HID lights on Corrugations ?

Submitted: Friday, Mar 09, 2012 at 11:29

ThreadID: 92402 Views:2808 Replies:3 FollowUps:2

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Driving Lights

If you plan to do any night driving in the outback then a strong reliable light source is a must. Bad weather, night driving and the possibility of stray animals all demand the need for a clear view

Member - Bucky

Do Corrugations shorten their life, with night time driving ?

I was chatting to a bloke from Claremont ( Qld ) last Monday night at a Pub in Portland, Vic. and the subject about driving lights, came up.

He asked me what I used, with which I replied "Hella Rallee 4000 with 55 Watt HID H1 Globes"... They are sensational to say the least !
Actually I only use HID lights, also have HID H4's, as the main vehicle lights.

Usual questions and answers followed.
How much ?.......told him !
Hard to wire in ?......no, if I can do it anyone, anyone can !

Do they handle Corrugations ?....
Not sure I can answer that, as we were camped up every night !

But copped a few corrugations on the way up to Hadden corner and the Tip of Cape York, pot holes.... but the globes were never actually lit up for night time driving up there.

What have others found ?
Cheers
Bucky

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Reply By: Allan B (Member, SunCoast) - Friday, Mar 09, 2012 at 12:01

Friday, Mar 09, 2012 at 12:01

Hi Bucky,

I have some 35W HID driving lights and so far, so good.

But considering them, there are no filaments in a HID lamp so I should think they are possibly more durable than lamps with filaments, whether illuminated or not. Time may tell.

Cheers
Allan

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AnswerID: 479957

Reply By: Ross M - Friday, Mar 09, 2012 at 12:22

Friday, Mar 09, 2012 at 12:22

Unless you physically damage the discharge chamber eg commonly called a globe it will be ok. As there is no filament to fracture it is similar to carrying a fluoro tube which is also a gas discharge chamber. The voltage from the so called ballast fires the tube just like a street light. Same technology just appllied to vehicles instead of light poles.

If you use them at night or day, on or off makes no difference to anything.
Used on rough roads they will either be broken or they won't be broken.

AnswerID: 479959

Reply By: Ozhumvee - Sunday, Mar 11, 2012 at 14:16

Sunday, Mar 11, 2012 at 14:16

I've done a couple of hundred thousand k's with HID's, both head and driving lights, if the corrugations on the CSR and Anne Beadell didn't break them then nothing will. In fact I've only ever had one "globe" fail and it was one I dropped on a concrete floor which failed a few months later, it looked ok at the time but must have had some sort of fracture somewhere. That is across three different vehicles all with HID's in both head and driving lights.

AnswerID: 480083

Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 06:08

Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 06:08

I have to agree 100%, I have done the CSR and the Kimberley with the same,
But not with the lights on

My question is at night, lit up on corrugations.

Cheers
Bucky

FollowupID: 755645

Follow Up By: Ozhumvee - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 07:56

Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 07:56

As both the Humvee and the Oka are camo I usually drive with the headlights on most of the time especially in the scrub and winding roads as you cannot see them 100 metres away. The ute also sees plenty of driving with the headlights on as we live in a small country town with at least an hours drive to a regional centre so open road visibility is important. With the roads being patches on patches and driven mostly empty it rides like a buckboard and you can actually see the headlights flickering on the road so I don't think vibration does anything to the HID lifespan. H4 globes though especially the higher output ones cannot handle rough roads at all and fail quickly I found over the years.

FollowupID: 755648