snail Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Hi, just wondering if any of you know what bulbs are in the hella dip and mainbeam the twin round ones 2005 built, and has anyone upgraded the dip as not very bright in complete darkness on country roads, i need to get a spare set for going over the channel later in the year, thanks in advance regards Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Same units as on my previous Rapido, I think. They were (both dip and main beam) H7 55W bulbs. It is possible to get upgraded xenon bulbs that increase the brightness significantly, for example: http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-bulbs.html (link supplied as an example only, other sites and shops are available) I bought some when Halfords were doing a two for one offer, and fitted them to both the main and dipped beam, and it made a noticeable difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 My Hymer B694 has H1 55w bulbs and they are a real pain in the butt to change, I had to change one in Portugal a few weeks ago, very cheap to buy the from the Chinese Todo shops, about £2 each but to change it I had to lie on the ground under the van and pull the front wheel arch away and get my arm up inside the wing, no other way to get at the fitting impossible from in the engine bay, I don't envy you the job of changing yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Hi, If you are going to change them try Ring 'Nightbreaker'. Nicely made and finished, lovely output; almost daylight tone. There are more powerful ones out there but not 'e' marked and some have dodgy patterns.(fail mot test) The beam pattern from these is as crisp and defined as you could wish for. I have used them in loads of vehicles over the last 3 years always with excellent results. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 ....had me a bit worried there Malc, as I pulled up my latest copy of the Hella catalogue, and the units I first spotted were H1, as you state. I removed the uprated bulbs from my 'van (which was a late 2005), however, when I sold it on, and replaced them with the originals, and the ones I have are definitely H7!. As I worked forward down the catalogue, however, it became obvious that they had introduced an uprated range, sometime post 2004, with H1 bulbs. The H7 ones were detailed further down in the book, described as the "Classic" range. Only the H7 versions appear in the 2004 catalogue, but both ranges in the 2007 catalogue. So - depending on the version of the light used by Hymer (and the date of introduction of the H1 version) it would appear that the bulbs could be either H1 or H7; they look significantly different, and reference to the standard bulbs on the site I've already linked to should allow for differentiation. Given the issue about performance, and the fact that the H1 version is supposed to be a better performer, I'd probably bet on them being H7. Uprated Xenon bulbs are available in H1 also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 One point to be aware of if you fit higher output Headlamp bulbs. They create a higher temperature also & may cause damage to the Headlamp with Black Beam Deflectors fitted. To avoid the problem, fit the Beam Deflectors on Headlamp covers which gives an air gap between the cover & headlamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 flicka - 2011-03-22 9:31 PM One point to be aware of if you fit higher output Headlamp bulbs. They create a higher temperature also & may cause damage to the Headlamp with Black Beam Deflectors fitted. To avoid the problem, fit the Beam Deflectors on Headlamp covers which gives an air gap between the cover & headlamp. The standardised maximum wattage of an H1 or an H7 bulb is 55W. It used to be common practice to uprate headlamps by fitting higher wattage bulbs than standard and these produced significantly increased heat ouput as well as increased light. But such bulbs are illegal for road use in the EU. Nowadays bulbs are widely available that retain the standardised maximum wattage but use improved technology to produce more light output. These bulbs are legal for road use in the EU and, because they do not run at a higher temperature than the 'standard' bulb, should be no more damaging to headlight units than the standard product. Having said that, 'masking' headlights to modify their dipped-beam pattern (rather than using translucent beam deflectors) risks damage to the headlamp whatever bulb is being used. As flicka advises, it's wise not to fit masks/deflectors directly to headlamps, though this probably won't be practicable with the small Hella units being discussed here (that, in any case, can be 'tweaked' to produce either a left- or right-dipping beam pattern). A wide selection of higher output bulbs is offered on http://www.powerbulbs.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hi and thanks for all the replies, looks like i should get some brighter bulbs of the same wattage then to be safe and legal, i am at the moment fitting the little fog lights, more for looks than use as having "holes in the valance" doesn't look nice, so i have the whole front valance off the van, all the grey bit, not too bad a job took about an hour, which is why the oppertunity is there to upgrade the headlights. thanks again Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Osram Night Breaker Plus are 75% brighter and legal they are about the best of the high brightness bulbs. I have them in stock at about ½ the retail price. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Motor-Essentials/High-Performance-Bulbs-/_i.html?_fsub=11&_sid=95984265&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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