HID's and headlight assembly

[everywherevirtually]

I have noticed that my HID's are burning the plastic reflector above the bulb. The dipped beam reflector has a 2cm square area that has lost its silver reflectiveness. The full beam which is not used much in these summer months has a pea sized burn mark.

I tried taking off the plastic surround around the headlight only to find that the glass lens appears to be sealed on. So I have no way of easily cleaning the smoke marks off the lens or cleaning up the burnt area and perhaps covering it with some flexible metal.

Does anyone else have this experience? If you've had your HID's on the 800 a few months have a look today.

all thoughts and opinions welcome

cheers

Jon

p.s. photos to follow

 

[freeloader]

Off to check mine now...

 

[freeloader]

Off to check mine now...

This is what my dipped beam reflector looks like. Can't see any more than a very slight matt effect above the hole where the bulb pokes through.

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

I have noticed that my HID's are burning the plastic reflector above the bulb. The dipped beam reflector has a 2cm square area that has lost its silver reflectiveness. The full beam which is not used much in these summer months has a pea sized burn mark.

I tried taking off the plastic surround around the headlight only to find that the glass lens appears to be sealed on. So I have no way of easily cleaning the smoke marks off the lens or cleaning up the burnt area and perhaps covering it with some flexible metal.

Does anyone else have this experience? If you've had your HID's on the 800 a few months have a look today.

all thoughts and opinions welcome

cheers

Jon

p.s. photos to follow

what make of HID's are you using?

 

[divelandy]

I'm not sure if it's just perspective, but the bulb on mine looks like it sticks out further. There is a slight clouding just above the bulb



Had HID's since March ~ 5k miles.

 

[everywherevirtually]

I'm not sure if it's just perspective, but the bulb on mine looks like it sticks out further. There is a slight clouding just above the bulb

View attachment 129837

Had HID's since March ~ 5k miles.

Where yours has clouded that whole segment has gone black on mine. I'll take a photo when I get home after 18:30 and post it up. My HID's have been on since last November.

by the way is that an LED bulb below the HID?

 

[GS Biker]

This is interesting, was about to splash out on a pair of HID's for my GS.

 

[divelandy]

by the way is that an LED bulb below the HID?

No, i brought some 'super bright' Philips bulbs for the car and it came with these blue side lights as a freebie - thought id use them on the bike.

 

[everywherevirtually]

This is interesting, was about to splash out on a pair of HID's for my GS.

GS Biker, dont let this put you off. These things are so damn bright they probably dont need a lens

The increased visibility and safety is worth some minor glitches. I'd never go back and use the original candle headlight

 

[GS Biker]

GS Biker, dont let this put you off. These things are so damn bright they probably dont need a lens

The increased visibility and safety is worth some minor glitches. I'd never go back and use the original candle headlight

Cheers for this, was thinking of a Les Wassall system, was planning on contacting him in the next couple weeks. What have you installed to your GS?

 

[everywherevirtually]

here ya go folks

I did see some small amount of residue on top of the bulb and I'm wondering if a fly got in there and toasted himself on the lens thus creating damage to the bulb / excess heat / vapourised bug smoke

It doesn't affect the performance of the bulb. They are still bright. It's just I'd like to get at the lens and mitigate the heat around this area by perhaps using heat resistant paint or a metal insert.

 

[divelandy]

Cheers for this, was thinking of a Les Wassall system, was planning on contacting him in the next couple weeks. What have you installed to your GS?

My HID's are from Les. Very easy to fit, and i totally agree with everywherevirtually, i'd not go back to the old H7 candles.

 

[everywherevirtually]

This is what my dipped beam reflector looks like. Can't see any more than a very slight matt effect above the hole where the bulb pokes through.

it is starting on yours. If it were the dial of a clock I can see it starting at 9Oclock and 1 O clock. Similar to my full beam lens.

 

[everywherevirtually]

My HID's are from Les. Very easy to fit, and i totally agree with everywherevirtually, i'd not go back to the old H7 candles.

