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[quote=”jalcaraz” post=60191][/quote]
“And who ever has a problem with HID headlights because of legal issues or because you might blind someone, just don’t put them on your vehicle and shut up.”
This is ridiculous. By this logic I can run lights that are used on rallye cars during night stages and when i recieve criticism just say “Dont istall them if you dont like them”.
Trash talking? Ill criticism? One guy came with personal attacks and 9/11 BS, and he got banned. The rest was civilized discussion.
[quote=”jalcaraz” post=60191][/quote]
“And who ever has a problem with HID headlights because of legal issues or because you might blind someone, just don’t put them on your vehicle and shut up.”
This is ridiculous. By this logic I can run lights that are used on rallye cars during night stages and when i recieve criticism just say “Dont istall them if you dont like them”.
Trash talking? Ill criticism? One guy came with personal attacks and 9/11 BS, and he got banned. The rest was civilized discussion.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=59031]I hope this answers some questions and puts some fears to rest.
[/quote]The blinding thing…
The reflector of a H4 bulb based headlight has two sets of mirrors. One for the main beam only, and one which is used by both the dipped and the main beam.
A normal H4 bulb has 2 filaments, one for dipped beam, whose light is shielded to only go only toward the upper reflector, and another one for main beam, which is not shielded, and is reflected off both reflectors. (Please don’t take this, or the following explanation as me talking down to you, I just want other people reading this to understand as well.)The kit you installed is a H4-3 type kit. This means one filament which changes its position (using an electromagnet, which is in the base of the bulb in this kit, which was broken on one side according to the repair video) based on whether you need dipped or main beam. The shield / shround /retainer that had to be installed is not there to address the glare issues with aftermerket HID installs, it is there, so that the light is not reflected off the lower (main beam only) reflector constantly. It is an essential piece of every similar bi-xenon kit. When you switch to main beam the bulb moves back in its housing, and gets in a position where its light can get through the cutout on the lower part on the shield to the main beam reflector.
The pattern and concentration areas will remain roughly same (as it can also be seen in the pictures I linked in my original post), my concern still is the scattered light that occours due to the different properties (mentioned in my original post) of the two different bulb designs.
For a crude way to see what the difference in light dispersion is you can take a screenshot of the video, when the before-after is compared on the garage door, then invert it and take a look at it that way (it’s easier to distinguish darker colours). As I said, it’s a rather crude way, because of the differnce in WB, exposure and the position of the camera, but it shows some difference.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=59031]I hope this answers some questions and puts some fears to rest.
[/quote]The blinding thing…
The reflector of a H4 bulb based headlight has two sets of mirrors. One for the main beam only, and one which is used by both the dipped and the main beam.
A normal H4 bulb has 2 filaments, one for dipped beam, whose light is shielded to only go only toward the upper reflector, and another one for main beam, which is not shielded, and is reflected off both reflectors. (Please don’t take this, or the following explanation as me talking down to you, I just want other people reading this to understand as well.)The kit you installed is a H4-3 type kit. This means one filament which changes its position (using an electromagnet, which is in the base of the bulb in this kit, which was broken on one side according to the repair video) based on whether you need dipped or main beam. The shield / shround /retainer that had to be installed is not there to address the glare issues with aftermerket HID installs, it is there, so that the light is not reflected off the lower (main beam only) reflector constantly. It is an essential piece of every similar bi-xenon kit. When you switch to main beam the bulb moves back in its housing, and gets in a position where its light can get through the cutout on the lower part on the shield to the main beam reflector.
The pattern and concentration areas will remain roughly same (as it can also be seen in the pictures I linked in my original post), my concern still is the scattered light that occours due to the different properties (mentioned in my original post) of the two different bulb designs.
For a crude way to see what the difference in light dispersion is you can take a screenshot of the video, when the before-after is compared on the garage door, then invert it and take a look at it that way (it’s easier to distinguish darker colours). As I said, it’s a rather crude way, because of the differnce in WB, exposure and the position of the camera, but it shows some difference.
