Bulb upgrade?

[jepho]

Update: Took car back to the dealer whom I bought it from. I complained that the dipped beam lights were non-effective and they let their tame technician/MOT tester loose. Five minutes later, the car was returned to me with the lighting adjusted to the maximum permitted by law.

I had bought the car with a newly minted MOT certificate (not carried out at my car dealer's place) and had assumed that everything was as it should be for the car to be sold on to me. It now appears as if the pre-sale MOT test was not carried out accurately (or at all?) and it surprises me because the car came directly from a well known lease company.

Oh well... I will update further after I have driven the car at night. I can see that the projected beam pattern is now very different and illuminates what I would expect in terms of walls (when I am stationary) or cars which are in front of me to about 3 car lengths.

[VenomS40]

Pleased to hear there has been an improvement

My condensation problem has come back again and seems worse than ever today.... Not sure if its the colder weather or the fact we have had some very bad rain all day and was driving thought some very very large puddles?

I've tried 3 times today to dry them out but as soon as I dry them out and go away its back again in less than 5 mins?

I've used a heat gun to dry the most of it out as I said but keeps coming back. I've also smeared the bung on the back of the light cover where the HID kits goes into the headlight unit with vaseline to make a seal and prevent water getting in there.

Is there anything else I could try? I remember seeing somewhere that people suggested using the little bag things you get in new box of shoes to dry out things?

Or failing that I only use the car every 2 weeks so was thinking of taking the units off and bringing them in the house and putting them in the airing cupboard for a week and see if I cant get them nice and dry?

[benr7310]

hi mate,

silicone seal around the grommets of your HIDs, also ive noticed that the back plate rubber seals are f***ing useless & deteriorate/get brittle, mine are split in the corners etc. order new ones from somewhere or replace with something else you have.

in terms of drying it out, i too the headlight units out , took off backplate & bulbs and used a hair dryer on the front of the headlight, worked so well & quickly! 20 mins of heat got rid of my condensation.. it actually looked like it had rained on the inside!

after sealing the unit up properly stick a few of those silica gel packs to the inside of the back plate and you should no longer have any issues!!

[VenomS40]

What sealant did you use mate? Got a little spare I could have please? Ive been using the head gun today but so worried that I would melt the lens. I've also sent a snotty email to Volvo UK customer relations explaining my unhappy service I received and that the headlights are now unsafe and causing a safety issue should get them jumping a little.....

Where did you get replacement backs from please mate?

[benr7310]

i just used some general clear silicone sealant that I had lying around! Might be able to find some somewhere in the garage if you need some.

yeah thats why i used the hair dryer instead, not as hot so it shouldnt melt anything

i didnt get replacement backs, it was just the rubber seals, i basically replaced them with some slightly larger rubber gasket that i had lying around, cut it about 10mm too long and force it in as it will shrink over time.

today i was driving through flood water up to the bottom of the doors with water kicking up everywhere, only got a tiny bit of condensation.. and thats with no silica gel!

[VenomS40]

From memory my backing plates haven't got seals on mine? Just plastic on plastic with the upper and lower retaining clips....

If you have got some spare please mate as I haven't and not sure on price but I don't need a whole tube. If you haven't then my mate got some black sealant yesterday as around his aerial on his Type R is leaking so could always nab some from him?

[jepho]

Originally Posted by VenomS40

Pleased to hear there has been an improvement

It was a short-lived improvement at best. I have just taken the car for a drive down some unlit B roads. The lighting pattern has improved (what little light output there is) and I can now see cats eyes for about three or four car lengths. As I now know that the lights are correctly adjusted, I am going to have to bite the bullet and get an HID kit. 💷


The projector envelopes both look to be clear and clean so I am assuming that the design just swallows far too many photons. My local technician stated that poor lighting was one of the main reasons people came to see him, outside of their normal service period, this past year

If I can get a much brighter output with the same pattern of light I now have, I will be much happier. (actually, I will be much happier if I can get any light out of these projector fittings) 😡 I will even be able to adjust them using the adjuster inside the car, if they prove to throw out too much glare. So... I am now off to order the 55watt kit from HIDS4U. (they must love people who drive a Volvo) 🙈🙉🙊

Originally Posted by VenomS40

My condensation problem has come back again and seems worse than ever today....

💩

Originally Posted by VenomS40

Not sure if its the colder weather or the fact we have had some very bad rain all day and was driving thought some very very large puddles?

Yes, it is the temperature difference between the cooler outside air and the air temperature inside the fitting.

Originally Posted by VenomS40

I've tried 3 times today to dry them out but as soon as I dry them out and go away its back again in less than 5 mins?

I've used a heat gun to dry the most of it out as I said but keeps coming back. I've also smeared the bung on the back of the light cover where the HID kits goes into the headlight unit with vaseline to make a seal and prevent water getting in there.

Is there anything else I could try? I remember seeing somewhere that people suggested using the little bag things you get in new box of shoes to dry out things?

