#1: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: MrMorris, Location: Over that hill.Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:21 pm ---- Heya guys, as title really.
Wondering what the 206 standard crystal headlight lens can cope with in term of bulb wattage?
My mate has bought a 206 and is turning it into a offroad style buggy, with Hela lamps, but wants to keep the standard lens too. He's got some cool ideas (and the pinks) and hopefully I'll get him to join here to start a progress thread. And maybe show some pics of his last project, which was an amphibious renault clio... that sunk on its 4th 'sail' down a river
Anyway yeah, obviously bulbs don't have to be legal because it wont be driven on road. So any max wattage please.
Thank you very much!
#2: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: Steve206, Location: UKPosted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:24 pm ---- It's more what the wiring can cope with before it melts.
#3: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: MrMorris, Location: Over that hill.Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:29 pm ---- Hmm he should know all this, don't why he's asking me to message on here. So it's more the wiring, right. I'll tell him see what he sort about that.
No idea on what the wiring can take? 100w be too high?
Thank you.
#4: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: Uz, Location: No Man's LandPosted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:33 pm ---- I had 100w HOD bulbs in my Crystals as mains and my god they were seriously bright. Only removed them as my dad wanted a set due to the areas he drives around in and his lights just not being enough.
#5: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: macca1411, Location: Westhoughton, LancashirePosted: Tue Apr 30, 2013 5:27 pm ---- Try mtec bulbs. 110 watt output and only draws 55w. Wiring should cope with it no problem since it's only the same current draw as standard bulbs.
If he's building a unique vehicle, he could consider building bespoke lights and use Cree bulbs.
#6: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: MrMorris, Location: Over that hill.Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 7:49 am ---- Cheers all for input.
And yeah macca1411 he mentioned something about Cree bulbs, I've no idea though
I'll tell him about the mtec bulbs, they seem pretty perfect really as he says he doesn't want to focus time and money on lighting. His time is more focused on the chassis rethink and suspension, he says.
He also said he will register on here this week and post his work so far, he is one of a kind I tell ya.
Cheers again lads!
#7: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: rus18, Location: isle of wightPosted: Thu May 02, 2013 2:34 pm ---- I put 100w bulbs in my crystals and they started smoking after a couple of minutes, they where cheap crap off eBay though lol
#8: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: MrMorris, Location: Over that hill.Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:21 pm ---- Yeah he said he tried 100w bulbs in his last car, an Jag X type. But that didnt go well. He's ordered, and so have I, some mtec bulbs, 55w draw and 100w output. Hopefully they will do the trick!
#9: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: HowlingMadMurdock, Location: Ashington, NorthumberlandPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:40 am ---- We had a discussion about this with a guy at work who's an electronics technician and former auto electrician. At the time I had the 106 and my mate had his 206. Michael told us both the same thing, a typical car's wiring for the headlights is designed for 110w in total (2 x 55w). The manufacturer uses wires that are capable of 55w to each bulb and due to manufacturing costs, profit, etc, they don't use anything that's over-engineered. Therefore if you almost double the power required you're going beyond the capabilities of the wiring.
At work we use various grades of wires for various jobs. For example a 7.0 2 strand will be fine for a 3v alarm trigger but not for a 9v smoke alarm. A 24.0 4 strand would be fine for 12v but not for 100v.
I'm no expert on car electrics but Michael has 100/180w bulbs in his little Fiat and to run them he had to replace all the wiring for higher grades. The only reason Michael went down that road was he lives right out in the sticks and in winter getting to his village is a nightmare so you can see why he did it. In the real world do we really need that much power in an urban area?
Michael hit the nail on the head when he told us straight that if we want more power we have 2 options. Upgrade the wiring or fit auxilliary lamps on a relay (I had 100w micro driving lamps on the 106).
The 3rd option is burn your wires out very quickly. Cheap bulbs from eBay? Some work, some don't. My own view is lights are like brakes, you rely on them to keep you alive so you can't put a price on quality. There are many bulb reviews online and yes you can get a marked improvement and still have 55w.
I run Halfords Super Blue Xenons in my car and they're good but expensive. But then I live in the sticks. In the 206 they're as good as the 106 with 100w lamps. Personally I wouldn't risk your wiring but if you REALLY want that much power take a long hard look at the info online before you fit anything above 55w. Otherwise you may find you're driving blind when you least want to
#10: Re: Highest wattage bulbs without melting Author: MrMorris, Location: Over that hill.Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 11:38 am ---- Good advice, thank you. And I agree with you 100%
He is going to have HELA Lamps on the front and roof of his project. But he also wanted a set of decent main bulbs.
My mate and I are hoping these MTEC bulbs are good, only cost £11.99 so not expecting them to last 2+ years like my current halfrauds bog standard bulbs, but at the same time I want more light, as the boggo standard halfrauds ones are very yellow and, crap. Plus these MTEC bulbs have some good reviews about, and do produce more light than the halfrauds top-wack bulbs. 1 review site I found only found the MTEC bulbs to be 2% brighter than the halfrauds bulbs, but 2% is 2%. More is better
Ill let everyone know with my own review of them when they arrive in post. Ill do pics too, for comparison.
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