Put a pair of 100w bulbs in my dipped beams on Saturday afternoon. They are H3's onto which I had soldered an additional lead. Well the right hand one lasted about 20 mins before it went out ! Turned out that it got hot enough to melt the solder - that's over about 190 deg C !! (and it was melting the pvc coating on the wire and could possibly short out) So lessons learnt here are :-

• Use heat resistant shielding on the wire
  
• Use solder that melts at a higher temp
  
• Drill small vents in the top of the headlamp casing
  

 

So at the moment I have one 100w and one 55w. I will be checking the temp of the headlamp casing when I get home tonight, and I'll let y'all know whether I think it's dangerous or not. Macca suggested a PC cooling fan - one of the little chipset jobbies might just do the trick !

And why not Andy,you are just the man to do it,let me know how you get on and I will order mine .

 

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100W bulb will be drawing to much current for the standard loom. You may after prolonged use start causing problems with the standard cabling, and any relay contacts.

 

I recommend a maximum of 85W, these would not cause any problems.

 

Leigh.

 

 

Well the 55w bulb heated the headlamp shell up to about 40 deg C, which isn't too bad, but the 100w one was 70 deg C ! Both measured accurately by an infrared probe. And that was with small vents in the top of the lights - a bit too warm I think. Who was it who tried 130w bulbs ? That must be nearly melting the plastic and with the metallic film I reckon that will be reflecting more of the heat back inside and making it hotter. No wonder people who put 100w bulbs in often report that they fail quickly !

Jeff 's upgrade recommends routing the earth return direct to the chassis avoiding the std loom. use thick wire rated at 20+amps.

 

My 100w bulbs still Ok tho not used em much.

 

The vent hole idea sounds neat - any drawbacks anyone can think of?

to be totally honest - 100W bulbs aren't that much brighter than 55W - they just seem to give of loads of extra heat!!

...and the 130W are even worse.

 

...Still $449 will buy you a pair of H3 Zenon HID bulbs with ballasts - if the price comes down a *bit* more I'll but some.

 

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Simon

just one question? where abouts is the vent hole , cos won't it allow water ingress which would not help the bulb life and condensation in the lamp unit.

I drilled 3 4mm holes at the highest point above where the dipped beam bulb is. It's covered by the bonnet there so it's unlikely any water will drip in, condensation is always a potential problem but with the heat generated by the bulbs and the silica gel dessicant that I have in the headlamp shells it's unlikely to be a problem for me. If it does then I can just cover the holes with white tape.