886 Backup light mod

Will the Streetglow H886 White 50W Xenon White Bulb work?

It looks like it should be really bright. Sounds like cutting off the base is easy enough with a Dremel tool.

 

Will the Streetglow H886 White 50W Xenon White Bulb work?

It looks like it should be really bright. Sounds like cutting off the base is easy enough with a Dremel tool.

 

In reality it could be made to work, you may have some unforeseen consiquences though so tread lightly.

 

They should work fine, I see no reason why they wouldn't.

 

subd

 

100 watts for the pair. That's a LOT of power to be drawing from a circuit that was designed for a pair of 18w lamps.

I wouldn't go over the 38w of the 893, 894, 896 lamps.
Even that's a lot, but apparently it's been working.

 

I read through the whole thread (and others) and the general consensus is the 886 (50w) has been successfully installed for months, even years with no documented issues. So, statistically it is little-to-no risk, and physically/electronically possible to install the 886 bulb.

 

sub'd

 

This is merely speculation as to why our trucks dont combust instantly when using a higher wattage bulb. Since they are being used in this instance as a reverse light, which is commonly being used to back out of driveways and grocery spots, keeps the activation time short. Now I'm no electrician, but having a bulb on with a greater draw active for 5 to 30 seconds or so might be alright in these instances. Though, it could be a potential time bomb waiting to go of so to speak. Ill probably end up doing the 38w setup myself because bright is good, but bright from a fire is bad heh.

-J

 

I did the 38w conversion using 894s and it's plenty bright for me.

 

Same here worked out great, plenty of light out the side of the lens as well.

 

I did 862 today. Led is in pass side 862 in drivers side

 

At least the front part of the circiut is designed to handle more than the 36W/12V = 3A, as it also feeds the reverse pin on the trailer socket for anyone with the 7wire socket. Combined with the short duration, I'm comfortable with doubling my wattage as I'm not towing anything with backup lights. I did pick the 894s for this reason though, still only 6.3A for both, as overloading circuits is a very bad idea in general. Guys who tow trailers with additional backup lights may want to steer clear of this mod for this reason.

 

Went with 894 (37 watts). Apparent luminosity in daytime is 2X; at night it's 3X.

I took a look at my OEM fog lights. They are 45 watt 9145 bulbs and the wiring appears to be the same gauge as for the reverse lights.

 

Anyone feeling brave for $3?

I looked up 50w 12v halogens on my favorite lighting website (1000bulbs.com) and found a couple results, even more scattered around the interwebz.

Maybe you can skip the snipping and just order
G6.35 / GY6.35 base bulbs

if you google either of those + "reverse lights" you'll find some other automotive forum results, all the similar concerns addressed here.


It seems like the Sylvania bulbs have a lumen output of over 1200, tough to beat for cheap but you can find ones with output around there for 99 cents - 2 bucks a bulb around the web. Even home depot has some, which the guy in http://www.hyundai-forums.com/181-nf-2006-2010-sonata/93871-50w-halogen-reverse-lights-4.html used.


He was able to get the prongs to just fit in but I've never looked at our plug. Dunno if a male spade connector could be fitted on and soldered. I'm interested in this mod but I'd rather get 6 bulbs for the price of 1 bulb at the local auto store and figure out how to get them to fit in versus breaking a bunch of bulbs in the process at 7 bucks a pop.



950 lumens, 99 cents.

Other discussions

http://www.lxforums.com/board/f74/halogen-bulb-cvs-drug-store-55233/

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generation-maxima-2000-2003/369482-h3-reverse-mod.html

Shoot, there are even some 35w offerings for about a buck a pop at about 600 lumens, compared to the 264 of 921 Sylvanias.

 

Something similar is what I hinted at several pages back but it didn't work well. For starters the leads don't fit quite as well as you'd like. Not a huge issue as that's something that can be addressed. The real problem I had was that the bulbs burnt out rather quickly. While I used every precaution to not make contact with my bare skin to the glass I also bought them from DealExtreme so maybe that was the problem? I also had to wait about a month for them to ship and then after they burnt out the customer service was non-existent. I would be interested in an option that involves walking down to Home Depot and plunking down a couple of dollars though if it works.

 

Just a heads-up, I would advise against ordering from these guys (lightexports.com) and my apologies if any of you already did (based on my recommendation). Just pay the extra few bucks and get bulbs from a more reputable source or local store.

Reasons being: they charged my card instantly, which is fine and I got an confirmation email.

But, there has been no shipping status update, my order still hasn't been processed, their Toll-Free # goes to voicemail immediately, they haven't responded to my email/contact us inquiries.

I made the mistake of checking their BBB profile....GAWD 20 complaints in the last 12 months!!!
These guys do not operate a good business, and I would not recommend ordering from them.

This is not reassuring at all! Oh well, at least it was only $7.

 

45 watts is 3.75 amps.
That is pretty low, to the point that wiring harness durability concerns outweigh the use of the "minimum required" wire gauge.

The problem comes in when two are stacked together and coupled to the backup light switch.
Even if the fuse doesn't blow, and even if the wiring doesn't melt, the added load is causing increased arcing in the switch.

Now, as mentioned, the head end must be designed to handle a double load for trailer towing, but that is not typically a long-term condition, particularly for a mid-sized pickup.

Like I said, I'd be totally comfortable with the 38w lamps, but I wouldn't go any higher.
38w keeps your load pretty close to double the original, so it's more like towing full time. Moving up to the bigger lamps is pushing it. A lot of guys have been doing it for months, but I'd be interested in tearing open a couple of switches and checking out the contacts and comparing stock vs 886 after, say 2 years of normal use.
When contacts arc, they build carbon, and they also pit. When they fail, there's two ways it goes... they simply fail to make contact, or they weld shut and won't open.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how I'd go about making the connection tighter with this kind of bulb - people have mentioned just quickly soldering a bit on to each end, which is no big deal, but I can't imagine a flat 'blade' of solder on that tiny wire not popping off when pushing in to bulb holder.

Homedepot had some that I saw last night searching for '12v halogen' that was interesting. <$8 for an apparent 'twelve pack' according to description and somewhere else on the page, 30watt, 750lumen.

If it'd work it's less wattage and still ~3x brighter than stock

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25e...rd=12+volt+halogen&storeId=10051#.UPDYWGcZEms

Most of the non-auto bulbs I've found that seem to have potential have 2x or more the lifetime expectancy.

 

How did you guys get the bulb to stay? It's seems a bit loose and can easily fall out of the socket.