posted by B92 8NW

How many women are likely to flash a bloke in a big, modded 4x4 alone at night?

Im pretty sire its dam near impossible to tell who is driving at night coming from the other direction

Originally Posted by steve_35

Im pretty sire its dam near impossible to tell who is driving at night coming from the other direction

This has been raised already and I've re-considered and posted an amendment. As I said earlier, with unpredictable aggression from many people, a lot wouldn't feel comfortable flashing or using the horn.

Originally Posted by discowhite

where exactly did this come from??
the current ADR13/00 (not any superceeded document) looks like this.

current ARD13/00

6.2.9. Other requirements
The requirements of paragraph 5.5.2. shall not apply to dipped-beam headlamps.
Dipped-beam headlamps with a light source or LED module(s)
producing the principal dipped beam and having a total objective
luminous flux which exceeds 2,000 lumen shall only be installed in
conjunction with the installation of headlamp cleaning device(s)
according to Regulation No. 45. 9/
With respect to vertical inclination the provisions of paragraph 6.2.6.2.2.
above shall not be applied for dipped-beam headlamps:
(a) with LED module(s) producing the principal dipped beam, or
(b) with a light source producing the principal dipped beam and having an objective luminous flux which exceeds 2,000 lumen.
Only dipped-beam headlamps according to Regulations Nos. 98 or 112 may be used to produce bend lighting.
If bend lighting is produced by a horizontal movement of the whole beam or the kink of the elbow of the cut-off, it shall be activated only if the vehicle is in forward motion; this shall not apply if bend lighting is produced for a right turn in right hand traffic (left turn in left hand traffic).

looks a bit different to your quote?

now i just have to work out the conversion from lux to deg k..

cheers phil

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/LegislativeInstrument1.nsf/0/AE1B9990DB386491CA2570D50006B802/$file/ADR+13-00+[FINAL+FRLI].pdf

Look in Appendix A Regulation 48. Sorry I gave you incomplete information previously. It is a 2005 document so may have been updated.

Originally Posted by LOVEMYRANGIE

..............
The biggest problem with HID conversions is those who put them into glass refracted lenses, ie, everyday standard headlights with the pattern on the glass.
.............
Regards


Andrew

It is not even that simple. While the problem you raise exists, a more important problem is that the shape of the discharge light source cannot be the same as the shape of the filament it is replacing. The filament in a halogen lamp is straight (unless sagged with age) but the gas discharge is always curved due to convection effects. This cannot be changed by changing the quality of the kit unless some way has been found of repealing some physical laws.

The result of using a lens or reflector designed for a straight filament is that there will be more scattered light than with the original (this is taken into account when designing a light to use an HID light source, and the same problem would apply if you fitted one of these with a halogen bulb. Of course, the same problem exists with an old, sagged filament in a halogen bulb, but this is nowhere near as bad, simply because it is nowhere near as bright.

While the problem also exists with high beam, it is not of any significance, as it simply means some of the light is wasted, hardly a problem with so much available.

The major problem of scattered light remains, however, that of dirty lenses, and this is recognised by the requirement to have wiping and washing devices on lights where HID sources are installed - and it should be noted that the latest legislation refers to the brightness of the lights, not the type of light source.

John