How big are your bulbs?

Diver944 · Nov 19, 2004

ORIGINAL: John Sims

And I always thought being on the forum was a great way to save money.

Do you know, ever since I've been hooked on car forums I've had to stop my age old argument with Mrs Diver if she comes back from the shops with unneccessary clothing because it was on special offer [

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I've realised I now do the exact same with car bits [:-]

All these savings are costing us a fortune because I can't reign her in anymore and I'm doubling the amount myself [

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I'm just going to eat more carrots.

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

Let us know as this is going to be a christmas prezzie so need the price ASAP!!!

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

Hi Iceshark, I see you are in here at the moment. You have e-mail.

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

ORIGINAL: Diver944

Suggest you check all the cotancts first and also make sure your 10 year old reflectors are clean on the inside and that the silver hasn't started to come off. Also make sure everything is properly aligned at an MOT station. I think a lot of 944 lights gradiually droop forward.

I find mine are excellent (when I remember to keep them clean [:-] )

Paul, It is pretty hard/near impossible to clean off the inside of the lenses. The reflectors usually have an electrostatic deposition coating which is very easy to scuff up. Do that and you are more or less screwed.

However, aiming an E-Code lens is very easy to do yourself. I have a Word document that I include in my headlight packages on how to do it. I can email it to you as you are the moderator and you can either post it in the archives or forward to people that would like to have it.

Diver944 · Nov 19, 2004

ORIGINAL: IceShark

aiming an E-Code lens is very easy to do yourself. I have a Word document that I include in my headlight packages on how to do it.

Cheers Dan [

] Feel free to post it or email it to me and I'll do it

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

The question of brightness vs the question of damage to the loom and the comparison with the legal requirements must come down to wattage vs efficiency. If the bulbs are efficient then they shouldn't need to be of a higher wattage and thus the loom will be OK. I don't know if there is a brightness part to the legal requirements, but I guess there's some wattage limit based on what bulbs were available to Gottlieb Daimler!

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

Mike,

You may want to go over to Rennlist and do a search on the bulb issue and my name. It has been gone over a million times and there is a lot of good information in the threads.

There are so many marketing scams out and about but the shorthand version is this. Buy a quality bulb. In clear, not some blue bugger. Just ask me what bulb you are looking at in the local shop and I'll tell you if it is OK. It actually is sort of hard to find good bulbs off the shelf. I may not know a particular off bulb at your local store but I know all the ones made by the majors.

When you go halogen you have to deliver the voltage to the bulb, that is where our cars fall down pretty bad. Lose 15% of voltage at the bulb and kiss goodbye to 50% of the light. Yeah, there is some efficiency issue, but it is way down on the scale unless you are considering HID arc lights.

Those cost a small fortune and most older model Porsche owners are sort of penny pinchers in my experience.

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

Making it easier to see is always a key issue tho as the original lights are really awful and me and my dad have both commented... having the fog lights on alone on my focus is the same as having the main beam on in the 944 so things need to be sorted out.

Is there going to be a discount?

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

Roy, no there is not going to be a discount. I explained this to flamingeye and he can fill you in on the details. Short story is I do this a favor to Porsche enthusiasts. Price is what it is. In my regular trade I'm a CPA and get over $300 per hour.

The money is not a big issue to me. I do it to help Porsche owners out, cover costs and relax while watching TV. I sort of miss many of the plot lines in TV shows. LOL! If it ever came to costs and discounts I'd just shut the whole thing down. And is why these are only available every 3 to 6 months.

The pacakges will probably be gone by mid-December. Then my diving vacation to the South Pacific. After back awhile I will think about making new packages.

That is the situation.

Guest · Nov 19, 2004

That is a fair deal. Thanks for the reply!

Guest · Nov 21, 2004

Thanks for the details on the voltage drop. Voltage drops are usually caused by lower resistance and hence in order to get the energy out the current has to go up, is this what burns the loom out? I'm on a limb here, but I base it on what the physics teacher used to say about it not being the volts that kill you but the amps.
I'm not changing my bulbs (yet!) as I'm driving only a short distance in the dark. 2 miles to work and 2 miles home again.

