In the previous article of Modification School, we introduced some of the most popular headlight modifications at present. From the perspective of night driving safety, more and more car owners have stepped into the field of modification, and modified xenon headlights. Lamps have long been commonplace, and many netizens have expressed great interest in the modification of lenses. Today we will talk about the modification of headlight lenses.
The benefits of installing a lens are very obvious, especially for some original halogen lamp models without lenses. After the xenon headlights are modified, due to the change in the position and shape of the bulb, the original lamp bowl can no longer effectively focus the xenon lamp bulb. The shape is in a scattering state, which not only makes the driver unable to see the road clearly, but also dazzles other people, which is harmful to all! Using optical principles, the lens can illuminate the light onto the road surface at the most reasonable angle to solve the above problems, which is the biggest advantage of the lens. Usually, lenses can be divided into two categories according to the tangent line of the light: European standard light type and American standard light type.
☆ Distinguish by light type:
The so-called European standard light type has large up and down radiance, and there will be more dark areas on the left. This is mainly to avoid dazzling the other party when meeting cars. However, for SUV models with taller bodies, due to the higher lamp position, in order not to affect others, the illumination The angle needs to be lower (the angle needs to be adjusted downward more than that of a car), which will make the dark area on the far left side (left-hand drive model) more obvious, and the American standard light model adopts a design with almost equal heights on the left and right. , the illumination angle is wider, which has obvious advantages in suburbs or some places with poor road lighting conditions.
There is also a type called mixed standard light pattern, which compromises the characteristics of European standard and American standard light patterns. It can better take care of the field of vision of oncoming vehicles without causing too many dark areas on the left side.
☆ Bifocal lens and single vision lens:
Bifocal lenses actually only use one light bulb, but they can switch between high and low light through the light shield inside the lens! When the sunshade is normally closed, it is low beam, and when the sunshade is open, it is high beam. The light bulb inside the lens does not move. The installation of a bifocal lens means that a xenon bulb plays two roles: high beam and low beam. The simple identification method is to see if the lens has a dimming solenoid valve. If it has a solenoid valve, it is dual light, otherwise it is single light.
☆ Common imported lenses:
The most common Hella brand is made in Germany, and the so-called domestic products are all fakes. Hella, Koito and other lenses require holes in the original lampshade before they can be installed (unless it can be installed directly on the corresponding car model), and there are almost no new products. Most of the ones bought in China are dismantled car parts, so we are buying this kind of lens. When purchasing brand lenses, in addition to carefully observing whether the lens is in good condition, it is equally important to find a responsible store. In terms of price, since they are dismantled car parts, they usually cost more than a thousand yuan (the chaotic market also leads to large price differences), but if there are sellers selling big-name lenses like Koito and Hella for two to three hundred yuan, or even It's said to be brand new, so don't think it must be a fake. As for domestic brand lenses like Haidi, although the optical performance is somewhat inferior to that of big brands like Hella and Koito, there are fewer fakes.
In addition, there is currently a more popular modification method in China, which is to directly replace the manufactured headlight assembly. Compared with modifying the lens, cutting the lamp bowl, installing the lens and other processes that test the technician's skills, directly replacing the headlight assembly with the lens The angel eye/devil eye assembly seems to be safer, but in fact, many of the headlight assemblies currently sold on the market (mostly lower-end models) are made by unknown small workshops, and the lens quality and lamp bowl The quality of the workmanship and materials used for the lampshade are uneven, and the durability is even more worrying, because the heat emitted by the headlights is much greater than that of the taillights, and the heat resistance of the lampshade and lamp bowl is required to be higher. For those who want to improve For car owners who are concerned about the convenience of driving at night, modifying the headlights should be a priority.
☆ 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 intrusion into 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.
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 learn from car owners who have experience in modifying headlights before modifying the headlights, or to find an experienced modification shop for installation through a specialized modified car light website. To make a digression, the products currently sold in the domestic modification market and even the auto parts market can be said to be mixed, and it is very common to pass them off as good, especially for the more popular modification and upgrade projects such as modified headlights. Don’t spend blindly. Before modification, you must weigh the pros and cons and protect your own rights and interests as much as possible.
☆Personalized headlight modification:
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. The styles are very diverse.
Regardless of whether your car has been modified with headlights, when the word high headlights are mentioned, I think all friends with driving experience must hate it with toothache. It is a well-known fact that excessive lighting can harm others and ourselves. Correct use of car lights is also the most basic quality of drivers. Compared with drivers who use high beams indiscriminately, car owners who adjust their lights randomly to turn low beams into "high beams" are even more annoying. For the safety of you and others, without further ado, go and see if the height of your car lights is appropriate. Next, we will tell you how to adjust your car lights in the simplest way.
"Both photos use the same ISO, aperture and shutter parameters"
I believe many friends have had this experience. When driving at night, the lights of oncoming vehicles were so dazzling that I could no longer see the road clearly. I had to flash my high beams to remind the other person to turn off their high beams. Unexpectedly, the oncoming vehicle turned on even more dazzling lights. With high beam, I have no choice but to slow down or even stop to let the other party pass. Needless to say, this feeling is never pleasant, but tit for tat is not a good idea. This can only increase the chance of an accident, so we must adjust our car lights correctly.
In fact, adjusting the height of the headlights is not a technical task. We can completely adjust it ourselves. For cars without headlight adjustment function buttons in the car, it can be easily done with a hexagonal wrench.
First, open the engine cover and find the adjustment button for adjusting the angle of the headlight at the headlight holder. It is usually designed in a plastic hexagon. You can adjust it with a hexagonal wrench of the corresponding caliber. Some models also use a cross or slotted screwdriver. adjust.
"Models with headlight height adjustment function are more convenient"
Next, let’s talk about the adjustment angle. In fact, we don’t need to use instruments, or even a ruler. The height of the light does not need to be accurate to centimeters. The principle of adjustment is to maximize the performance of the light without affecting other vehicles and pedestrians. The easiest way to adjust is to find a wall on a level road and use a reference object.
Some people may think that the height of car lights is different from that of MPV and SUV models, so this method is not applicable. In fact, as long as the head of the car is more than 3 meters away from the wall, this method can still be used. The reason is that the headlights of SUV models are located higher, so it is more necessary to adjust the illumination angle of the car downwards, as long as the head of the car does not touch the wall. , this method is also applicable.
If you think this is still too troublesome, or you think the height of your car lights is okay, you can actually judge whether the height of your car lights is appropriate by referring to the car in front of you while driving. The method is also very simple.
Taking an ordinary sedan as a reference, if the license plate of the car in front is installed in the trunk instead of the rear bumper, when the distance between the cars is more than two meters, the upper edge of your own headlights should not shine on the other party's license plate.
"The upper edge of the low beam headlight is just equal to the upper edge of the car wheel, which is also a relatively standard height for car lights."
"If the low beam lights illuminate the license plate of the car in front (the license plate is installed on the trunk), the light is too high."
Many car owners do not pay attention to the rules for using lights when driving at night, such as turning on high beams when driving in the wrong car, flashing the lights at will, etc. In fact, there are many overseas regulations and restrictions on car headlights, especially xenon headlights, which have clear regulations on their color temperature, brightness and angle. Although the current domestic regulations in this area are not complete, we should start from me and gradually let more people understand reasonable modification and civilized driving.
The article is reproduced from Autohome (pictures and text by Yin Dong)
