[constipated]

pip & baradeur 100%

I think the future will be in LED lighting. Almost indestructible, very low voltage & power requirements, selectable light output K. I have them at home in our standard lamps for room lighting, they use a whole 5 watts, I have more on order. I forecast within 2 years there will be an effective automotive equivalent.

In fact that is slightly incorrect. As you know LEDs have been around for ages as tail lights. We have all seen how prone they are to failing in the old spoiler stop lights.

Luckily today's LEDs are a generation past that and can be expected to last much longer. LEDs are far from indestructible. In fact, the worst enemy for them is heat. On of the major reasons holding them back from incorporation in headlights is that to produce the light output needed, they generate a great deal of heat and unless you can dissipate that effectively, they will cook themselves and self destruct.

In fact I had read that some Audi models and the highest spec Prius may have them as headlights, if not here, overseas.

[Phil №❶]

pip & baradeur 100%

I think the future will be in LED lighting. Almost indestructible, very low voltage & power requirements, selectable light output K. I have them at home in our standard lamps for room lighting, they use a whole 5 watts, I have more on order. I forecast within 2 years there will be an effective automotive equivalent.

In fact that is slightly incorrect. As you know LEDs have been around for ages as tail lights. We have all seen how prone they are to failing in the old spoiler stop lights.

Luckily today's LEDs are a generation past that and can be expected to last much longer. LEDs are far from indestructible. In fact, the worst enemy for them is heat. On of the major reasons holding them back from incorporation in headlights is that to produce the light output needed, they generate a great deal of heat and unless you can dissipate that effectively, they will cook themselves and self destruct.

In fact I had read that some Audi models and the highest spec Prius may have them as headlights, if not here, overseas.

Only slightly incorrect, a bit like being half pregnant 

When I said indestructible, I meant physically, as in no fine filament to burn out. As they are a semiconductor, of course they are sensitive to heat & voltage spikes.

They do fail, traffic lights are nearly all led now and I see plenty with partial lightng, obviously some work to be done there.

I agree, heat is a big killer, but with correct heatsinking, high outputs are possible. There are numerous councils using LED's for streetlighting and saving considerable $$ as a result.

Your reference to Audi & Toyota proves that there will shortly be an automotive application, maybe a little sooner that I thought, they must have the heat dissipation problem sorted. 

[rustynutz]

Well, I had one of my Osram Night Breaker Plus H7 globes blow yesterday.... 

The other one blew last night so looks like that's my job for today. 

Hopefully these ones will last just as long......

[Ultralights]

Dammit crappy poo bum.    left side headlight blew this morning!   

[rustynutz]

Low beam I assume? 

[rustynutz]

Good news with the new model i30.....

From my observations today I reckon globes will be able to be changed without removing the headlight assembly....

[constipated]

Dammit crappy poo bum.    left side headlight blew this morning!   

Crappy poo indeed. How long has it lasted. Less than a year?

[Ultralights]

yep, low beam, lasted 37,000km, or 9 months.   i drove from the ski fields, back to syd at night, a while at sub zero temps, but it didnt come on this mornings commute.  not sure if it failed when i turned the lights off when arriving home, or as i turned them on.  both on and off, the engine was running,  so not sure if it was a voltage spike.

[Dazzler]

Good news with the new model i30.....

From my observations today I reckon globes will be able to be changed without removing the headlight assembly....

Nice bit of observation Rusty 

[rustynutz]

Good news with the new model i30.....

From my observations today I reckon globes will be able to be changed without removing the headlight assembly....

Nice bit of observation Rusty 

Ta Daz, hope I'm right....

[DenisPC9]

i30 Diesel purchased Dec09 popped a LB bulb the other day.

How the bloody hell do you change it?  Them, I'll replace both of them @ the same time.

The Manual states

1.   Open the bonnet - so far so good
2.   Remove the headlight assembly by loosening the headlight installation bolts (3EA) - Que? - I'll have a look at that in the morning to find these 3EA bolts.  That should be real fun.

I think I will set aside a day and half a bottle of Gin, ditto Tonic water, for this exercise.

[DenisPC9]

I worked it out folks, I started unbolting things until a piston fell out the bottom so I reckon I had to take a more structured approach.

It wasn't that big a deal, the headlight assembly was a bit fiddly to take out but streets in front of other vehicles I have worked on.

Perhaps I should have taken an Obstetrician's approach and done it all through the exhaust pipe 

[rustynutz]

Well done! 

Did the gin & tonic help? 

[Surferdude]

I must admit I haven't paid a lot of attention to this thread in the past but I've been driving my wife's Corolla a fair bit in the last couple of weeks and some of it at night. It's a 2005 model and hasn't yet had a bulb blow.
My i30 is coming up to 3 years old in November and has done a fair bit of night driving back from Brisbane after work and is yet to blow a bulb.
Sure I know all 4 headlight bulbs will blow within a day of my posting this but is it a diesl only phenomenon? I remember some discussion about spikes when starting. Does anyone with petrol model have problems?

[Doggie 1]

I must admit I haven't paid a lot of attention to this thread in the past but I've been driving my wife's Corolla a fair bit in the last couple of weeks and some of it at night. It's a 2005 model and hasn't yet had a bulb blow.
My i30 is coming up to 3 years old in November and has done a fair bit of night driving back from Brisbane after work and is yet to blow a bulb.
Sure I know all 4 headlight bulbs will blow within a day of my posting this but is it a diesl only phenomenon? I remember some discussion about spikes when starting. Does anyone with petrol model have problems?

