My 306 lights were fitted with 100 watt bulbs when I bought it second hand and used to provide adequate lighting. Since both of these have now blown (on seperate occasions) I had to replace them with standard 60/55w bulbs. I do a lot of driving in the dark (5am starts at work!) and find these dreadfully underpowered. I cant seem to find any 100w bulbs anymore but have come across a set of 130/90w bulbs off ebay. Will the standard wiring cope with this extra load? if I do have to upgrade the wiring is it just a case of ripping out the existing wires and replacing with thicker gauge?
Thanks for your help.
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were the 100W bulbs standard for the 306? you may be just used to the brighter version and still adjusting to using bog standard 55w but in my opinion, if you want to do this on the cheap, keep the 55\'s and just bung your high beams on when you need them! alternatively ripping out and replacing with thicker gauge is kind of a big job if your lazy like i! better to get a second opinion too!
good luck!
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No the wiring is not up to it, nor will the reflector stand the extra heat, they soon start to yellow.
Buy some Phillips ulta 60/55 or if you really want there are plenty of auto motive independant shops that stock 100/80. Regards Peter
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The 100w were\'nt standard and it seemed to work fine with them, no smells or melted wires. My local motor factors says they have 100w but are only for use on trucks and won\'t sell them me. The 60/55 seem too dim, dangerously so, I tend to drive with my front fogs on along empty country roads, I have considered wiring my fogs up to the main beam since people can get pretty annoyed when people coming the other way have their fogs on...
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I would recommend Osram Silverstars, you can get them on ebay too.
They are the standard wattage, but have a smaller filament that burns brighter, larger high wattage filaments have too much material outside the optimal lightsource position and have a lower surface area to emit the light, they can also cause a voltage drop in inadequte qiring that more than negates any perceived benefits.
In short, higher watts = bigger filament. less winding, = less accurate beam pattern. & voltage drop.
A drop of 1volt at the bulb won\'t just decrease the brighness proportionately, the brightness drops exponentially with the inverse square law.
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ALWAYS REMEMBER:
WATTAGE is a measure of how much electricity a bulb consumes, NOT THE LIGHT OUTPUT!
How much of that extra wattage is heat inside the lamp and not light on the road?
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Agreed re. Osram Silverstars. You can get them mail order from Startled Rabbit 0845 226 0389. They came top in Auto Express test under lab conditions (have a dig through their test archive to compare results - some \'premium\' bulbs performed dismally). They give a good beam, definetly better than oe in a Sprinter van. Also, you may be surprised how much the beam is compromised by even a thin coating of traffic film on the front...
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For the record any bulb over 60/55w is illegal for road use. Look for good quality bulbs (there have been some recent comparisons in car mags) and consider fitting relays into the system. Check also the contacts between the bulbs and wiring harness for corrosion. Check also the fuse contacts for corrosion. Have the headlight aiming checked also but only after the new bulbs are in.
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One too many and you might turn bertj....
as they used to say....
Anyway, let us know what you decide and how you get on.
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My 306 lights were fitted with 100 watt bulbs when I bought it second hand and used to provide adequate lighting. Since both of these have now blown (on seperate occasions) I cant seem to find any 100w bulbs anymore
Have a look at :
www.powerbulbs.com/rallye.htm
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In my ZX it has twin h1 bulbs I put osram silverstar in my lo beams lovely good improvement in light output then I put 100w bulbs (£5 each from a motor factor) in high beams. I\'m well aware 100w are illegal for road use.
In the Cit ZX and probably the 306 the lighting runs directly off the column switch and this can lead to a voltage drop at the bulb so even with perfectly legal bulbs in you may be getting less light due to less voltage. The solution is to \'relay\' the lights using the original wiring to control the relays so the bulbs get a full 12V feed. I\'m thinking about doing this on my ZX when weather gets better.
Check the voltage at the bulb to see what kind of voltage drop you\'re getting-it may not be much at all, in which case relaying would make no difference.
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Halfords sell 55/100w or 80/100w or 80/130w H4 bulbs no probs.I have 130/80w\'s on my 106 diesel.They have been on there for at leist three years,without problems,those Xenon bulbe work well too.Big improvement over 55/60w\'s.
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Thanks for all your feedback guys, seeing as Guzzi Steve has'nt had any problems in his 106 I think I'll take the plunge and fit my 130/90w
a few comments though:
>Sooty "ALWAYS REMEMBER:
>WATTAGE is a measure of how much electricity a bulb consumes, >NOT THE LIGHT OUTPUT!
>How much of that extra wattage is heat inside the lamp and not >light on the road?"
Ok then, I'm no electrician but how come when I take say 60w household bulb and replace it with a 100w the room is a lot brighter?
>Doc "Have a look at :
>www.powerbulbs.com/rallye.htm"
£26 for a set of bulbs? can't beleive people pay that much.
>Guru Meditation - will be checking that one out, could be interesting...
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I think Sooty Tailpipes was just trying to explain that not all the wattage is transfered to light, an awfull lot is transfered to heat output so is wasted! Which in turn will make your lenses and reflectors a nice yellow colour.
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Light is measured in lumens, never watts, a watt is the joules per second of energy.
WATTS = VOLTS x AMPS
Why do you think a 20w energy saving bulb is equivalent to a 100w tungsten incandescent?
Also, make sure you don't confuse colour temperature with brightness, people often say a whiter light is brighter, even though it may be producing less light.
A 100w household bulb does produce more light than a 60w, however you need to consider this...
There is an optimum wattage for any given physical size of filament, for a typical standard H1 bulb, this is around 55-60w. A bulb in a car provides a lightsource to an optical assemby, be that either a reflector of lens or combination of both, that's completely different to a houshold bulb in a lamp. Try putting a 500w flooflight bulb in an old car headlight and you'll see it's useless.
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Osram Silverstar +50% or Philips Vision Plus +50%
greatbulb for its brightness, no wiring mod required,
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Great, another car with overbright illegal headlights on the road to blind me at night...
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130/90's I hope your reflectors melt.
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I used to think the same as you but now my attitude is if you can't beat 'em join 'em...
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Just get the top quality bulbs as mentioned above - more lumens for your watt should solve your problem without any nasty side-effects
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