Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 15:27:18 -0700
Reply-To: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Brent Christensen <sbsyncro@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Some good info about E-code headlamps & "City Lights"
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
This is from someone that sells a particular brand (Cibie) so take that into
account, but I felt that there was enough value to share it with the group.
Note that I have not purchased from them and am not endorsing the products
he sells, blah, blah, blah...
Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA
-------------------------------------
Several companies make 7" (large single round, sealed beam size type 2D1)
E-code headlamps. First off, it's important to use CAR headlamps, not the
motorcycle ones you sometimes find from Bosch, IPF or CPI. These are easily
identifiable (they say "MOTORCYCLE" on the lens) and the beam pattern is not
at all well suited to use on a double-track vehicle with low-mounted
headlamps. In car units, the most widely marketed in the USA is the Hella
70476, standard H4 European-spec headlamp. (You'd also find the 70477, US
DOT "Vision Plus" headlamp, which we call the "Vision Minus" 'cause...well,
it's got a replaceable bulb, but it's just not that much better than a
sealbeam as far as beam pattern goes, and it tends to collect water because
of a badly-done drain design.) But as I was saying, the 70476 is around. I
don't use it on my cars that take the single large
(7") rounds; I use Cibies. Why?
Beam patterns are better (wider, longer-reaching) on low and high beam with
Cibies. The main difference, though, is that 7" round and 200mm rectangular
Hellas have an irritating beam separation problem. Set the low beams where
they belong, and the high beams are up in the trees without enough on-road
light. Pull the high beams down where they can be useful, and the low beams
are down on the bumper. I exaggerate for illustration, but the effect is to
make you try to find a compromise setting where both beams are kinda OK.
The Cibies do not have this problem; when the lows are correctly aimed, the
highs are correctly aimed.
Some folks don't find the beam separation as much of a problem as some other
folks--and a lot of people who have only ever used two kinds of headlamps
(Hellas and sealed beams) will swear that Hellas are the cat's pajamas.
It's certainly true that Hellas are a big improvement over
"sealed bum" originals, but Cibies are just better. All Cibie 7" round
headlamps have convex (domed) lenses. Clear Lens Classic lamps have highly
convex (highly domed) lenses and are generally for use in pre-1972 cars that
must look "period correct", also in hot rods where styling is a prime
concern, etc.
Now that we've fixed the beam pattern problem, let's talk about bulbs. Stock
wattage is 60/55 (high/low). My "normal" bulbs are German-made
high-efficiency 60/55W bulbs; with these, you can just remove the sealbeams,
install the Cibies, aim and go with no NEED (though it's always a good idea)
for uprating the wiring. Now, the E-code beam pattern, with its sharp
cutoff which nullifies glare for oncoming traffic, can support higher-output
bulbs without (a) glaring oncoming traffic or (b) creating impossible
backdazzle for you in bad weather. Note that it is a VERY poor idea to put
overwattage bulbs in with the stock headlamp wiring, which is meant for
stock wattage ONLY. We see a lot of car-be-cue type messes when people try
to do this. The relays/sockets/fuseholders package to do-up the wiring
properly contains all heavy-duty components (dual-output 40A relays,
terminal blocks, brackets, terminals, fused fuseholders and headlamp
sockets) to accept heavy-gauge wire; supply your own wire from the local
economy in your choice of color and length. View and print my "how-to" page
at http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/how_to/relays for full text and color
diagrams of how to do this. Now that we have good wiring, we can go to town
on bulb wattage. NOTE, if you have a passenger car or other vehicle with
low-mounted headlamps (lamps below the level of most passenger car drivers'
eyes when seated at the wheel) you can increase both low and high beam power
without causing undue glare. If yours is a truck or SUV or other vehicle
with high-mounted headlamps, you will want to keep the low beams civilized
to avoid dazzling other road users.
"Other road users" include cops, so use your head! 100/55W bulbs can be
furnished to keep the low beams civilized and still punch the next county
with the high beams. I do not handle the 3rd-world bulbs you can find in
the pages of JC Whitney and in lots of other places. I carry only
German-made (Osram, Philips, Narva) bulbs. My policy of selling ONLY items
I would use voluntarily on my own cars extends down to bulbs!
How about city lights? What is a city light? It's a European-type parking
lamp, a small 5W bulb sticks through a grommet in the lamp's reflector into
the lamp itself. Ground one of its wires, and run the other of its wires to
the parking lamp feed. The city light illuminates the whole headlamp in a
"pilot light" fashion; this makes for large-area parking lamps that WORK,
and if a headlamp bulb ever burns out, oncoming traffic still sees you as a
double-track vehicle. If you use the city lights to REPLACE the dim amber
parking lamps common on US vehicles (which you should not do if your '68 or
later American-spec vehicle does not use one bulb to handle front parking
lamp and front sidemarker lamp duty) the turn signals now go
"BRIGHT-off-BRIGHT-off" instead of "bright-dim-bright-dim" when the lights
are on. City lights are especially useful if you have fog lamps. On foggy
days, you can put on the city lights which will show other drivers exactly
where your car is, and switch on the fog lamps so you can see. Note that
city lights are a legal form of parking lamp in the USA. Also note that
city lights aren't used on vehicles with flip-door (hideaway) headlamps.
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