One thing, best tagged as "practical" happened last week. One of my xenon headlights started to change color from white to pink/red and the light intensity got lower. That is usually a sign of soon death. But not always you can change it immediately for various reasons. (weekend, no time slot in the service, no bulbs on stock etc). In my case I noticed it one evening and the next day in the early morning I had to drive 330km to other city.
So how long it lasted ? From being absolutely sure the light changed from white to pink, it took around 5-6 hours of functioning / drive to the definitive end.
When I came to the service (in the other city - Prague) the headlamp lighted somehow. After restarting the engine for going into the service garage it was dead. Good timing.
The service work was about 30 minutes : changing for Philips D2S, setting up & calibration. It is recommended to change both headlights because they have to have the same color and intensity of the light. Life expectation : 2400 hours. It happened after 4 years and 85.000 km of the Saab 9-3 convertible.
So advice : if your xenon lights are changing color, go to change them as soon as possible. You don't have too much time.
Ideally for regular automobiles you would need hid light color chart in the 3000K to 12000K colour ranges. Its best if you go for HID bulbs in the range of 3500K to 5000k as the light emitted is just sufficient for driving under all weather conditions.
ReplyDeleteinteresting. thnx.
ReplyDeleteGood advice! Some people tend to take the change in color of the bulb for granted. They think that they will still milk out a few more months before replacing it. I used to think the same way too, but when my lights gave out on me in the middle of the night while being alone on the road, I definitely changed my perspective. To the people who are reading this, please consider his advice for your own safety.
ReplyDeleteEnoch Ross