PIAA bulbs - how reliable?

[Greybeard]

Story so far:
* September 2005 - bought 2 x PIAA Powersport Xtreme White Plus H7 bulbs and installed in dip and main beam
* July 2006 - PIAA bulb for dip beam fails - but manage to get this replaced for free by PIAA UK
* June 2007 - PIAA bulb for dip beam fails again .

Contacted PIAA but they say that a) they only give 3 months warranty on any bulbs, that even Powersport version of PIAA bulbs are more likely to fail than standard bulbs because of the way they are engineered to give more power per Watt.

Disappointing - the first bulb lasted 2500 miles and the second lasted 3800 miles, with no off road riding.

As I've since fitted Hella FF50 (on main beam) / Micro DE (on dip beam + main) auxilliary lights I think I'm going to switch the remaining Powersport bulb to dip and replace the standard H7 bulb in the main beam rather than buy a new PIAA bulb.

Anyone else had similar probs with PIAA bulb failure?

 

[BTBR]

Story so far:
* September 2005 - bought 2 x PIAA Powersport Xtreme White Plus H7 bulbs and installed in dip and main beam
* July 2006 - PIAA bulb for dip beam fails - but manage to get this replaced for free by PIAA UK
* June 2007 - PIAA bulb for dip beam fails again .

Contacted PIAA but they say that a) they only give 3 months warranty on any bulbs, that even Powersport version of PIAA bulbs are more likely to fail than standard bulbs because of the way they are engineered to give more power per Watt.

Disappointing - the first bulb lasted 2500 miles and the second lasted 3800 miles, with no off road riding.

As I've since fitted Hella FF50 (on main beam) / Micro DE (on dip beam + main) auxilliary lights I think I'm going to switch the remaining Powersport bulb to dip and replace the standard H7 bulb in the main beam rather than buy a new PIAA bulb.

Anyone else had similar probs with PIAA bulb failure?

I have used PIAA Power Sport Extreme White bulbs for a couple of years now and have never experianced any problems that you have detailed?

However, what does confuse me is your point about the Power Sport bulbs not lasting as long as the std bulbs.

My understanding was that these are the ones recommended for bikes as they had a thicker element to withstand vibrations?

To quote the PIAA web site regarding the Power Sport range of bulbs:-

Anti-vibration bulb packs for Motorcycles, Quads, Snow Mobiles and all Power Sports

So don't know what the answer is, sorry.

 

[Welby]

Just had a PIAA Power Sport Extreme White bulbs fail after approx. 13 months/6000 miles.

 

[Greybeard]

...

However, what does confuse me is your point about the Power Sport bulbs not lasting as long as the std bulbs.

My understanding was that these are the ones recommended for bikes as they had a thicker element to withstand vibrations?

To quote the PIAA web site regarding the Power Sport range of bulbs:-

Anti-vibration bulb packs for Motorcycles, Quads, Snow Mobiles and all Power Sports

So don't know what the answer is, sorry.

You're confused! Not as much as I was when I heard that from PIAA UK this afternoon. Maybe I've just been unlucky as I didn't find many other posts about this issue [except for Welby - just sneaked in there while I was typing!]. Shame, because I think the light output from the PIAA bulbs is excellent.

 

[Gros Buck]

... Anyone else had similar probs with PIAA bulb failure?

Same kind of horror story here. 3 bulbs failed in 18 month. PIAA would not replace it. It is now cheaper to run with HID.

Paul Jr
R1200GSA oO

 

[RogerJ]

My experience is about the same as Welby's. The R12GS seems to be hard on dip beam bulbs with a boosted light output rating.

Perhaps time for HID in the headlight instead?