My NARVA headlamps are not lasting - how about the HIRs?

[IdahoDoug]

As the title suggests, my second Narva bulb has now blown after only 300 hours use (first died at 100 and was replaced free), so it was not a fluke. I'll be looking for another lighting solution.

How are you guys with the John Deere and other HIR bulbs doing? Are they lasting or are you guys also experiencing bulb issues?

Thanks!

DougM

 

[ELLTEE]

HIR low beams from John Deere (the early ones from GE) burning just great after about six months.

LT

 

[wob]

Ditto on the John Deere's

 

[Landpimp]

my JD's have been on for 8 months.........lasting fine.

 

[cary]

So far no problems. I would have burned through 3 or 4 of those crappy overwatt bulbs by now.

 

[ryanjl]

Mine are good. Think I installed them in February, and installed the high beams when Cary organized the group buy in March(?).

No problems at all.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Are any of you HIR guys leaving the headlamps to the "on" position all the time? We do, and the headlamps are always on when the engine's running - which has never reduced bulb life before, BTW. I'm wondering just for comparison sake as naturally we put more hours on bulbs quickly and if none of you are then I need to know.

DougM

 

[DRTDuck]

I put my JDs in the first weekend of May. They are still runnging strong. It is my daily driver and I do run with the lights on all the time, like I-Doug. The prior Hella high watts would have burnt out by now.

Cary or somebody, suggested the JD sould last about as long as rugular bulbs, that was the main factor in me getting them as opposed to speding $20 every other month for the Hellas.

 

[Landpimp]

yep my low beams are always on.

Are any of you HIR guys leaving the headlamps to the "on" position all the time? We do, and the headlamps are always on when the engine's running - which has never reduced bulb life before, BTW. I'm wondering just for comparison sake as naturally we put more hours on bulbs quickly and if none of you are then I need to know.

DougM

 

[robbie]

I Have been running the IPF HIR for over 3 1/2 years. These have lasted on the 94 truck for over 120k miles over these last 3.5 years. I do not drive with them on daily. But in the winter I do. I Have a second set on the 93 truck with over 1 1/2 years with the same type of driving, winter time on all the time, summer time not as much. Besides the stock toyota ones (from japan) I have found none to last as long in the after market world. later robbie

 

[Cruiser Newb]

Go for some PIAA's (?)...

 

[ryanjl]

Go for some PIAA's (?)...

Unless you have info on some new PIAA bulb, PIAA headlight replacement bulbs are normally blue-tinted pieces of s***.

Which is cool, if you are into that sort of thing.

 

[cary]

Go for some PIAA's (?)...

If you are looking for less light than the stock bulbs, shorter bulb life, and crappy beam focus, you can't beat the PIAA lights for $80 pair. It is a shame, PIAA used to make quality products (10+ years ago). Now they just sell a bunch of overpriced crap.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVEN'T, READ THE LIGHTING FAQ. Bulb life of the HIR low beams is 1000 hours, equivilant to long life stock wattage bulbs.

Cary

 

[sjcruiser]

While I'm having deep respect for Daniel Stern.....

PIAA xtreme white bulbs output is the closest to natural sunlight, from comparing my experience with HIRs, Hellas, Sylvania, and few other after market brands. I'm not talking about the lumen output here; but more about lighting contrast, and what human eyes are accustomed to. While my first pair lasted only more than 1.5 year, they covered approximately 20Kmiles with lots of night drivings, which is well worth the price for me.

Frank.

 

[cary]

PIAA xtreme white bulbs output is the closest to natural sunlight, from comparing my experience with HIRs, Hellas, Sylvania, and few other after market brands. I'm not talking about the lumen output here; but more about lighting contrast, and what human eyes are accustomed to. While my first pair lasted only more than 1.5 year, they covered approximately 20Kmiles with lots of night drivings, which is well worth the price for me.

Frank.

LMAO. Hold on, I need to get off the floor. PIAA extreme white bulbs are normal bulbs with a tint applied to the glass. They have severely decreased light output. As far as their color, tinting a bulb does not give it the appearence of being close to sunlight. It merely filters some light out. If you were to look at the PIAA bulbs under a spectromonitor, you would see a bulb with a great deal of blue output relative to the other colors. The sunlight (Assuming a clear day) would be very even output. Normal Halogens are much more like sunlight than your rice rocket bulbs are.

Cotrary to what many people seem to think, blue light makes it harder for your eyes to focus and causes your pupils to dilate because they are more sensative to blue light than light that is more focuses in the red spectrum, not to mention the additional light scatter caused by blue over red light (think about why sunglasses have for years talked about UV radiation and filtering blue light for skeeing). The result is that the blue bulbs will make you squint more, thinking they are brighter, when in fact they are not. Here is a quick link with a chart showing the eye's sensativity to different colors:

http://www.yorku.ca/eye/lambdas.htm


Have you really tried the HIR lights? I am seriously doubting that. If you really have and aren't using them, I'll buy them off of you so I can give them to someone who will appreciate them.

Cary

 

[IdahoDoug]

Wow. Dismissing Stern's knowledge would be acceptable if you provided some more details on your experience and how you measured and compared these various bulbs. Any charts or tables for us to peruse? Thanks.

DougM

 

[sjcruiser]

Cary,

I've been running HIRs on my rig for a few months now. They are indeed alot brighter than stock (and I DO appreciate the technology). However, from my own experience, the initial impression is that they are not as bright as my Mtec (cheap) overwattage(80) bulbs( or the stock wattage PIAAs) , though they're running a tad cooler, considering the fact that they should produce comparable lumens. That said, I'll probably stick with HIRs if they lasted years as the stock ones did for safety reasons.

Doug,

I did not dismisss Daniel Stern's knowledge (did I say I have deep respect for him ?). I'm speaking on my own experience with the blue tinted bulbs. While many that I've tried are craps, PIAAs have been exceptions. I'm not affiliated with or owning stocks of the company or anything; just a happy customer. The reason I brought myself into this discussion just because does not seem right reading people ditching stuffs when they might not even have first hands experience with.

cool?
Frank.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Frank

I understand where you're coming from. It's just that Stern talks in actual numbers of output lumens, actual light frequencies and such. In contrast (and I'm not saying either is more appropriate), you use phrases like "from my experience, the initial impression is that they are not as bright as..." So, the logical half of me would not put your input on the same level of weight when compared to someone who's used light meters and actually measured things. Not disrespecting your opinion at all, just was probing a bit to see where your experience is in terms of objective figures versus subjective observations on light output.

I myself have had mixed experiences with PIAA products as well, though now I've also had poor experiences with some of my favorites. What to do, eh?...

DougM

 

[landtank]

I've have the toshiba, I think, bulbs offered from JD. I don't run with them on all the time but they have held up a lot better than the 10.25 Hellas.

Incidently a new 80w hella is supposed to be out soon. They were expected to be available by the end of July. I called but no other info was available and they mentioned watching the site for more details. Personally I liked the light from those Hellas far better than the JD's I have now. But with a life expectency of 6 weeks they aren't the best bet.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Thanks Rick. Life expectancy is a big deal around here where I could be hours from a place to buy headlamps. Now that I've used up my spare due to these short lives, I've got to keep committing to these bulbs or try something new. These are not hi output, BTW. Just 55 watts - so no reason to accept short life whatsoever.

DougM