Re: H13 Bulbs ....

You would think that something as fundamental as wiring the base the right way around might just be a little obvious before they sent them to anybody. On the other hand maybe you car is upside down. Brian

Why didn?t you check the feedback before ordering?

BTW, it isn?t the wattage which determines the hi/lo beam. It is the position of the light source/ geometry of the light assembly. Your eyes almost certainly wouldn?t see the difference in intensity between a 55w and

couldn't be bothered checking feedback 'till after the event...got a reply this morning don't think they know anything about cars......"Hi, sorry to hear that. How strange, I've not come across this before. Have you tried putting them in the other way round please? Kind regards Sam"...........must be a wummin' .....the connector to the bulb only goes on one way and the bulb only fits the headlight unit one way .......yes in a reflector type headlight unit the dual filament bulb like the H13 it is the position of the filament that gives the high low beam so I was getting low beam when the high beam warning light is on and vice versa ... .....anyway just put the original Philips bulbs back in and all is fine....got another set coming from china so we will see if they are OK.....only bought them as spares so thank god I checked them out .....the filaments look the same in both sets of bulbs and are positioned the same way so I can only assume the wiring from the pins to the filaments is around the wrong way....unbelievable......not that you ever believe anything I say ....

In a headlight, the main beam filament is the same thickness as the dip except that it's a little shorter, and this reduction in length hence resistance accounts for the increased power.

The benefit of this is that the light is both brighter and whiter, the downside is a shorter life, but of course main is used less than dip. The relative lifetime is something like a twelfth power, so it's very approximately something like a third of the lifetime.

There is a clear visible difference, not because of the extra power as such, but because of the extra efficiency and 'whiteness'.

Like OHP lamps, overrun for increased brightness but shortened life, hence why OHPs often have a spare bulb ready. Or would do if it had been replaced.

And that's why old torch bulbs had odd voltages like 2.4V when using 3V of battery - 2.4V corresponds to the IIRC 1000 hour life, but that's traded for brightness and efficiency.

Indicator bulbs and brake lights are similarly overrun as their operation is intermittent.

Cheers

I'm surprised the supplier didn't try to sell you a plug-in "converter" between the connector and the bulb, to correct the incorrect pin-to-filament wiring in the bulb ;-)

How much tolerance is there in bulb position in a typical headlight, and how much would it affect beam position? Many modern cars have very little clearance between the rear of the reflector and engine mountings etc, so fitting a bulb and securing it with the spring clip on the housing is something that can only be done by feel rather than sight. I've often wondered whether the bulb is properly seated, since I can't *see* whether it is, and whether any mis-seating (eg if one of the location tabs on the bulb is not flush with the housing) will affect beam alighnment.

I suppose the wiring error could have been worse: if they'd swapped the common pin with another, you might have ended up with one dipped or beam setting where the two filaments were in series and you got a very dim light ;-)

Will it fit in in two orientations 180 degrees apart? If so, you?ve just inserted it upside down.

Tim

No surprise given Xenon normally refers to HID lamps - not the gas used in a tungsten-halogen. So they are setting out to deceive the naive.

Yes, of those who entered feedback less than 1% in the last month posted negative feedback.

That is far better than the average bargain basement seller.

But far worse than most large sellers who deal well with complaints achieve.

Illegal in the UK. Maximum allowed for tungsten dip is 55W

BTW, there is quite a bit of difference in light output between car headlight bulbs with nominally the same wattage. With cheap ones being the worst. Also halogen bulbs loose efficiency with time.