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The nearside dip-beam bulb blow has blown twice since getting the C70, so have replaced with an off the peg cheepo H7 55w from local filling station. Read on another forum that the two/wire connector back of bulb might be causing the problem will investigate.
Has anyone else experienced this problem?
Burgess
Battery clamps tight ?, do the light flicker when you rev the engine front idle if so could be the alternator or battery fault.
Some Volvo just like to eat/blow bulbs.
The blown bulbs do the pins look like they have got hot & is the plug a tight fit onto the pins.
What Harvey says plus...Remove said bulbs and switch on the lights with the engine running. Now check the voltage at the connector with the engine running and check its not over 15v at high tick over.
If it's not fluctuating then you can refit the bulbs (engine off, lights off).
if that's ok, then you're just unlucky and/or fitting crappy cheap bulbs!
Invest in some OSRAMS or get HIDs installed....and NEVER buy rip off bulbs from Halfrauds! They won't last five minutes.
I had a similar problem on my V70 with bulbs blowing.
The connector had disintigrated so I just put the spades directly onto the new bulb. sorted :banana:
Well, my Halfords bulb has been in use daily for 4 years now (it's an H4). I took it out and put it in my Jeep when I scrapped the Peugeot and the bulb still works :B_thumb:Quote:
Originally Posted by LeeT5
Also, it's not fraud with a trade card ;)
Thanks for your input gents,
I did a preliminary check this afternoon.
Battery clamps seem OK,
No flickering with engine running (idling).
Bulb spade connectors good clean tight fit, with no discolouration.
AVO readings at the battery.
No load................12.11v
Engine idling:
Light switch position:
#0 Day light running...........13.86v
#II Dip Beam....................13.86v
#II Main Beam...................13.79v
Plus fog, spots & auto demist...13.76v
These bulbs, as I said this is the second one same brand/type, -the first was in the lamp when I purchased the C70 in March- are rated at 55w/12v current 4.58amps, so ought to have tolerated the volts/amps when turning the ignition key to position #II,(engine not running), as was the case when this second bulb blew.
Bulb rated at 55w/12v = 4.583 amps
Current Draw
Ign off 55w/12.11v = 4.541 amps
Idling 55w/13.86v = 3.968 amps
Having looked closer at the bulb, (which came with the car in a Volvo bulb/fuse set), it looks the same as an Osram H7 Twenty20 Daylight +100%, according to specifications have a life expectancy of 400-500 hrs. see a blob of metal on the filament, the filament also looks deplaned, so it may just be a filament end-of-life-failure 259 days @ 1.54hrs. to 1.93hrs. per day.
Defiantly brighter than the Ring RU477 55W H7 Px26d which I've installed as temporary fix while diagnosing the problem.
As none of the other three headlight bulbs have blown I will check and see what brand and model those bulbs are.
Just received a new pair of Osram H7 Twenty20 Daylight +100% RRP: £25.99
Also tomorrow will have a set of Osram H7 Silverstar 2.0 12V 55W 477 Halogen Bulbs. RRP: £20.73
I'll make-up a test harness so I can connect in my diagnostic meter directly into the harness to that nearside dip lamp and take meaningful readings at fast idle rpm. The meter provides readings in volts, amps, and watts, I use this meter to setup the power train on my electric RC helicopters.
Burgess
Judging by your stats Burgess, there's no reason why the bulb should fail prematurely.
I will say this though. Be careful of bulbs that claim to be 100% or 150% brighter than OE! They may well be BUT for a limited time. The way they do this is by making the filament diameter smaller, therefore, it burns hotter and therefore, brighter! The downside is, they are more susceptible to vibration damage and ultimately don't last very long.
If you want brighter bulbs you gotta fit HID or now you can fit LED.
Don't pis s money away on normal incandesant bulbs that claim to be brighter than the rest of the market.....it's a total waste of money IMHO.
Thanks for your input LeeT5,
Regarding my last post, where it reads filament looked ‘deplaned' should read, depleted ...spellcheckers.
