Replacing Headlights!

[Hitman]

Ok well I got a few good tips last night...but could not get the thing completely out...I did a search and did not find this question posted before so I thought it would be both beneficial to me and any members who may be looking in the future!! Thanks!

[SEQX34]

And this Thread will be about what???

[HS2020]

Hitman are you wanting to replace the whole headlight or just the bulbs? We need to know that at bare minimum.

[Hitman]

lol...yeah sorry my bad! I was a bit tired last night

Just how to access the bulbs and remove them! I was trying to replace mine with a new set of Xenons!

[The CyberPoet]

Unplug cable
Locate rubber tab sticking out of the top of the rubber bellows over the bulb retainer. Pull off.
Unlink metal spring tab used to hold bulb in.
Pull bulb out (may require slight rotation to unclick -- can't remember).
Swap bulbs holding them with paper towels, taking care never to touch the actual bulb glass (it's actually quartz and touching it will put skin oils on it that will cause it to crack when heated repeatedly -- use rubbing alcohol to remove any fingerprints you may already have put on them).

Reinstall the bulbs.
Now comes the hard parts:
get the metal spring tab back on (PIA)
reseat the rubber bellows to the back of the headlight casing.

then plug the cable back in and you're on your way... to doing the other side!

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

PS - a lot of people remove their fairings to do this, but you can do it without removing them on the 98+ Kats; it's just tight in there and the steering needs to be all the way over to one side for one light, to the other side for the other light. Use the centerstand if you have it.

[Black_peter]

Pull bulb out (may require slight rotation to unclick -- can't remember).
Swap bulbs holding them with paper towels, taking care never to touch the actual bulb glass (it's actually quartz and touching it will put skin oils on it that will cause it to crack when heated repeatedly -- use rubbing alcohol to remove any fingerprints you may already have put on them).

I have heard this is a myth..
Not that I don't follow it (I use single use cloth gloves from the cleanroom here at work)
But I remember hearing that it did not in fact decrease the life span of the bulb.. Anyone else?? Anyone?? Buller??

[The CyberPoet]

I have heard this is a myth..
Not that I don't follow it (I use single use cloth gloves from the cleanroom here at work)
But I remember hearing that it did not in fact decrease the life span of the bulb.. Anyone else?? Anyone?? Buller??

I used to blow industrial glass and quartz at the university as a hobby, and I can tell you definitively that if the bulb glass contains a high quartz content (as halogen bulbs normally do), it's not a myth. The oils cause uneven temperatures when hot (by acting as a heat sink), and attract water when cool. Water is the enemy of quartz (and cut glass), causing the atomic bonds between the molecules to disconnect. This is also why you should throw away drinking glasses with serious scratches or minor cracks in them; sooner or later water will reach unprotected molecules and the crack will spread (the speed of the spread seems to be totally random -- could be virtually instanteous or take years to move a full inch, but you never want a glass shattering in your hand).

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[AHF]

I had always been told that the oil from your skin shortens the life.

I did a search...

Is it true that you cannot touch halogen bulbs?

Halogen bulbs have quartz envelopes and operate at a higher temperature than regular incandescent bulbs. If the quartz envelope is handled it should be cleaned with rubbing alcohol before being used or the bulb's life will be shortened.

Many halogen bulbs have a glass cover over the quartz envelope. These bulbs may be handled like a regular bulb.

http://www.arevco.ca/faq#halogen_handling

More on the halogen bulb...

http://home.howstuffworks.com/question151.htm

So I get that the oils from your skin can shorten the bulb....but I don't get how.

[Black_peter]

Most of the sites I looked at say the oil causes "hot spots" however one of the sites said it causes the oil to "boil"
Oil does not boil..

I guess the glass is not able to disapate the heat where the oil is. This could cause stress? If the bulb is really quartz (a very special type of glass) it should be IR transparent.
In this case it only gets hot by conductance, heat transfered from the base or filiment holder etc.
Quartz also transfers heat at a very poor rate.
Quartz has a very high heat rating and low co-efficiant of expansion. So this is not really adding up.
A quartz bulb should be able to go to 1000C easily..
One small area of oil should not effect this.
If the bulb were reaching these temps it would be melting the bulb socket, fairing, fairing bracket, peoples retnias...

[AHF]

Guess this would be a good one for mythbusters.

[The CyberPoet]

Most of the sites I looked at say the oil causes "hot spots" however one of the sites said it causes the oil to "boil"
Oil does not boil..

Oil can boil, just like any other liquid that can be transitioned into a gas state. It doesn't boil at the same temp as water, but it does boil.

I guess the glass is not able to disapate the heat where the oil is. This could cause stress? If the bulb is really quartz (a very special type of glass) it should be IR transparent.

