another HID thread

[Wheel]

Okay, so I got my HIDs in and much to my chagrin, there is WAY too much glare, even though there is a shield under the HID bulb to prevent it.

So, I came up with an idea for a possible solution. I'll have to look at it closer tomorrow because it's bedtime, but I think that shield should be longer. Longer shield would completely prevent the HID bulb from shining directly on the bottom portion of the reflector. I believe the bottom part is the part that is aimed high, for high-beams. I gotta figure out how to make the shield longer without damaging the bulb.

Any ideas?

[Newbie2it]

How about just painting the reflector black.... Tho you could test that theory first by putting something like masking tape on it first. Since masking tape doesnt have much reflectivity as far as shine goes to its surface. Will give you a general idea if this is the right direction to proceed.

[Wheel]

to do that I'd have to completely dissasemble the headlight assembly, and if I'm gonna do that I may as well get some projectors and stick 'em in there while I'm at it..

Thanks for the idea, though.

I noticed today that I could clearly see the portion of the reflector that was blocked by the shield. It's kinda at a funny part, basically between 3:30 and 6:30 or so. I think that these bulbs would probably work great, if the shield was properly designed to block reflections from three to nine, and there was a shield out in front of the bulb so that you couldn't actually see the bulb itself. Got me thinking now.

[Wheel]

Okay, so I took a picture of the setup with the bulb installed so you can see the way it is. Look closely at the aluminum shield. the 90 degree bend in the metal is exactly at the 6 o'clock position, and it extends up past 9:00 just a hair, if not right to 9:00 on one side. The other side extends to about 4:00 out in front, but then shortens down to about 5:00 or so after just a couple milimeters or so.

If you look closely at the reflector itself, there are forward facing mirrors at 3 three and nine o'clock, which I would imagine are desireable. Everything below those strips are for the high-beams and should be blocked.

The aluminum shield itself is mounted to the base of the bulb using phillips-head screws, which means removing it and modifying it would not be too difficult. I believe the desired reflector would extend up to about 3:45 and 8:15 on either side, and have a cap on the front to hide the bulb from view of oncoming traffic. This way nobody is blinded by looking directly into the bulb, and light is reflected only off the "low-beam" portion of the reflector itself.

I will begin work on this project ASAP, but if anyone reading this has the time and ability to attempt some mods themselves, please post pics of anything you try.

Wheee!!!




Here are a few close up shots of the standard H4 bulb. You can see how the low-beam element in the H4 is shrouded pretty much exactly how I explained the HID should be, and the front of the bulb is painted to block glare from the front. Seems pretty obvious to me how these shields should have been formed, I wonder who the genius is who designed them???

This first photo is looking down on the bulb from the top.



This second photo is a side-shot.

[TheSteve]

This is on a pre, right? Seems strange that its glaring like that. Mine doesn't seem to have any problems with glare and I just had to adjust the aim slightly. Mine seems to glare just a tiny bit but doesn't seem to project any light in the glare area, if that makes sense. It looks brighter than normal if you stare at it, but it doesn't cast off any glaring light even if you park in front of a wall to check the light pattern. So it's good for getting noticed but I still havent had anyone flash their lights at me because of being blinded

[eviilil0ne]

he has a post kat

[Dart032]

What kinda camera you got those are great pictures?

[Wheel]

What kinda camera you got those are great pictures?

Casio Exilim, 10.0 megapixels

[Wheel]

I was at my friend's shop today so I pulled the bulbs apart. I cut some aluminum sheet into rectangle pieces of 1,8cm X 3cm, and bent them in half. Then drilled two 1/8" holes through the knew shield and the one that came with the bulbs, and used pop-rivets to attach them.

Everything went together quite well, I'll update in an hour or so after dark when I can tell you how it worked out. It appears the strange cut-out in the shield was there for the sake of the "high-beam" halogen, to allow it to properly reflect against the bottom portion of the reflector. I don't mind blocking that at all, as the halogen bulb is dimmer than the stock low-beams anyway, quite pointless in all honesty.

update and pics coming after dark.

[Wheel]

well, I took it for a test-run and I can see the mod I made was successful. However, I was lazy because I was rushed, and only extended the shield on the side that was shorter, without putting a block in the FRONT of the bulb. I now wish I had. I think staring right into the bulb is where all of the glare is coming from now. Pics soon, then I gotta mod it AGAIN lol.