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=58821]
Excellent point. In fact I shot a video today answering to that very topic. I’ve tried the high end Halogen bulbs in other cars and they seem to have a short life. In the above mentioned video I’ll offer a solution to the viewers that have issue with my lights. Lets touch base again after that video comes out. Thanks for your input.[/quote]Short life of the brighter halogens is indeed an issue, the tungsten can’t take the higher temperature for as long as a regular bulb lasts. But I, personally find this a minor drawback, smaller one, than annoying the oncoming traffic. Looking forward to the Re: video!
On another note: Thread got seriously cleaned up :blink:
[quote=”EricTheCarGuy” post=58821]
Excellent point. In fact I shot a video today answering to that very topic. I’ve tried the high end Halogen bulbs in other cars and they seem to have a short life. In the above mentioned video I’ll offer a solution to the viewers that have issue with my lights. Lets touch base again after that video comes out. Thanks for your input.[/quote]Short life of the brighter halogens is indeed an issue, the tungsten can’t take the higher temperature for as long as a regular bulb lasts. But I, personally find this a minor drawback, smaller one, than annoying the oncoming traffic. Looking forward to the Re: video!
On another note: Thread got seriously cleaned up :blink:
The problem with installing HIDs in headlights that were designed for halogen bulbs is not that they are illegal in some areas. The problem is the glare caused by them.
The reflector in the back of the headlight was designed around a halogen bulb, with all its properties regarding light intensity, source and direction of light emission, and waste-heat output (though admittedly this isn’t a problem with HIDs).
Due to the design differences between the two types of bulbs, their characterisctics mentioned above are not (and can not) be the same. This means light being reflected where it shouldn’t be, namely above the desired ___/ line of light output.Professional equipment can show how incorrectly the light is focused with aftermarket HIDs: Click
The link shows a picture of the light dispersion of a normal H4 bulb, the next is that of a H4 with higher light output, and the one after that is that of a HID bulb, all in the same headlight. The following 3 pictures show the same, regarding light intensity.HIDs can make your driving easier in the night, but the people in the oncoming lane will be blinded by them, especially if the headlight are as high mounted as they are in the Element.
Eric, I’m not going to make personal attacks, I’m just going to ask you to consider using halogen bulbs with higher light output (not higher power ones, those can melt your headlight), instead of these HIDs. They are very easy to find in Europe, I’m sure they are available in th US as well. They won’t give you as much light as the kit you installed, but they won’t blind everyone coming the other way.
Or, if the Element had HIDs as optional equipment, retrofitting those OEM reflector headlights would be the best option.
Please excuse any incorrect spelling, grammar, etc., English is not my first language.
The problem with installing HIDs in headlights that were designed for halogen bulbs is not that they are illegal in some areas. The problem is the glare caused by them.
The reflector in the back of the headlight was designed around a halogen bulb, with all its properties regarding light intensity, source and direction of light emission, and waste-heat output (though admittedly this isn’t a problem with HIDs).
Due to the design differences between the two types of bulbs, their characterisctics mentioned above are not (and can not) be the same. This means light being reflected where it shouldn’t be, namely above the desired ___/ line of light output.Professional equipment can show how incorrectly the light is focused with aftermarket HIDs: Click
The link shows a picture of the light dispersion of a normal H4 bulb, the next is that of a H4 with higher light output, and the one after that is that of a HID bulb, all in the same headlight. The following 3 pictures show the same, regarding light intensity.HIDs can make your driving easier in the night, but the people in the oncoming lane will be blinded by them, especially if the headlight are as high mounted as they are in the Element.
Eric, I’m not going to make personal attacks, I’m just going to ask you to consider using halogen bulbs with higher light output (not higher power ones, those can melt your headlight), instead of these HIDs. They are very easy to find in Europe, I’m sure they are available in th US as well. They won’t give you as much light as the kit you installed, but they won’t blind everyone coming the other way.
Or, if the Element had HIDs as optional equipment, retrofitting those OEM reflector headlights would be the best option.
Please excuse any incorrect spelling, grammar, etc., English is not my first language.