Guest · Nov 21, 2004

Mike, well, it is actually higher resistance and that gets converted to heat in the loom and everything else it runs through. It may get hot enough to actually melt the wires but in the headlights you usually see it in dash switch failure. Carbons up the contacts, melts them, etc. In any event, there is a huge drop in current delivered to the bulbs from this mini toaster oven effect. Hence, the problem. Voltage is being lost to heat generation.

The only way around it is fatter wires, relays, better connectors and so forth. You need to keep the voltage drop down. In higher quality applications you want to keep DC voltage drop under 10%. Better marine targets are 3%. For headlights I shoot for well under 1%. For our Porsches, drops on stock wiring of 30% are not uncommon. That is why a new loom/harness makes such an outstanding difference. combine that with newer lenses, better bulbs and such and you have a real lighting system.

Guest · Nov 21, 2004

I find my lights to be not too bad on dipped beam and pretty good on main. And this is coming from someone who's pervious car had HID lamps. I would have said that for most people just changing the light unit to a new one with better mirror, and a set of Philips vision plus bulbs would be sufficient.

I don't doubt the quality of Icesharks set up, clearly its pretty darn good. Don't forget that running 100w bulbs in the UK is illegal and they will not be BS stamped.

Guest · Nov 21, 2004

What exactly comes in your kit Iceshark for £200 + £50 Delivery.

Guest · Nov 22, 2004

Oh, I'm not saying running 90/100 watt bulbs is legal in the UK or most any other places that have regulations on halogen wattage. I'm just saying you can if you are running an E-Code lens and not run into any problems with other road users. This is based on my running them since 1981 and hundreds of other users all over the world that I sold to. No one has gotten hooked to date, anywhere.

The first issues are to get good lenses and wiring. Then you can talk about bulbs. Good wiring and lenses will make even 55/60 watt bulbs shine great.

But I think water pistols are now illegal in the UK so I understand your concerns.[

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Guest · Nov 22, 2004

ORIGINAL: IceShark

But I think water pistols are now illegal in the UK so I understand your concerns.[]

Atleast we can get our cars out of 2nd gear in the UK. [8D]

John Sims · Nov 22, 2004

Despite my comments that too bright lights can be a problem, I have had to conclude that Beakys lamps are dim to the point of being dangerous.

Whilst you can see when alone on unlit roads, if anything comes the other way it becommes a real issue as the difference in light levels is so significant that I can no longer see the side of the road. I've had a couple of near off road moments over the last few weeks and have decided that something must be done.

IceShark - you have mail. Whilst I rather like the thought of 90/100 watt bulbs I think I will go with 55/60's as I trust the change will be sufficiently great not to push my luck with the Boys in Blue.

Guest · Nov 22, 2004

Roy,

The package comes with:

(2) Cibie E-Code lenses, left hand lane in your case

(4) 90/100 watt H4 Philips/Narva bulbs, or whatever else you want for some minor adjustment in price. If you want some 50% boosted European 55/60 watt legal bulbs that would actually knock a few quid off the price as you would only need two. Burn life on a 55/60 is much longer than a 90/100.

(1) Plug and play wiring harness and supplemental forward ground. You can read about this and the quality on Rennlist.

(1) Adjustable voltage regulator. Stock is at 14.1v and is just too low to recharge the battery and take that load offline unless you drive for 6 hours straight.

(1) Misc. hardware package

(1) Installation and headlight aiming instructions.

And whatever talk-through you want from me.

Regards,

Dan

Guest · Nov 22, 2004

HERE
Interesting link.

Guest · Nov 22, 2004

ORIGINAL: flamingeye

HERE
Interesting link.

That is a great writeup by Dr. Andre Ruest of Canada, though I think he did a little bit more work than is required for most cars. Face it, who does such an excellent writeup, with pictures, all on his own just to help other Porsche owners? A true aficionado. [

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However, don't ask me about those kits as they are for left hand drive cars only, not the RHD with the battery back in the boot. And those packages usually sell out in 48 hours once I announce a new build.