Silica Gel will absorb the moisture but I am not sure how good it is in a mopping up or stopping condensation role. There are a variety of sprays and compounds that can be used, although I cannot tell you how effective they are or might be.

this is interesting science

Originally Posted by VenomS40

Or failing that I only use the car every 2 weeks so was thinking of taking the units off and bringing them in the house and putting them in the airing cupboard for a week and see if I cant get them nice and dry?

What would happen to stuff which was being protected by the units being in place? I would try to find a more practical solution.

[VenomS40]

Originally Posted by jepho

It was a short-lived improvement at best. I have just taken the car for a drive down some unlit B roads. The lighting pattern has improved (what little light output there is) and I can now see cats eyes for about three or four car lengths. As I now know that the lights are correctly adjusted, I am going to have to bite the bullet and get an HID kit. ��


The projector envelopes both look to be clear and clean so I am assuming that the design just swallows far too many photons. My local technician stated that poor lighting was one of the main reasons people came to see him, outside of their normal service period, this past year

If I can get a much brighter output with the same pattern of light I now have, I will be much happier. (actually, I will be much happier if I can get any light out of these projector fittings) �� I will even be able to adjust them using the adjuster inside the car, if they prove to throw out too much glare. So... I am now off to order the 55watt kit from HIDS4U. (they must love people who drive a Volvo) ������

��



Yes, it is the temperature difference between the cooler outside air and the air temperature inside the fitting.



Silica Gel will absorb the moisture but I am not sure how good it is in a mopping up or stopping condensation role. There are a variety of sprays and compounds that can be used, although I cannot tell you how effective they are or might be.

this is interesting science



What would happen to stuff which was being protected by the units being in place? I would try to find a more practical solution.

Fitting HIDs will improve that. I was on an empty motorway the other week and all I could see was cats eyes in the road over all 3 lanes for 25-30 car lengths in front. Its a huge difference.

I thought the temp would have something to do with this but never had it last year so guessing the HID install has an impact on this problem but as Ben has said it can be sorted.

As for the packs and drying them out. The can lives in the garage so should be ok there failing I cant clean the crap out of it (Mitsi Evo cage) then I will put some bags or coverings in there to cover the holes and internals inside but they get wet anyway with day to day driving in wet weather so doubt much would get damaged in there but will wrap them up to make sure. I can then park the car up against the Evo to hide the front end away from sight.

Think the airing cupboard would do a good job of drying them out and the packs should keep any moisture ingress at bay once sealed the grommet in the backing plates.

Thanks for all your help I can sleep at night now not worrying that I'm going to have to get some new light units.

[benr7310]

Originally Posted by VenomS40

From memory my backing plates haven't got seals on mine? Just plastic on plastic with the upper and lower retaining clips....

If you have got some spare please mate as I haven't and not sure on price but I don't need a whole tube. If you haven't then my mate got some black sealant yesterday as around his aerial on his Type R is leaking so could always nab some from him?

Ill have to take a look in the garage tomorrow and make sure ive still got some, its only about £2 a tube from screwfix anyway haha the black stuff would work too, just any sort of silicone sealant

if you pop the headlights out, remove those back plates and then look at the back of the headlight housing, there should be a sort of rubber gasket in there.. mine wasnt sealing properly and felt really brittle, never looked into a genuine replacement from volv.. just replaced with some double glazing gasket that i had at my old job haha

[jepho]

Originally Posted by VenomS40

Fitting HIDs will improve that. I was on an empty motorway the other week and all I could see was cats eyes in the road over all 3 lanes for 25-30 car lengths in front. Its a huge difference.

That would be sheer bliss! I have been reading some snippets of research... they appear to be saying that drivers who drive at night are far more relaxed and drive better when they can see well.

Originally Posted by VenomS40

I thought the temp would have something to do with this but never had it last year so guessing the HID install has an impact on this problem but as Ben has said it can be sorted.

If these are your daytime running lamps and they are on all the time then I think that the temperature would be high enough to prevent condensation.

Originally Posted by VenomS40

As for the packs and drying them out. The can lives in the garage so should be ok there failing I cant clean the crap out of it (Mitsi Evo cage) then I will put some bags or coverings in there to cover the holes and internals inside but they get wet anyway with day to day driving in wet weather so doubt much would get damaged in there but will wrap them up to make sure. I can then park the car up against the Evo to hide the front end away from sight.

Understood.

Originally Posted by VenomS40

Think the airing cupboard would do a good job of drying them out and the packs should keep any moisture ingress at bay once sealed the grommet in the backing plates.

Thanks for all your help I can sleep at night now not worrying that I'm going to have to get some new light units.

Airing cupboards are generally nice and dry. You are welcome: I find it helpful to see what the actual legislation states and take it from there. The 'net produces many experts on every subject imaginable and I take everything I read with a large pinch of salt. If you have good trash filters, there is a lot of excellent information available... which was once was only known by experts in their field. I don't have any concerns about fitting HID lighting now and I will make sure that the lamps are properly adjusted and can be turned downwards from the adjuster on the dashboard.

I will have a look at the projector envelop and see if it needs to have any opaque material applied to the upper surface to prevent undue light scatter. If the bulbs are well constructed, they should act as point source when viewed from the front but I suspect that the brightness of HID bulbs will create some spillover (as glare) from the arc and it is this which will need some tight control.