24v HZJ73 Headlight blown bulb (1 Viewer)

[Westcoast78]

Hi. I have a 92 HZJ73 and recently my passenger side headlight went very dim but the other worked fine so I didn’t stress about it. A few days later it went out completely but I still had one headlight, lol. I went to leave for work yesterday morning and the high beams were on. Well one side was. When I switched it off the other headlight blew. GREAT. Now I got no headlights. So when I get home from work, both 10 amp fuses are blown (1 for each headlight). After replacing the bulbs and fuses everything was fine but 1 of the bulbs looked like it was pregnant. It’s a Hella H4 24V. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Any idea what would cause this?

 

[Rigster]

Looks like the filament simply came apart inside and shorted out. It obviously heated up quite a bit before it finally blew the fuses. Was the other headlight ok, and it was just the fuse? Or did it actually burn out as well? I would grab a tester and test your voltages before putting a new set of bulbs in just to be safe.

 

[Westcoast78]

I should’ve tested the voltage before putting new bulbs in but I didn’t. It seems to work fine. I googled it and it turns out it was probably oil from my fingers that caused it.

 

[jblueridge]

Every year my students destroy about $150 worth of theater light bulbs by touching them
Usually the finger grease heats rapidly and the glass cracks.
White hot filaments melt the glass to make bulges like what you have.