The problem of fitting after market xenon HID bulbs and or LEDs into light units designed for incandescent tungsten halogen bulbs is the probability of them producing unwanted glare.
There are so many different types of vehicle lighting systems out there now, I will need to research and evaluate their suitability. The latest hi-tech intelligent systems look interesting but expensive.
However, there is an inherent problem with so-called white LED lights ‘blue-light hazard'. Here's an article on visual health hazard...quite alarming!
http://www.reviewofoptometry.com/con...ssonid/109744/
Only if you fit the wrong type of bulb!Quote:
Originally Posted by burgess
I read the first bit of that article and all I can say is....you're worrying too much!
I never said you need to fit 'blue' lights.
HID's 4300k is the same 'colour temperature' as a stock incandescent bulb, only a lot brighter and more useable light.
Same with LED's. As long as you don't go over 6000k bulbs of any type, you won't have a problem.
Nope, the beam pattern will be wrong unless the HID arc is in exactly the same place as the filament of a normal bulb. Also, due to the nature of the light produced, there will be more glare even if it's in the same position. It's a lot more complicated than just colour temperature and lumen output.Quote:
Originally Posted by LeeT5
If you have projectors, then HID will be fine, but never retrofit to a reflector style headlamp, especially not ones designed for shielded bulbs (like an H4).
LED's tend to be better as the light output is controllable. Since they generally have a narrow beam, You'll find in some cases a better beam pattern with less loss above the cut-off point of the beam pattern.
Ask a lighting technician anything :B_thumb:
The point I made about ‘Blue-light hazard' is associated with the light emitted by so-called white LEDs headlight bulbs and HID headlights, not blue headlight bulbs par se.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Regarding Blue light:
The most damaging wavelength of blue light is said to be in the region of 415nm to 455nm.
In 2008 the Vision Institute in Paris investigated visible light and found the frequencies most harmful to eyes. Visible light was split into multiple bands of 10 nm and each band was then focussed on porcine retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells for several hours. They found that the specific band of blue light most harmful to the retina and to the RPE cells was identified to be at 415nm to 455nm.
With the festive season upon us, coloured LED lights are everywhere, look/study each colour and one will notice that the blue ones appear to illuminate the air immediately around them more-so than any other colour, and it's difficult to see through that blue hallow. Blue filtration on light bulbs produce blue light not white light as some manufactures would have us believe.
Just think Retinopathy examination may become obligatory for all drivers, photographs taken of the inside your eye balls...nice!
The evidence out there!
http://vision.about.com/od/sportsvis...t-Exposure.htm
If your that worried about blue light then don't fit hid or led. Stick with stock.
All this evidence is fine but too be honest, I'm not bothered by it and I don't think most others will be either. Life's too short and I got more important things to worry about, like cutting the bloody grass before it gets dark!
Don't take this personally, but you sound like a 'paranoid Pam' lol.
Well Lee5T, lets hope Santa bring you a dictionary, then you can lookup the meaning of three little words...Quote:
Originally Posted by LeeT5
‘to', ‘too', and ‘two' which are not really interchangeable.
Do tell us, is it the blood on the grass that makes it go dark?
As with all things technical, the devil is in the detail.
Well, I am. It's my job :haha:Quote:
Originally Posted by LeeT5
Not in automotive industry unfortunately. I'm trying to find a good alternative to my H1 bulbs which are totally dung in my 850.
Hi, Mart5in
Have a look at what ABD.co.uk have to off, some at discount prices and warranty/guarantees.
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/
1 year warranty on these.
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H1-...ulbs-pair.html
These have a 4 year guarantee
http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H1-...ight-Bulb.html
As soon as the wind and sea spray calms down I'll do more diagnostics and tryout both of these sets in turn to evaluate.
Osram H7 499 12V 55W Silver star 2.0
Osram H7 Twenty20 Daylight +100% 12V 55W Halogen Bulbs