As stated before, I haven't had one blow in over three years.
My RHS brake light globe blew very recently which is the first defect my car has had (other than the driver, that is.. )

[constipated]

Yes but so many diesel owners have had problems there must be an inherent design flaw that manifests in some cars but not in others. Whether Hyundai has figured out the exact cause themselves I'm not sure. Or else the fix is too troublesome or expensive for them to fix it properly.

[rustynutz]

Just a reminder that some of the headlight globes that are blowing are aftermarket globes. These do have a shorter life than the standard issue globes.
I got, if my memory serves me correctly, 14 months and 15 months respectively out of the Osram Nightbreaker low beams. The High beams are yet to pop..... 

Probably jinxed myself in saying that now....

[constipated]

Just a reminder that some of the headlight globes that are blowing are aftermarket globes. These do have a shorter life than the standard issue globes.

But I got well over 3 years with my Mazda 6 and Osram Nightbreakers. Were still working when I sold the car.

[rustynutz]

You must have been lucky then, Con.....either that or you didn't use your headlights.......

Click the linky thingy for the specs on the Night Breaker Plus Globes:



As you'll see the lifespan is pretty short....

[SteenP]

I was running Osram Nightbreaker Plus on my CRDI and got somewhere between 6000 and 8000 km's from them. It's because of the DRL, the caralso runs with a high voltage(14.2 v) on the bulbs that does't exectly extend their lives

[baroudeur]

I was running Osram Nightbreaker Plus on my CRDI and got somewhere between 6000 and 8000 km's from them. It's because of the DRL, the caralso runs with a high voltage(14.2 v) on the bulbs that does't exectly extend their lives

That is standard alternator output voltage otherwise the battery would not get charged.

All car electrics are designed to operate at +14v usually 14.5 / 14.7 volts.

'Super'  bulbs achieve 'extra' output at the expense of a shorter life....nothing is free in this world!

[AUTOSPARK]

Hi Guys, I was drawn to this forum looking for an answer as my son owns a 2007 i30 diesel which he bought a few months ago off his friend who bought it new and for the second time he has called me to ask me to have a look at his headlights again! I got very interested in this complaint and actually read all that has been happening to all of you people who own one of these cars. The interesting bit is that I am an Auto Electrician and have run my own business for the last 28 years. As my son is off to the UK from Wednesday I will have the car here to test and play with. I have given the thought of Back EMF a lot of priority as there are many things in a car that can cause these "spikes". One of which is the Air conditioning Compressor Clutch Coil! Any way I will not reveal too much yet as if I find the fault I will sell the repair Ideas to Hyundai. I do not believe it has anything to do with Bulb life span. There has to be something that causes them to blow so prematurely. I have been doing Auto Electrics since 1971 and have never come across this problem on any other brand of car. I will keep you posted withy my findings "If any"!

[Doggie 1]

Welcome to the forum and good luck.
We will watch with interest.

[The Gonz]

Welcome and good luck. You could try incorporating an inductor in series with the supply to the lamps to dampen the transient. It may be a band-aid solution long enough to trace the transient without blowing more bulbs - or it could be a fix.

[constipated]

All us CRDI owners wait with bated breath.

I'm good on theory but short on real experience with modern auto electrics but if my CRDi had the problem I'd have been where you are now - seeking answers - but fortunately mine has had no problem. Because only some have a problem leads me to think that it's not a design flaw directly but rather something to do with manufacturing or assembly tolerances. Poor battery connection to chassis (earthing) has been implicated.

Pleased to see someone with the requisite knowledge sus it out... good luck.

[Dazzler]

Welcome AUTOSPARK, I would be checking the earthing first 

[AUTOSPARK]

I had a couple of hours with my son's i30 diesel today. I have replaced both low beam bulbs I just fitted Narva +30% H7 bulbs nothing expensive of fancy. I believe that if these bulbs last for years on other cars they should do the same on an i30 without problems. What I did notice that I did not like on this car is that the Earth cable from Battery (Negative) is just a strap[ to the Body and then there is another earth strap from the body to the engine mount bracket on driver's side of engine. I added an extra earth cable of decent size from Negative battery terminal to the gearbox side of the top starter motor mounting bolt. The rest of the earth straps I let as found. At the headlight assembly plugs  I joined the two black wires together and added to them another 5mm wire which I earthed on one of the two panel bolts behind the headlight just below fuse box. I also  fitted a 3 amp blocking diode between the Low beam wire and the earth in reverse. This should stop any spiking coming this way to the Low beam circuit. With the heavier engine earth cable that I added one can notice a significant difference in the speed the starter spins the engine over when cold. All we can do now is wait and see what happens with regular use. I can only try and improve things at the moment. I did ask my son if he was using the Air conditioning when the bulbs blew and he said NO. So that rules out spiking from A/C clutch coil. We shall wait and see.

[Dazzler]

Thanks AUTOSPARK,  sounds good 

I added an extra earth cable of decent size from Negative battery terminal to the gearbox side of the top starter motor mounting bolt...

.. At the headlight assembly plugs  I joined the two black wires together and added to them another 5mm wire which I earthed on one of the two panel bolts behind the headlight just below fuse box. I also  fitted a 3 amp blocking diode between the Low beam wire and the earth in reverse...

..We shall wait and see.

Not meaning to be critical but "wait and see" could be a long time and because the problem appears to be intermittent and quite unpredictable I'm worried that the empirical results might be very inconclusive. Having said that, if this particular car has no more episodes then something will have been proved.

The extra herbs to the starter motor is interesting, even if it has no bearing on the problem sought.

A lot of us are watching with great interest.

Can you possibly offer some resistance measurements from the car as it is? I'd like to compare my car to yours after the mods you made although I appreciate that the very low resistances we are talking about will render comparisons difficult without calibrated equipment.