Upgrading Hi-beam Globe On S2

[DaveB]

Hi all,

Can the hi-beam globe be upgraded? Had a quick look and it looks like the globe and right-angled plug are one complete unit...

[QWK32]

yeah, its a HB3 type bulb (also referred to as a 9005 type). the stock ones are 60w, Narva do 100w ones. you can also get the blue/white light style ones aswell

[DaveB]

excellent stuff, thanks Josh. I'll go looking for a HB3 globe then.

[RBPOWA-(TJ)]

just a query on that .. would you need to upgrade the fuse for it also ? or Wattage has nothing to do with the volts ... thinking of it now it doesn't ...

[BensDR30]

In this particular case, the wattage has 'nothing' to do with the volts, but plenty to do with the amps. So yes, you will need to consider the wiring & fuse rating

[QWK32]

In this particular case, the wattage has 'nothing' to do with the volts, but plenty to do with the amps. So yes, you will need to consider the wiring & fuse rating

not exactly true. they are all related, amps, volts, and watts. but in this case amps is the most variable of them. voltage being fixed (or close enough to fixed) and wattage also being fixed.

Amps = Watts/Volts

so for the standard 60w bulb, it is drawing 5amps on a 12v system. standard is a 10amp fuse or double the current being drawn by the bulb.

if you stuck a 100w bulb in there it would draw up to 8-9amps (voltage fluctuation taken into account), i'd use a 20 amp fuse.

[928stu]

I've got my auto eletrician looking into a Xenon upgrade for high beem.

Nice white light instead of yellow.

[DaveB]

not exactly true. they are all related, amps, volts, and watts. but in this case amps is the most variable of them. voltage being fixed (or close enough to fixed) and wattage also being fixed.

Amps = Watts/Volts

so for the standard 60w bulb, it is drawing 5amps on a 12v system. standard is a 10amp fuse or double the current being drawn by the bulb.

if you stuck a 100w bulb in there it would draw up to 8-9amps (voltage fluctuation taken into account), i'd use a 20 amp fuse.

Lol just to be picky could we say that we're missing R here (resistance). That THAT is the variable... which will cause I to increase. But yeah, same diff' I guess Mr Ohm's law - V=IR ftw

Edited April 12, 2009 by DaveB

[QWK32]

lol. what do you mean by upgrade the lights dave, aren't you happy with how bright they are? or are you looking for that "Bluevision" look?

[DaveB]

erk don't want blue lights! Well perhaps I should have re-worded 'upgrade' to 'replace'... what I found when I pulled the globe out was what I thought was a unique connector, but it appears that the whole assembly is replaced as one with the HB3 globes

I'm not happy with the low-beams in my units; the compliance workshop I used butchered them good & proper, and it's gonna be one expensive operation to replace those... so I'm trying to compensate for that a little by improving the high beams, which are good, but also a little bit 'yellow' and just don't have the... brillilance I'm after

Edited April 12, 2009 by DaveB

[BensDR30]

FWIW, I was keeping it simple for those who were not familiar with DC theory. The Volts were also the constant, and the Amps the variable (basd on the specified Wattage).

Whatever you end up doing, make sure you have sufficient headroom in regards to fuses, relays & wiring. An upgrade from 55W to 60W won't be an issue, but 60W to 100W is a pretty big jump.

[DaveB]

Thanks Ben. Yes will consider adding relays if the wiring starts to heat up

[coparts41]

Sorry to but in , but it is the contacts on your light switch you have to consider , there are only fine silver contacts on the light swwitch and easily damaged. In other words relay it,its cheaper than replacing thye switch.

[coparts41]

Sorry to but in , but it is the contacts on your light switch you have to consider , there are only fine silver contacts on the light switch and easily damaged. In other words relay it,its cheaper than replacing thye switch.

[DaveB]

Thanks I will look at that. But now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure it already uses a relay. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's how even my bluebird was setup...

[QWK32]

the headlights are off a relay, the high beams appear not to be. i cant hear a relay clicking when i pull the high beams on. it wouldn't be that hard to wire in a relay if needed though.

[DaveB]

ok. yeah it wouldn't be too hard. i might even try to trace some wiring diagrams before i think about wiring in another one in series though just in case there is

Edited April 13, 2009 by DaveB

[DaveB]

Ok well quick look at the wiring diagram...

(what I *think* are the hi-beams are circled in red... these could also be the parkers, but I think they're on the 'tail light' circuit)

And checking my car, the high beams definitely sound to be on a relay. Either they are switched by a relay, or the parkers are also switched with the high-beam flip switch or some strange mojo, and that is the relay sound I can hear... with more investigation I could isolate the relay. I tried pulling one but they still worked, there is one other to try but difficult to get out.

Anyway you guys can try this yourself... simply pop bonnet and remove the fusebox cover from the 'box behind the battery, then standing outside driver's door (or even better with a helper) and ignition & headlights off, 'flash' the high beams... you can hear relays going off.

[QWK32]

i was out playing with the car to day and though i'd take a look at this, i'm a curious person.

the parkers are fed from the "TAIL" circuit.

with the headlights only turned on, two relay's turn on. the "H.I.D HEAD LAMP" one, standing in front of the car its on the left most side of the engine bay fuse box. and the "H.I.D HEAD LAMP / HEAD LAMP" relay on the bottom right most side. the one on the left most side does the headlights only. the one on the bottom right turns on with the headlights but supplies power to the high beams only. but it doesn't turn them on and off when the high beams are flashed, it must just supply power to the high beam switch which turns the lamps on and off.

the two high beam fuses are, from the left, the 3rd (fuse #42 in you pic dave) and 4th (fuse #41 in your pic dave) ones in labeled HEAD L LH and HEAD L RH. if you pull the 3rd one along out and the bottom right relay looses its coil feed.

i'm trying to get my head around it

Edited April 13, 2009 by QWK32

[QWK32]

looking at your diagram dave it looks like the relay i talk about, "H.I.D HEAD LAMP / HEAD LAMP" relay on the bottom right most side of the engine bay fuse box, labelled "Headlamp relay (Auto light)" on the diagram, only gives the high beam globes the +ve feed, the -ve feed appears to come from the light switch/stalk itself.

its making sense now lol

Edited April 13, 2009 by QWK32