One Eyed Monsters

[tsr2]

if you can suggest a brand of light bulb that doesn't fail early, I'm all ears. I'm currently buying Lucas bulbs in packs of 20.

I don't know what the brand of the original bulbs in my 2011 Ford were, but the headlights lasted about 10 years, stop lights a few years less. I have replaced the headlamps with "Ring" branded bulbs which have yet to let me down. For stop lights, I bought a packet of 10 "Carlex" bulbs on ebay for £2 10 to 15 years ago and I've used about half the packet so far.

[Mike4]

If your bulbs are failing that often there’s something wrong with the vehicle.

This seems unlikely given I've had this same problem with every one of the five Mercedes Vitos I've ever owned.

I'm far more inclined to blame the bulbs.

As I asked before, is there a better brand to buy than Lucas then? Please be specific!

[AF62]

I’ve changed headlamp bulbs roughly 1 every 10 years motoring.
Gryff

I never changed a headlamp on a 3 series BMW in 14 years of ownership

A Ford Focus I used to own ate headlight bulbs like there was no tomorrow with them blowing at least once a year, and sometimes more frequently.

The bulbs always blew when the car was being started and usually in the winter when it was then dark and freezing cold to change them. Some Googling uncovered that it seemed to be a known issue with the Mk2 Ford Focus with the car generating power spikes that blew the bulbs when the car was being started. Ford sold (for a ridiculously overpriced amount) an add on piece of wiring to fix the issue that fitted between the bulb and the bulb connector and had some resistors in it - which it did and then the bulbs lasted a normal amount of time.

[9873210]

The lifespan of an incandescent bulb is inversely proportional to something like the 13th power of the applied voltage. This leaves lots of room for small design choices, miscalibrations or defects to shorten the life of a bulb. Conversely, small differences in a bulb, such as a slightly longer filament, can increase bulb life with no noticeable effect on light output.

You can get amazing performance from an incandescent run from a properly regulated power supply. Usually if you're going to add electronics you go straight to LEDs, but if you need a small high intensity source an inexpensive linear regulator allows you to run an incandescent to the limit* without going over. However, car electrical systems are remarkably crude, being designed in the middle of the last century and change involves much kicking and screaming.

*It's not a sharp limit, but the 13th power means that if you are running a bulb hot even small spikes can kill the bulb early.

[Dod101]

My question is why, in this age of LED lamps that are capable of never failing, does my van still use incandescent bulbs that reliably fail every week or three such that I buy them in packs of 20?

LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area. Difficult for directed beams like headlights. And for other car lights they really need to be designed with this lower density in mind.

If your bulbs are failing that often there’s something wrong with the vehicle. Alternator chucking out too many volts? That’ll also cook the battery in time.

I’ve changed headlamp bulbs roughly 1 every 10 years motoring.

Gryff

What do you mean by 'LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area' ? My vehicle has LEDs all round and the lighting is excellent, including the headlamps of course.

Domestically I recently changed my reading lamp which had a halogen bulb for an LED one and the main difference is that I do not have to change the bulb every month or two. The light output I think is much the same.

Dod

[pje16]

What do you mean by 'LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area' ? My vehicle has LEDs all round and the lighting is excellent, including the headlamps of course.
Dod

Agreed, my newer BMW has headlamp (in fact all round) LEDs
compared to my 2005 model which didn't, the difference is absolutely amazing

[Dod101]

What do you mean by 'LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area' ? My vehicle has LEDs all round and the lighting is excellent, including the headlamps of course.
Dod

Agreed, my newer BMW has headlamp (in fact all round) LEDs
compared to my 2005 model which didn't, the difference is absolutely amazing

And of course they may well last for as long as we have our cars.

Dod

[88V8]

LEDs.... this chap https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/ has a huge array of LEDs.
I have his bulbs in my Rambler, sides, side repeaters, and two of the four heads.
His website is a bit impenetrable unless you know what you are looking for, but he is very helpful.

V8

[pje16]

What do you mean by 'LEDs have a much lower light density, which means they need a bigger area' ? My vehicle has LEDs all round and the lighting is excellent, including the headlamps of course.
Dod

Agreed, my newer BMW has headlamp (in fact all round) LEDs
compared to my 2005 model which didn't, the difference is absolutely amazing

And of course they may well last for as long as we have our cars.
Dod

Yes Indeed, I was told by a guy who is a utter guru in an BMW forum that they should last the life of the car

[feder1]

Having recently been on holiday in Australia it seems that the same disease of faulty lightbulbs affects their cars too.

I am ashamed to admit that my new car has just been struck down with a faulty sidelight!

The problem is more serious since the operation of those lights seems faulty and not the bulb. If it was just the bulb gone then it would only need a ramp job to replace! (How stoopid to design a car like that?)

However the VW car supplier has told me that they cannot do a diagnostic test to sort out the malfunction for several weeks!

[bungeejumper]

I am ashamed to admit that my new car has just been struck down with a faulty sidelight!

No need to be ashamed. Annoyed, yes....

However the VW car supplier has told me that they cannot do a diagnostic test to sort out the malfunction for several weeks!

Rather than driving a non-roadworthy car for several weeks, perhaps take it down to your local independent? He'll have the software to read your VW with his own electronic kit. And at a quarter of the price, probably. Or maybe even for free.

BJ

[redsturgeon]

In the last two months I have to replace headlight lamps on two of my cars, a 2007 Honda Accord and a 2016 BMW. Both thankfully had easy access hatches on the rear of the headlight unit and the job took about a minute. I also replaced a lamp on the rear cluster of the BMW, again an easy access hatch, no tools required. Why can't all manufacturers do this?

John

[DrFfybes]

2 weeks ago I removed both headlight and sidelight units from the old Toyota and brought them in to dry out as there was a bit of condensation. It involed removing the front grill as well, held on by a complex arrangement of sitting in a slot and being held down by 3 screws.

The whole job took about 30 min, after squirting and leaving the captive bolts poking out of the 30+ year old plastic headlight units in loosener as they were a bit rusty.

Reassembly was slightly quicker, even applying copper grease to all the metal to metal fasteners.

The Z4 has a leaky headlight washer. I can see it, but the whole bumper needs removing. I think this is about 728 fasteners, including 5 on each front wheel as sme are hidden behind the wheelarch liner.

Paul

[quelquod]

In my motorcycling days we used to fit Cibie sealed beams instead of the pathetic candles standard on British bikes of the day. Although bright they had a high failure rate especially on bumpy roads. Mine seemed to detect oncoming bends and blow on entry and I became adept at rapidly flicking the dip. My reactions nowadays would put me in the hedge!