bulbs burn out

[arrozburner]

i bought a set of 1-piece black projectors about a year ago and they keep going through bulbs like nobody's business and its starting to piss me off. my stock headlights had the same bulbs for more than 4 years and these have gone through 4 differant sets of bulbs so far. when i take the bulb out, the filament inside looks fine but the base of the bulb looks burnt, like if it was under extreme heat. what could i do to fix this problem? would i have this problem if i got an hid kit? also, the new headlights use h3 bulbs instead of the stock ones. any help would be appreciated.

[accordztech]

how is the seal of the housings, do u see any gaps? perhaps it keeps getting dirt in there..

umm what brand are u using, this time put some alcahol on ur bulbs to clean off any crap and check to see if their may be a leak.

maybe u got a shitty batch...are those bulbs u went through the same brand?

wait u said they use h3? is ur car wired for a h3? those are higher wattage i think...id have to check up on that...

[Kabuki]

Re: bulbs burn out

Originally posted by arrozburner
i bought a set of 1-piece black projectors about a year ago and they keep going through bulbs like nobody's business and its starting to piss me off. my stock headlights had the same bulbs for more than 4 years and these have gone through 4 differant sets of bulbs so far. when i take the bulb out, the filament inside looks fine but the base of the bulb looks burnt, like if it was under extreme heat. what could i do to fix this problem? would i have this problem if i got an hid kit? also, the new headlights use h3 bulbs instead of the stock ones. any help would be appreciated.

Sounds like there is too much heat for the units to dissipate. You are essentially overheating the bulbs because of the design of the light. I'm afraid that unless you do something to increase the airflow around them, you will continue to burn out bulbs.

[Sho Nuff]

My mechanic said that you need to drill a hole at the top to let the heat out. Never triied it though.

[phatdoughnut]

HEy i had the same problem with my one piece projectors!! they keept making fun of my at the auto parts store, cause i would come in every month or so.... and then one day when i was changing of the bulbs i noticed that one of the wires that comes out of the bulb and connects to the projector or whatever, was missing the little rubber/plastic piece, and it would ground out on the wires on the back of the projector....so i put some black tape on it and VUALA! havent had a broken bulbs since last january....maybe thats your problem?

[xplode]

Your problem is from the heat building up causing the bulbs glass envelope to either deform and form slight bumps... or its too hot and causing the filament to burn out prematurely... thats what i hear alot with the cheap halogen ebay projectors.. theyre made for looks not for use..

[accordzoom]

I as well have had the same probs with my 1 piece projectors and havent solved the prob but is pissing me off, have seen the prob on friends ludes and civics with one pices as well. when i get home i will try to see if there are any wires out anywhere and i will drill a slight hole to see if that is it , but im a little worried about that hole.. can much moisture still get in??

thanks
j

[accordztech]

if u make a hole u can get a "L shaped" rubber tube and stick it in there faceing down just like OEM headlights, moisture gets out...not in..

[accordzoom]

nice thanks alot

[arrozburner]

im going to see if i could finally fix this by doing some DIY work. im going to drill 2 holes, one on top and one on the bottom. im going to connect a hose to the bottom hole and run it to the front of the car to get cold air into the housing and cool the bulb down...excess air will go out of the top hole. hopefully this works if there's anything i should worry about let me know.

[xplode]

nono.. that a sure way to get dirt in there and cause the bulb to get crap on it and in the housing, diminishing the vision output

[accordzoom]

like a dirt vacuum,
the one whole is cool tho??

[xplode]

one hole should be sufficient.

[accordzoom]

alright cool, i'll try it out