[steinrk]

Replaced the bulbs with Osram NB Plus bulbs 2 months ago. Today the right headlight died  .

This gives me a lifespan of approximately 85 hours !!!!   

I'm not accepting this low quality. Tomorrow I'll go back to the shop and demand them to give me a new bulb.

Anyone had the same experience? I hope I just have had one bad bulb and that they last a bit longer... 

[Dazzler]

Hi Steinrk ..

I had a similar experience with a set of Philips + globes and fortunately I got replacements at no charge but, be aware most of these + globes do have a reduced (maybe 400 hour) lifespan by their nature...  

EDIT: They said by the look of the melted filament that my electrical system had generated a surge but gave me the benefit of the doubt..

[Shambles]

^--- yep, those nightbreakers are really poor on lifespan.

Got thru two sets before I reverted to the stock issue. Don't know why that was. I didn't event get 400 hours out of mine. Poor show by Osram

[druggist]

I noticed that my high beams weren't working about a month after buying my diesel. The service manager let slip that Hyundai were having problems with a surge in diesel models and that probably the globes were blown. They would probably need to replace the alternator under warranty.
Subsequently the service department discovered that my earth wire wasn't connected properly, and this fix has been good for 3 months.
Of course they wouldn't replace my alternator first up.

[Paolo5]

Hi Druggist,
Was it the earth cable to the battery that was loose? If not, do you know which earth wire wasn't connected properly?

Cheers,
Paolo5

[druggist]

Not sure, that is all the service manager said. All other lights were running fine and I hadn't picked it up as low beam also comes on if you flash your lights, and I had been driving in daylight only.

[steinrk]

Went to the shop and complained. After a bit discussion they gave me a new bulb 

They claimed that the voltage on the bulbs on new cars today was higher than old cars and that the new bulbs where not specified for this.

Has anyone measured the voltage on the bulbs on the i30??

Does anyone know the voltage spec on the Osram NB bulbs??

Also did a stop at the seller of the car. They said that they were aware that these high intensity bulbs had a short lifespan. The only suggestion they had was to change back to the original bulbs.

Well the broken bulb is replaced. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts this time.

[steinrk]

The story continues...

Two more weeks, and the second bulb - now the left one - stopped working  :o

Again back to the shop where the bulb was bought, and again they where very kind. This time I got a new Osram NB bulb to replace the broken one but also two new GEC bulbs - just in case.

The guy I spoke to this time (not the same guy as last) again said that they have had a lot of replacements of the old Osram NB bulbs but very few with the Osram NB Plus bulbs.

When I got back home and replaced the bulb I decided to check the voltage on the bulb myself (since no one has answered my question regarding this).

To my surprise it is as high as 14.4V !!!!! 

The H1/H7 bulbs are produce accordingly to  ECE Regulation 37 and this specifies that the Test Voltage (Test voltage: voltage, at the filament lamp terminals for which the electrical and photometric characteristics of the filament lamp are intended and are to be tested.) should be 13.2V !!!!!

That means that the voltage on the bulb is 1.2V to high (~10%).

This could of course explain why the break that quickly.

So again I'm very interested if any other i30 user out there could please check their voltage on the bulb terminals.

Is it only my car or is 14.4V the voltage on all i30???   

The voltage is measured directly on the bulb terminal (loosen the lamp, push it half way out, take of the cover at the back of the lamp and measure at the connector) while the engine is running.
 

[Dazzler]

We don't have a CRDi any more  I guess quite a few people don't have a voltage tester that is why no one answered before

I think it may be a common issue with the CRDi though as most with globe blowing issues have been CRDi owners.. :-\

[Shambles]

Both pairs of my Oz NBs blew quite quickly (back on original globes now)

I should get time Saturday so I'll measure the running voltage and post back

[rustynutz]

If I can find my multimeter I'll check mine......Big if at this stage though....

[steinrk]

Thanks guys, I'm waiting in anticipation of your measuring results.

One thing that confuses me is how it can be possible to measure 14.4V on the bulb and 13.8V (I checked this also) on the battery...

Is there a DC/DC converter somewhere that boost the voltage to the bulbs or is there a voltage drop in the cable between the generator and the battery and not to the bulb...

Is anyone aware of a test point close to the generator so that we can check the voltage out of that?

[Shambles]

I have a bluetooth OBDII dongle which connects to my droid - I'm sure it can show the output voltage from the alternator, as measured by the sensor. I'll have a look when I get the chance...

[rustynutz]

Off topic for a sec.....

Here you go, Steve, a cure for your phobia......

[2i30s]

 

[2i30s]

I have a bluetooth OBDII dongle which connects to my droid - I'm sure it can show the output voltage from the alternator, as measured by the sensor. I'll have a look when I get the chance...

my scangauge II has the voltage function in it!    [i have a 2.0 petrol]  a member with a crdi using a scangauge could check the voltage with their scangauge II. 

