Overwattage bulbs 80/100 vs standard 55/60.... - Saab NG900 & OG9-3 Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
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Overwattage bulbs 80/100 vs standard 55/60....
Posted by REM in Seattle (more from REM in Seattle) on Mon, 02 Oct 2000 17:18:07
In Reply to: Re: Just plain white is best... And you can do this, Nelson, Mon, 02 Oct 2000 16:34:21
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I would not try overwattage bulbs in my 1998 900SET. The reason is that I had a 1984 900T equiped with the european E-code headlights. I decided to use overwattage bulbs (80/100). The wires were really large (18 GA)and the relays and fuses could handle the extra wattage so why not? The extra light was great and by aiming the headlights correctly, hardly anyone ever flashed me. On a trip across Arizona, with the high beams on I could see the green reflection of the mile marker 1 mile ahead. My Saab must have looked like a low flying UFO to those jack rabbits and coyotes.
After running the high wattage bulbs continously for about 6 months (I used them as DRLs also), I decided to have a good look at the headlight assemblies. I found that the connector H4 headlight bulb connector had melted and had to be chipped off the bulb. While replaceing the connector I found that the insulation on the wiring near the connector was brittle from the heat so I had to splice about 12" of wire onto the wiring harness along with the new connectors. When I opened the headlight assemblies, I found the headlight reflectors were losing the silver coating and that the surrounding gray plastic housing was starting to turn coffee brown from the heat.
I replaced the headlights ($350) with new european E-code assemblies and when back to using the regular 55/60 watt bulbs. My 1998 900SET has smaller diameter wire to the headlights and the headlight housings are smaller as well. I am sure that the story would be worse than before. My answer has been to throw away my DOT headlights and replace them with european E-code headlights from Stern Lighting. It cost a bit over $400 USD but is well worth the extra light. Going from the DOT headlights to the E-code gives a gain similar to the overwattage bulbs, but without the headaches.
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