Ok, I admit it. I'm a lighting nutcase, so here is a treatise on the
differences between crystal clear type lights and traditional H4 units.
Hella, Bosch, Wipac and a few other companies make very high quality
headlight assemblies using the H4 bulb.
These use silvered glass reflectors that are very accurate. The lenses
are fluted to ensure that both the direct light and the reflected light
from the H4 bulb are correctly distributed under both low and high beam
operation.
The Crystal Clear types of headlights have a plastic reflector which is
shaped to direct the reflected light from the bulb. There is no
provision for controlling any direct light from the bulb.
Since the H4 bulb has a built in cutoff screen and reflector the amount
of direct light is not great which is why these new non fluted
headlights have come into use on OE vehicles.
On the whole, the crystal clear 7" lamps don't control scatter as well
as the older design lamps H4 with higher quality optics. They do look
pretty cool though and overall light output is far greater than the
original sealed beams.
In real world comparison, you will notice variations in illumination
with the crystal clear lamps, where the more accurate lenses of the
traditional design will give more even lighting.
The crystal clear lamps are a bit more obnoxious for oncoming traffic
and rear view mirrors, as there will be a bit more scatter. They are no
worse than a lot of the lamps used on newer vehicles.
I've been running high quality H4 lamps in my cars for many years,
brands such as Cibie, Sev Marchal, Bosch, Hella, Wipac, Lucas.
I bought a set of the crystal clear lamps to give them a try in my TR8
and they are quite usable, but you can see variations in brightness
pattern that are less noticeable with the higher quality fluted lens
lamps.
I'm probably more used to it, as I installed a set of "Crystal Clear
brand" lamps in my old Dodge Neon after the original lamps yellowed
badly. They have the same kind of scatter pattern.
BTW. There is a lot of confusion about how much current H4 halogen lamps
draw. The standard H4 bulb draws about the same amount as an original
Lucas PL700 headlamp. This is quite within the capacities of the
original wiring and switching IF IN GOOD CONDITION!
The problem is not with installing halogen lamps, but that a lot of
people install halogen lamps because their original sealed beams appear
to be very dim. The original lamps are dim because of poor connections.
Installing halogens only puts more load on the tired wiring and
switches, which will aggravate problems. If your car headlamps are dim,
the first thing to do is clean all of the wiring connections and
internal switch contacts. Only then should new lamps be considered. An
alternative is to install relays, which will take the lighting load off
the poorly conducting original wiring.
Ok, I'll shut up now. I'd better because the lamps in my 1970 MGB are
really dim and I havn't taken the time to clean up the wiring and
switches yet either. But then again, I have a bunch of Halogen
headlights, and I won't install a set till the wiring is done.
Kelvin .
BTW. Happy Friday to everyone
> Does anyone have any experience with these lights?
|