Headlights short lived
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Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Pittsburgh
Headlights short lived
Allright, i was tired of my headlights flickering when i needed high beams, so I did the headlight fix as described on this site. It did absolute wonders, but now i have an issue.
I can't keep a passengers side headlight in my truck. When i turned my headlights on the first time it lasted about 30 seconds, then was gone. Swapped it to another bulb i had hanging around and it lasted about a minute. I can run my highbeams forever and a day now, but the lowbeam keeps cooking out.
What causes headlights to be short lived? High resistance on the ground is all i can think of, but wouldn't it be worse for high beams and cause them to cook before the lowbeam?
Other thing i can think of it the headlights were used to the lower voltage and now that it has direct battery power, it just overpowered what the filament was used to and then cooked the spare (used) bulb for the same reason.
Justin
I can't keep a passengers side headlight in my truck. When i turned my headlights on the first time it lasted about 30 seconds, then was gone. Swapped it to another bulb i had hanging around and it lasted about a minute. I can run my highbeams forever and a day now, but the lowbeam keeps cooking out.
What causes headlights to be short lived? High resistance on the ground is all i can think of, but wouldn't it be worse for high beams and cause them to cook before the lowbeam?
Other thing i can think of it the headlights were used to the lower voltage and now that it has direct battery power, it just overpowered what the filament was used to and then cooked the spare (used) bulb for the same reason.
Justin
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 30,255
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Check your voltage regulation on your alternator. Voltage at the battery with a fully charged battery should be 13.8-14.2 volts. Poor grounds will not decrease lamp life, that causes lower voltage to the lamp. High voltage will shorten the bulb life. Headlights are made to operate at 14 volts which is normal charging voltage with a 12V battery system. High vibration can also destroy a light, check the lamp mountings. Old bulbs have partially worn out filaments. Old bulbs may also have a leak that has allowed oxygen to enter the envelope. If the high beams work OK the low beams must have been just about to burn out.
Last edited by Torque1st; Sep 5, 2006 at 05:19 AM.
Thread Starter
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Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,711
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From: Pittsburgh
Yeah, all of the bulbs were fine until i replaced the alternator, regulator, and rewired the headlights. I was figuring it was just that the filaments were ready to go anyway and going from the 12V it was charging at to the almost 15 it's charging at now was just too much for them to handle.
Justin
Justin