Mine are from Les too. The service is amazing. This is not so much about the bulb as the reflector and the housing clearances from the bulbs. In my view the shape of the reflector is better than the 1200's but it curves in closer to the bulb. My singeing seems quite advanced and so by perhaps posting my photos I can help myself and you guys and collectively we can come up with a fix for what are essentially amazing lights. These things will save your life

 

[sijohnston]

i've had les 50W hid's in for over a year. mine have burning marks immediately around the bulb too Jon, but they haven't been getting any worse, so i'm not worrying. as long as oncoming drivers keep flashing me cos they think i've my main beam on, i'm happy

 

[Greggers]

ooooh - I had to go and check mine too.... and yes, I have the misting on the reflector as well... hmmm.

My HID is a full-fat 50w job, but I was under the impression that HIDs didn't radiate so much heat as conventional bulbs - or was that just a filament of my imagination..

Intended puns aside... I wonder if this is something caused by the high UV output of these lights releasing what I think are called 'free-radicals' from the atmosphere inside the lamp housing which can cause the oxidisation of the aluminised reflector... if that is the case, then there's not a lot that can be done about it, but be warned that an MOT tester can issue a fail certificate if the headlamp reflectors aren't bright and shiny enough.

Just extending the thread a little ... I've been hard pressed to get my light adjusted properly. The lights generate so much output, that even with the beam adjusted to quite a low position, I'm still getting flashed by oncoming traffic. Now, my kit was a cheap and cheerful Chinee jobbie, but never having seen one of Les's kits working, I don't know if it produces as tight a beam pattern as a more expensive kit. I have a fairly well defined cut-off, but there's still a fair bit of 'splash' beyond the line, which is no doubt what's pissing off oncoming traffic... Is the Wassel kit the same? Speaking of that, how long does it take for the Wassel ballasts to come upto temperature? I unloaded the HID I'd fitted for my main-beam because it took soooooo long to give full light output.

Ok - time to hi-jack the thread properly. Do the Philips Xtreme bulbs actually give a higher light output? Has anyone come across something called HIR - Halogen Infra-Red bulbs? Developed by Toshiba, they're supposed to give HID levels of light output from a 55w filament...

Greg

 

[freeloader]

it is starting on yours. If it were the dial of a clock I can see it starting at 9Oclock and 1 O clock. Similar to my full beam lens.

Yes, I did see it, that's the "matt effect" I mentioned. Still a good way off being as severe as your discolouration, but then, you've done a considerably greater mileage than my paltry 6500, though.

I'm seriously considering replacing the original H7 bulb in the main beam. A main beam flash with a HID bulb just doesn't cut the mustard, IMHO.

 

[everywherevirtually]

i've had les 50W hid's in for over a year. mine have burning marks immediately around the bulb too Jon, but they haven't been getting any worse, so i'm not worrying. as long as oncoming drivers keep flashing me cos they think i've my main beam on, i'm happy

True enough. As long as I don't get failed when the MOT comes up I'm cool. The output is still amazing. I'm just back from the northwest GSER meet and we have some footage of our HID's and LED lights in action...

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[BM_donator]

Just checked my HID50's - been on the bike 9 months and I've covered around 4000 miles.

Just the smallest dull patch showing above the bulb aperture on the dipped beam reflector - almost looks like something is ingressing through the aperture and oxidising (such as moist air?) as the housing expands and contracts with heat?

Just another thought - is this happening on any bikes with standard bulbs?

 

[vpentza]

According to other bikes our 800GS has very bright light, drivers opposite me keep flashing their lights thinking I use the high-beam...
We know that HIDs use less Watt power than the stantard lamps but they produce very high temperatures. Earlier cars that the drivers wanted to place HIDs had the problem of melting the whole lamp+reflector housing.
Now the plastics last longer.....

What I did to my previous 1150 was to replace the stantard lamps to 50% more light of OSRAM or Philips (I did the same on my VW car).
The result was noticable as long a I needed more light to my bike & car. So I kept the Wattage and the temperature in the official range and didn't have any issues of planting wires in my 800GS.

I recommend the same idea for our bike, I would have done it but I still cannot find them easily around my place....