The H4 bulb glass is not pure quartz (pure quartz can stand extremely high temps; we work at 4k to 5k degrees C to work quartz in the glass-lab), but a quartz-rich silicate glass which is cost-effective. Imagine pyrex as a good example of a quartz-rich glass; handles heat well, but is not pure quartz by a far-shot (headlight glass is not pyrex either for other reasons).

In this case it only gets hot by conductance, heat transfered from the base or filiment holder etc.
Quartz also transfers heat at a very poor rate.
Quartz has a very high heat rating and low co-efficiant of expansion. So this is not really adding up.
A quartz bulb should be able to go to 1000C easily..
One small area of oil should not effect this.
If the bulb were reaching these temps it would be melting the bulb socket, fairing, fairing bracket, peoples retnias...

The falacy of the above is that you are presuming it is pure quartz. How about we take the short-cut and simply find out what the manufacturer of the bulb has to say? Most of the packages have warnings not to touch the bulb glass...

Sylvania's website: Operates under pressure and may shatter. Use appropriate screening techniques to protect people and surroundings. Do not operate in close proximity to persons, combustible materials, or substances affected by heat or drying. Do not operate over 110% rated voltage because such operation increases pressure and lamps' tendency to shatter. Ultraviolet output may cause skin and eye irritation with prolonged exposure. Protect bulb from abrasions and scratches. Do not insert lamps when power is on. Follow operating instructions.

PIAA's site says: The only additional caution is to not touch the glass portion of the bulb. If the glass does become dirty, even fingerprints leave oil, just wipe with a clean cloth and a little rubbing alcohol.

Want to see something cool? Watch this MP3 video on bend lighting...
Hella: Bend Lighting technology at work

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[trinc]

Want to see something cool? Watch this MP3 video on bend lighting...
Hella: Bend Lighting technology at work

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

pretty neat - but i installed wide angle white driving lights on my blazer w/ a relay on the parking light to broaden the visable area at night. i have them mounted pretty low and pointed downwards as to not blind oncoming traffic - works great $ cost me about $25.00

tim

[The CyberPoet]

Want to see something cool? Watch this MP3 video on bend lighting...
Hella: Bend Lighting technology at work

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

pretty neat - but i installed wide angle white driving lights on my blazer w/ a relay on the parking light to broaden the visable area at night. i have them mounted pretty low and pointed downwards as to not blind oncoming traffic - works great $ cost me about $25.00

tim

I just want to see it implimented on a dual-headlight (or triple-headlight) motorcycle, aka Tucker style. Turn whichever headlight on my 98+ Kat is on the far side of a corner I'm turning into towards the inside (deep into the corner). Why the outside light? Because if I'm leaned over at speed, it's the one higher up, thus the one which will cast a further distance. Or maybe an agorythm to decide which one should turn based on speed & lean angle. Hmmm... Great, I'm going to be thinking about this all day now and how it can be done. Grrrr...

Laughing
=-= The CyberPoet

[Anonymous]

OK, now I'm gonna stick to daytime riding.

[Black_peter]

The falacy of the above is that you are presuming it is pure quartz.

Well that is a presumtion not a fallacy first off.
Second I worked with quartz yesterday it's part of my job, I guess when someone says quartz I think they mean quartz. Like if they say gold or steel or pudding or beef or spoon etc.

Oil can boil, just like any other liquid that can be transitioned into a gas state. It doesn't boil at the same temp as water, but it does boil.

Well to be accurate some elements of oils can boil off at lower tempuratures than water. Oil is complicated.. What are the VOC's in skin oil?
I haven't the faintest. That being the case, that the bulb company knows, if the oil boils off the bulb GREAT! now it is no longer an issue.

Sylvania's website: Operates under pressure and may shatter. Use appropriate screening techniques to protect people and surroundings. Do not operate in close proximity to persons, combustible materials, or substances affected by heat or drying. Do not operate over 110% rated voltage because such operation increases pressure and lamps' tendency to shatter. Ultraviolet output may cause skin and eye irritation with prolonged exposure. Protect bulb from abrasions and scratches. Do not insert lamps when power is on. Follow operating instructions.

nothing from Sylvania about oil or dirty fingers

IMO:
There are far more "other" in the residue of a finger print.
Oil is the least.
Potassium, Calcium, methanes, acids and salts are but a few
produced by the body and found on the skin..
Therefore deposited with every touch.
These would have a greater impact on the integrity of the glass.
I'm betting that this is a fallacy (a real fallacy).
I know of a major golf ball company that soaks all their golf balls in a pickling solution.. Why?? Well they have had success with this ball.
It is a competitive business they refuse to be the one who blinks.
Changes teh plan and looses market share.

The life span of a light bulb is hardly in the interest of the bulb company. So why advise us about it? Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for 7 years..
Or it is a liability issue. It is possible that touching the bulb
decreases the life of the bulb or could cause it to crack.
Not warning the consumer would be possibly negligent?