Source | WeChat public account: Qingfeng Auto Shop
Editor | Small Motor
Many car owners are not satisfied with their car headlights, or the headlights have been used for a long time and need to be replaced. At this time, car headlight modifications are often needed. Of course, more importantly, out of consideration for safe driving at night, more and more car owners have joined the ranks of car headlight modifications. It is very common to modify LED headlights for cars. Of course, it also includes the modification of halogen headlights and xenon headlights. Today we will talk about the specific modification methods and precautions.
Car headlight classification
Car headlights mainly include halogen, xenon and LED. Mid- and low-end cars mainly use halogen headlights. Xenon headlights are common in some mid-to-high-end vehicles, while LED headlights are only used on a very small number of new vehicles.
led headlight
LED is the abbreviation of LightEmittingDiode, commonly known as light-emitting diodes. They often appear in light boxes, signboards, and indicators and backlights for various electrical appliances. They are also often used in car headlights, taillights, high-mounted brake lights, and daytime running lights. important components. Compared with xenon lamps and halogen lamps, LEDs have higher luminous efficiency and energy consumption is only 1/20 of halogen lamps. In addition, the cost of LED components has also been significantly reduced year by year, and the current cost and price are still increasing at an annual rate of more than 20%. decline.
Halogen headlights
Halogen lamps are actually a special type of incandescent lamps. The principle is that when current passes through a resistor, it will generate heat. When the temperature is high enough, it will emit blackbody radiation with a wavelength in the visible light band.
There are generally two types of halogen lamps: iodine tungsten lamps and bromine tungsten lamps. When an incandescent lamp is lit, although its filament temperature does not exceed the melting point and boiling point of tungsten, a small amount of tungsten will still volatilize at high temperatures. When the volatilized tungsten atoms encounter the cooler bulb shell, they will condense and precipitate. Over time, a blackened tungsten film will accumulate on the bulb shell. This is why the shell of ordinary incandescent lamps turns black after being used for a long time.
Xenon headlights
The full name of xenon headlight is HID (High Intensity Discharge Lamp) gas discharge lamp. It uses a matching electronic ballast to instantly increase the 12V voltage of the car battery to a trigger voltage of more than 23KV, ionizing the xenon in the xenon headlight to form an arc discharge and causing it to Stable light emission, providing a stable car headlight lighting system.
Compared with ordinary halogen bulbs, xenon bulbs have two significant advantages:
On the one hand, xenon bulbs have three times higher light intensity than ordinary halogen bulbs, but consume only two-thirds of the energy;
On the other hand, xenon bulbs use almost the same light color as daylight, creating better visual conditions for drivers. Xenon lamps make the illumination range wider and the illumination intensity greater, which greatly improves the safety and comfort of driving.
Car modified xenon lights are fatal
A set of xenon lamps consists of bulbs, stabilizers and matching wires. Nowadays, they are purchased in sets and can use the original car plug. However, the shape of the xenon headlight bulb is different from the original halogen bulb, and the focus point will also change.
Therefore, after replacing the xenon bulbs, the original lamp bowl cannot effectively focus the light, so the light usually appears in a scattered state. In this way, the effect after the xenon headlights are modified is minimal, but it is very dazzling when viewed outside the car. Not only does it not Although it has not achieved the desired effect, it has caused great safety hazards to driving at night. Most traffic accidents are caused by lights.
Car headlight modification steps
(1) After determining the model, it is best to turn off the vehicle, remove the car key, and wait for the engine to cool down completely before starting to replace the headlights.
(2) Open the engine hood and simply replace the big bulb. Generally, it is not necessary to remove the headlight assembly. The fixing methods of the headlights of different cars are slightly different. Generally speaking, there will be a dust cover at the rear of the headlight. Tighten it firmly. After opening, you can see the steel wire circlip of the headlight. You can take out the headlight by pinching it hard.
(3) After taking out the bulb, you can unplug the bulb from the power interface. Do it gently to avoid damaging the power interface.
(4) Take out the new light bulb from the product packaging box. Remember not to touch the glass part of the light bulb with your fingers to avoid accidentally touching the glass with your hands and affecting its service life. It is best to wear gloves when operating, and Install the light bulb into the power socket.
(5) Finally, fix the bulb on the steel wire circlip and screw on the sealing cover.
Personalized modification of car headlights:
In addition to improving the performance of the car's lighting system, most modifiers also have their own personalized needs. Many people will replace appearance kits, change colors, etc. for their models. However, these modifications are difficult to see in the dark, so some people will think of making personalized modifications to the lighting so that people can see the special features of the vehicle in the dark.
In addition to the angel eye and devil eye modifications that have become more popular in recent years, LED decorative lights are also very popular. LED lights have the characteristics of large amount of light, low power consumption, durability, etc., and most importantly, they are small in size, allowing great freedom in installation and display. Models such as Audi and Lexus use LED technology as the main light source of lighting (it is still a new technology and has not been popularized yet), and many models will use LED to make daytime running lights, which not only improves the safety of the vehicle but also Also very beautiful.
There are many options for the installation position of LED lighting to create different effects, which provides a lot of freedom for car owners who like to modify the appearance. For example, it can be installed on the front bumper or fog lamp as a daytime running light, or it can be installed on the bottom or top of the headlight to create an "eyeliner" decorative effect, and the styles are very diverse.
Common faults of modified lenses: fogging and water intrusion in car headlights
With the popularity of modified car lights, a problem that has attracted much attention has been increasingly mentioned by car enthusiasts, that is, headlights fogging up and water entering. Fogging inside the lampshade is mostly caused by large temperature differences, and is most likely to occur in winter and rainy seasons.
In this case, you don't have to worry too much. After the car lights are turned on for a period of time, the mist will be discharged out of the lights through the vent pipe along with the hot air. This will basically not damage the headlights and electrical circuits.
Water entering the headlight means that water accumulates in the headlight, and large water droplets adhere to the inner wall of the lampshade, which cannot dissipate on their own in a short period of time. This situation is a headlight sealing problem and is abnormal.
Many cases of water entering the headlights are caused by workmanship problems when modifying the headlight lenses, and some irresponsible store owners will use various excuses to shirk responsibility. For example, because xenon headlights have low heat, the lens absorbs a certain amount of heat. , making water vapor evaporate slowly and other excuses.
Things to note when modifying car headlights
In order to prevent fogging and water intrusion as much as possible, it is obviously necessary for us as car owners to choose a good store that is responsible and has a good reputation. At present, modified headlights are very popular in China, and many cities have active local stores. It is best for car clubs and other non-governmental organizations to find more car owners who have experience in modifying headlights to learn from them before modifying headlights, or to find an experienced modification shop for installation through a specialized modified car light website.
As the eyes of the car, modifying the headlights will not only affect you, but may also affect the driving of other cars. Therefore, modifications need to be done with caution, and safety is king.
If you have questions about driving, using a car, buying a car or choosing a car, come to Qingfeng Auto Shop.
We will answer all your car questions within 10 minutes. In this issue, I replied to the word "differential" in the WeChat public account: Qingfengchepu (qingfengchepu), and presented an illustrated article about automobile differentials to car friends to satisfy your curiosity about automobile machinery.
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Qingfeng Car Shop is a public account created by a group of car enthusiasts with ten years of experience in the automotive industry and maintenance.