[Shambles]

My droid app (Torque) doesn't show this info

Then again, what did I expect from free software

[2i30s]

like the old saying,the best things are sometimes free.  well, not this time. 

[druggist]

I upgraded to Osram Night Breaker Plus H1 & H7 bulbs in early February. One of the H7 burnt out today. I've checked the voltage at the bulb, bang on 12.0V. I have sent a question through to www.powerbulbs.com where I bought them from and will post their reply.

[Dazzler]

Hope they come to the party.. Hadn't seen that site before..

[steinrk]

...no one with a CRDi that have checked their voltage yet....     

[druggist]

See my previous reply, I measured 12V at headlight.

I am still blowing bulbs, five in 5 months. Had 15000km service yesterday and dealer, Barry Smith at Pennant Hills, couldn't care less. Checked battery and leads but wouldn't even follow up with Hyundai Australia. When I jumped up and down was advised that they might call Hyundai technical.

Spoke to Customer Care Assistant Manager at Hyundai this afternoon. Yes there seems to be a problem with headlights. They will replace with a longer life, Osram bulb, but unfortunately not a brighter bulb. Bring it in again, or maybe take it to another dealer, they suggest.

Not happy 

[rustynutz]

Touch wood, my Night Breaker Plus H7 & H1 globes haven't missed a beat....They've been in since February too....

[pettardis]

HI

I too am having problems with blown globes.  In just under three years parking or head lights have been replaced 12 times.  I am not happy with Hyundai's responses.  "There is a problem with the wrong voltage/wattage globes the i30s came out with"  "Many i30s are having issues with globes.  Hyundai recommends putting in long life globes at your cost"  Last time I took it in they said they checked the alternator and all was fine because that was where the likely 'spiking' of voltage would come from to blow bulbs.  Is this correct? 

Best effort was when my i30  diesel went in 2 weeks ago to get some warranty work done on the indicator switch (sporadically turning off lights on dash) and driver door's locking mechanism.  I went in with a parking and a head light blown on opp sides of car.  Came out with 3 globes gone - lucky I checked before I left.  They changed them and in process of changing them, the mechanic said the fourth globe went.  Two weeks later, car back in because locking mechanism still going haywire, and two more globes blow whilst they are investigating.  Arghhhhhhhh!  And they continue to say there is nothing wrong with the car.  Is it because I am female and therefore considered not knowledgeable or do they treat all of us this way??? 

[jabber]

hi Pettardis & welcome to the club!

sorry to hear about your dilemmas with your lights.  i'm sure someone from the club will be able to shed some light into your problems (my apologies for the pun) 

[Dazzler]

Hi Pettardis..

Sorry to hear of all your trouble ... Is it a Diesel? Globes blowing seems to be more prevalent with the diesel and I suspect voltage spikes (most likely from the alternator)...

So hard to prove, this is just one thread about it. Generally the i30 is one of the most reliable cars on the road but the blown globes are one of the more common complaints... (Although some members even with the diesel model have gone more than 3 years with the same globes.. go figure  )

[steinrk]

Since last posting I have had some communication with my garage and from what I understand they have taken it further with the Hyundai main office. What they say is that changing the bulbs is something they do on every car on every 20000km service. This will of course "hide" a lot of the problems. Here in Norway it's mandatory to use the lights all day long so the bulbs are burning out quickly. They only use Long Life bulbs.

They also told me that there is some kind of "solution" to the problem on the new i40. But they didn't know any thing more about what this was.

Their proposal was to put in a resistance wire to take down the voltage to the bulb.

I have not decided if I want to do this as it of course will also reduce the emitted light...

I'll have to decide soon as the car is going in for it's first 20000km service in just a few weeks.

I think I'll check the voltage one more time. If it's still measures 14.4V I think I'll have to go for that solution.

[Dazzler]

That's a difficult one Steinrk the i30's lights aren't that bright to start with 

[druggist]

Hyundai Australia lead my dealer through some steps and they claim to have found cause of voltage surge.

As explained to me:
There was a wire behind instrument cluster that was causing a voltage drop, at startup, hence alternator increased output causing surge that burnt out headlight.

My local dealer won't give me further information and so I am chasing Hyundai Australia for an explanation.

[steinrk]

Hyundai Australia lead my dealer through some steps and they claim to have found cause of voltage surge.

As explained to me:
There was a wire behind instrument cluster that was causing a voltage drop, at startup, hence alternator increased output causing surge that burnt out headlight.

My local dealer won't give me further information and so I am chasing Hyundai Australia for an explanation.

That is very interesting info. Pleas follow it up. The more info I get before the I'm bringing the car in for service the better.