headlight bulb

[ferny]

Is there any reason as to why the Acclaim blows its o/s headlight? It did two last year and one so far this. Not cheap ones either as I believe the current deady is a Phillips and the two before were Osram Nightbreakers - although a mate has killed six of those in his modern. Could it be a power surge or perhaps a duff -ve causing the bulb to get hot and fail?

The Osram Silverstar in the Herald have been in there since 2008 and survived the extremes of a RBRR and a 10CR.

[CRAJ]

Loose connection on the lampholder?

Colin.

[piman]

Hello Ferny,

is the lamp unit loose, i.e it's vibration that's the problem. Voltage surges could be a problem but should be obvious as you should notice the lights brighten considerably and also it wouldn't just affect one lamp. A poor earth is an unlikely cause, your lamp would be dim so last for ever.

Alec

[Velocita Rosso]

ferny wrote:

Is there any reason as to why the Acclaim blows its o/s headlight? It did two last year and one so far this. Not cheap ones either as I believe the current deady is a Phillips and the two before were Osram Nightbreakers - although a mate has killed six of those in his modern. Could it be a power surge or perhaps a duff -ve causing the bulb to get hot and fail?

The Osram Silverstar in the Herald have been in there since 2008 and survived the extremes of a RBRR and a 10CR.

How about an email to their technical/sales department ?

[ferny]

Can't see it being vibration as I swapped the n/s for the o/s once to test the circuit and it blew straight away. Although I did notice that Halfords sell "heavy duty anti-vibration" bulbs, which looked just like all the others on the self when looked at closely.

I might replace the holders just to eliminate them.

michael_charlton wrote:

How about an email to their technical/sales department ?

Honda?

[piman]

Hello Ferny,

you can buy heavy duty lamps for industrial use but they don't give out as much light. Incandescent lamp filaments are run at very high temperatures, the higher the brighter but the offset is that the higher the temperature the more fragile they are. So heavy duty lamps normally run cooler so are less bright?

Alec

[thescrapman]

Peter

I have had issues with my driveway blowing the bulbs. It is slightly (! ) pot-holed and they always seem to go first thing in the morning as I drive out.

I think it is the filaments being jogged when still warming up.

Could be talking crap of course!

Cheers

[Velocita Rosso]

ferny wrote:

Honda?

Silly....The bulb manufacturer to ask if there is  a common fault or reason

Like RING in Leeds they have a technical department that have answered my queries before now

[heraldcoupe]

We had something very similar with our Rover 620. Both bulbs would blow with monotonous regularity, but the nearside would blow far more frequently, a couple of times a month at least.
I never fixed it as the car was retired, but I reckoned it was possibly a current leak to the bulb, so it was receiving a low voltage when theoretically switched off. This could be enough to fatigue the filament prematurely. It was difficult to pinpoint with the Rover, but presumably the Acclaim doesn't have a dedicated ECU for the lights, so should be easier to buzz out with a meter.

Cheers,
Bill.