AircooledJohn
Member
2006 T1N
Do I replace the whole Assy, or just the bulb?
TIA
Do I replace the whole Assy, or just the bulb?
TIA
David,I've only replaced two bulbs (both times the passenger's side) in six years and I run with the headlights on.
I would tell you how long my bulds last, but that would make them die the next dark night, at 75 MPH, downhill,in the rain.After replacing a few sets of bulbs ( being very carefull not to touch the bulbs as it will shorten the bulb life ) with replacement bulbs from the local parts store which never had much of a life before needing to be replaced again, i finally replaced them both with oem bulbs from the dealer. The oem bulbs are still working and for me were the cheaper option.
I've been taught that it can stress the glass, but I always thought it would fail either right away or catastrophically. A quick search showed me that is not necessarily true.After replacing a few sets of bulbs ( being very careful not to touch the bulbs as it will shorten the bulb life ) ...
"faulty"?The other SOP advice to replace both bulbs at once seems faulty, given my near-simultaneous failures the other night. Both bulbs died within hours of each other. They lasted exactly 20K miles or six months of driving each.
I'm not so certain the voltage spike theory holds for predicting headlamp failure. The battery makes a very good cushion to smooth out the system voltages. The computers are much more sensitive to voltage spikes than any resistive filament lamp is. I would expect any spike bad enough to take out resistive lamps would have more effect on those computers."faulty"?
Yours is a good example of -why- you also want to replace the (apparently) "not dead yet" bulb when one dies.
In many wiring systems, the abrupt death of one high-current incandescent bulb can send a voltage spike to the remaining bulb(s), which can drastically shorten their remaining lifetime.... as yours so aptly demonstrated.
--dick
Not bad. I think when I bought my H-7 55 watt lamps they were around 6 bucks, but now they are listed at $8.99. Hardly worth the effort now to save just a buck. That said, our TTW folks would say that it's worth it if you calculate percentage savings....
I paid $10 each for the H7s at the autoparts counter of a department store.
dck,...
(my wife is a dedicated believer in the "spike theory", but her primary (and repeated example) are the house chandeliers... it's pretty much assured that losing one bulb will be followed by a 2nd bulb within a few days... then months will go by before the next one-two burnouts)
...
--dck (frequently in the dark)