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new bulb or lense

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by dustinclm, Nov 1, 2010.

  1. Nov 1, 2010 at 5:50 PM
    #1
    dustinclm

    dustinclm [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Noticed tonight that when my lights are on while driving at night they are hardly noticable. the lenses have some haze but not much, i can still see the light bulb but its not perfectly clear. i have never changed the headlights and its a 2001 so should i change the bulbs or try and clean the lenses?
     
  2. Nov 1, 2010 at 6:11 PM
    #2
    dustinclm

    dustinclm [OP] Well-Known Member

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    i used the turtle wax less than a year ago, the lights have gotten more and more dim and now its time to do something because i can hardly tell when i have them on
    wouldnt they dim over time? the truck has daytime lights so they are constantly on and like i said, i think they are just dimming from being old because they are no brighter than the light that is emitted from the truck just being on. ALSO does anyone know how to make the lights not be on constantly?
     
  3. Nov 1, 2010 at 6:25 PM
    #3
    Leadgolem

    Leadgolem Well-Known Member

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    First I'd replace the bulb with piaa's intense white h4. http://www.piaa.com/Bulbs/Bulbs-H4.html

    Then I'd polish the lenses. They have got to have some breakdown of the plastic by now. http://www.allpar.com/fix/headlights.html

    Since you have dtrl, I'd probably do something like this too.
     
  4. Nov 1, 2010 at 6:36 PM
    #4
    dustinclm

    dustinclm [OP] Well-Known Member

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    yeah there is some breakdown but nothing to where it would be blocking my lights. i guess ill be replacing them this week.
     
  5. Nov 1, 2010 at 6:56 PM
    #5
    yosh2000

    yosh2000 Well-Known Member

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    i, and many others, would recommend you change the bulbs out w/ philips x-treme vision bulbs. all those colored bulbs will actually give less output (lumens). then, get a 3m multistep headlight cleaner from walmart. the 3m kit is superior to other headlight kits in that it comes w/ not only a drill attachment, but also multi grades of sandpaper adn a polishing compound to finish off the lights. it does an amazing job, i got rid of rock pits in my fogs w/ the kit in less than an hour!!
     
  6. Nov 1, 2010 at 7:41 PM
    #6
    Leadgolem

    Leadgolem Well-Known Member

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    Hey, those bulbs are pretty sweet. I think I'll get me a pair. :)
     
  7. Nov 27, 2010 at 3:49 AM
    #7
    Mod

    Mod Well-Known Member

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    Original headlights were a bit yellow after years, so I decided to get the 3M kit and polish them up a bit. A word to the wise. DO NOT,,I REPEAT,,DO NOT use a air powered die grinder with the cleaning kit. Use a elec drill.

    headlight_8c72c59f5c26238237afbfa0ee3ece697d11046d.jpg

    A air powered tool it waay to high speed for the sandpaper disks,,creates to much instant heat and smears the plastic dust that gets filed off right back onto the plastic. A new way to plastic weld,,if you will. the brown goober in the corner is what is left after a couple hrs of sanding, wiping, blowing off the disk, repeat, repeat, repeat. On my way this morning to the paint store to get some more disks because I still have some whirls and swirls left on the lense,,,Blahhh. It is probably so thin now that any pebbel will blast right thru it.
     
  8. Nov 27, 2010 at 12:02 PM
    #8
    Leadgolem

    Leadgolem Well-Known Member

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    Hmm, good to know. When your done polishing make sure to hit the lenses with a uv protective clear coat. Otherwise they will yellow again, and much faster without the factory uv coating.
     
  9. Nov 27, 2010 at 6:01 PM
    #9
    Mod

    Mod Well-Known Member

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    I put some stuff called Wolfgang sealant back on,,supposedly good stuff.

    The body shop man told me that the UV coating is what turns yellow,,so now thats off of there. he said that just a regular car wax would work fine also for a coating.

    They did turn out just fine, and much brighter.
     
  10. Nov 28, 2010 at 7:01 PM
    #10
    Leadgolem

    Leadgolem Well-Known Member

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    Plastic's photo decay. The plastic reacts with the UV light and breaks down. So a UV protective coating is SOP for any clear plastic being used outside. Being clear the uv rays penetrate much farther into the material and cause a much higher level of damage. Not really an issue with opaque plastics, as only the outer layer of the material is ever affected.

    Plastics can last for thousands of years in a landfill because they aren't exposed to the light. UV light is one of the few things that will actually break down plastics at all.
     

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