Let's Figure Out the Headlight Bulb Issue

[SamirD]

I forgot to mention, I had the headlights on before starting the engine (with the multimeter on Max Hold.) The peak was only 13.96V - so no significant spike was picked up by the multimeter at engine start up.

Interesting. Did you measure it with the headlights on when the car was shut off? That's what seems to be the problem that I've observed in several cars, not just the Kizashi.

[murcod]

I missed your reply SamirD.

No I didn't. That voltage will depend greatly on how good your battery is, how long it has been sitting since last started etc. (Head lights on with no engine running is not something you really want to do for any period of time= flat battery.)

The high voltage with the engine running would indicate a problem- going by the published data from bulb manufacturers.

[murcod]

http://www.manson.com.hk/products/detail/84

A voltage stabiliser that is capable of 6 Amps output at 13.5V..... the only problem being you'd need one for each light bulb, as they can only handle 80W each.

Found this from PIAA as well:
http://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/p ... /overview/

and this could be adapted to suit:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-8-40V-to- ... 3a923a8c2e

[kenny.franklin]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

Life hours on a headlight is logarithmic and the more voltage you put to the light shortens life hours significantly. Too low voltage upsets the halogen cycle reducing the combining of Halogen and Tungsten into a Halogen "Halide" that is supposed to reattach itself onto the filament and instead the Tungsten adheres to the glass. The lamp actually lasts longer in a lower voltage condition, but becomes thinner quicker and disintegrates. It is kind of like a bread toaster in that over time, one has to turn up the setting to get the same brown toast one had when the toaster was new. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_lamp)

"Dimming works the same way for both incandescent and halogen. Lower the filament temperature by modifying the voltage and get progressively less light output. The halogen cycle works only at high filament temperatures. If the halogen bulb is dimmed enough (down to only 20% less light), the filament temperature drops and the halogen cycle stops. At that point, it is operating in “incandescent mode” with evaporated tungsten being deposited on the capsule wall rather than back on the filament." (http://www.topbulb.com/blog/dimming-alt ... gen-cycle/) -- I work at Candlepower Inc. and sell lighting to the transportation industry.

[SamirD]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

Life hours on a headlight is logarithmic and the more voltage you put to the light shortens life hours significantly. Too low voltage upsets the halogen cycle reducing the combining of Halogen and Tungsten into a Halogen "Halide" that is supposed to reattach itself onto the filament and instead the Tungsten adheres to the glass. The lamp actually lasts longer in a lower voltage condition, but becomes thinner quicker and disintegrates. It is kind of like a bread toaster in that over time, one has to turn up the setting to get the same brown toast one had when the toaster was new. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_lamp)

"Dimming works the same way for both incandescent and halogen. Lower the filament temperature by modifying the voltage and get progressively less light output. The halogen cycle works only at high filament temperatures. If the halogen bulb is dimmed enough (down to only 20% less light), the filament temperature drops and the halogen cycle stops. At that point, it is operating in “incandescent mode” with evaporated tungsten being deposited on the capsule wall rather than back on the filament." (http://www.topbulb.com/blog/dimming-alt ... gen-cycle/) -- I work at Candlepower Inc. and sell lighting to the transportation industry.

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing!

So what do you think of the Kizashi's 'daytime running lights' that use less power to drive the same main headlight bulbs? Would this contribute to premature failure?

[FrankoLaMoya]

Never really had that issue personally...I changed the bulb in the front once at about 50 000 km and the fog lights once as well. Well twice but just because I did not like the output color. I always have my lights on automatic. Maybe it makes a difference...do you guys put your lights on and fog lights on during the day? I don't...

[WIKizashi]

X2 KuroNekko on Morimoto HID in the stock projectors.

Poor halogen bulb life in cars is more frequently from LOW voltage, not high. Halogen bulbs rely on enough voltage to excite the gas, if you don't have enough, you'll just cook the filament. The solution is usually a relay harness, but with all the wiring built into the housing, you're going to have to pull everything apart and may as well do HIDs while you're in there

Life hours on a headlight is logarithmic and the more voltage you put to the light shortens life hours significantly. Too low voltage upsets the halogen cycle reducing the combining of Halogen and Tungsten into a Halogen "Halide" that is supposed to reattach itself onto the filament and instead the Tungsten adheres to the glass. The lamp actually lasts longer in a lower voltage condition, but becomes thinner quicker and disintegrates. It is kind of like a bread toaster in that over time, one has to turn up the setting to get the same brown toast one had when the toaster was new. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_lamp)

"Dimming works the same way for both incandescent and halogen. Lower the filament temperature by modifying the voltage and get progressively less light output. The halogen cycle works only at high filament temperatures. If the halogen bulb is dimmed enough (down to only 20% less light), the filament temperature drops and the halogen cycle stops. At that point, it is operating in “incandescent mode” with evaporated tungsten being deposited on the capsule wall rather than back on the filament." (http://www.topbulb.com/blog/dimming-alt ... gen-cycle/) -- I work at Candlepower Inc. and sell lighting to the transportation industry.

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing!

So what do you think of the Kizashi's 'daytime running lights' that use less power to drive the same main headlight bulbs? Would this contribute to premature failure?

I think the DRLs actually run off the high beam bulb, not the main headlight, so that theory would only hold if you run your high beams a lot.

I have a 2013 SE and just hit 40k miles and no headlight replacement yet (knock on wood). Maybe something they fixed in the last model year.

[Woodie]

My 2010 is at 35K miles with all original bulbs, so there's something else at work.

The original bulbs are usually long life specials which can have expected life of sometimes as high as 1,000 hours. Standard bulbs are usually 300-400 hours. Ones that advertise brighter light output, such as Sylvania Silverstar Ultra can be as low as 120 hours. 120 hours is about 6,000 miles, maybe that's why some people here are replacing them over and over again.

[SamirD]

I just had the driver's side PIAA low beam go out...and then a few days later the passenger side went out. Ugh, back to high beams on again until I can change them again.

I called PIAA about the voltage regulator posted above, and while it is not a current product, the person I spoke to had luck with a similar device on his Silverado which was having issues due to the twin alternators. The other option will be to go full out LED now that Morimoto seems to have a product that solves the issue that KuroNekko was having with intermittency:
http://www.morimotohid.com/h11-morimoto-2stroke.html

[KuroNekko]

I just had the driver's side PIAA low beam go out...and then a few days later the passenger side went out. Ugh, back to high beams on again until I can change them again.

I called PIAA about the voltage regulator posted above, and while it is not a current product, the person I spoke to had luck with a similar device on his Silverado which was having issues due to the twin alternators. The other option will be to go full out LED now that Morimoto seems to have a product that solves the issue that KuroNekko was having with intermittency:
http://www.morimotohid.com/h11-morimoto-2stroke.html

I do want to clear it up that my issues with flickering only pertained to the high beams. This is because of their use as DRLs which use Pulsed Width Modulation for their low output. While this works for halogens, it doesn't for many LED kits in this application. However, again, this was only an issue for the high beams.

For low beams, I think many recent LED kits should work fine. Some members have installed them and reported good compatibility. I simply have HIDs because I got into headlight modification long before decent LED kits were available and personally find HID bulbs less finicky for fitment than LEDs that often have bulky fans and heat sinks. That being said, a quality LED kit may last the life of your car.

My plan is to keep my Morimoto HIDs until a component goes out. If it's a bulb, I'll get a new set of bulbs. If it's a ballast, I may upgrade the kit entirely to an LED kit. I do want to note that I've had my Morimoto HID kit for over 3.5 years now on all the original components. TRS also offers a 5 year warranty on 35W HID kits.