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H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off?
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TromBug
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:54 pm    Post subject: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Hi all, my dad recently bought me a pair of halogen replacement bulbs for my ‘78 SB as a gift to improve the brightness over my stock sealed beams. He wanted to make sure I was safe on dark country roads, especially as the weather gets cold!

Here are the ones on CIP1:

https://www.cip1.ca/acc-c10-7590/

They fit in the stock location just fine:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


However, the aiming on them feels WAY off now. For reference, I felt like my aiming was pretty much perfect previously, both low beams and high beams.

It feels like the low beams are in other drivers’ faces. The high beams have been hard to test, but feel like they’re somehow lower (in height) than the low beams…

I tried some adjustment on the driver’s side, but after many turns, it seems to have barely lowered the beam half as far as I would expect.

Is this a common occurrence going from traditional sealed beam headlights to halogens, that the aiming is significantly off? Or, is it possible I’m just not used to halogens and should leave them how they are? I really don’t want to be the person blinding everyone else on the road… Shocked
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TK-CS
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 4:43 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Which manufacturer are the actual H4 lamps from? Are these branded or Chinese rubbish?

How do the low beams look on a white wall? There should be a hard line where above is no light.
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:19 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

TromBug wrote:
.......Is this a common occurrence going from traditional sealed beam headlights to halogens, ........

It is when you buy the cheap stuff from CIP, you aren't the only one with an issue lately: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9756248#9756248
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:40 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Just aim them correctly; there are instructions online.
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busdaddy
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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 7:18 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

How would you aim this?, it's all over the place.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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PostPosted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 9:36 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Aim the hot spot. It's the best you can do.

These are one of those parts that I only ever buy premium or name brand. The Hella ones I installed fit properly and aimed easily. The rebranded or Chinese generic stuff usually have funky reflector profiles.
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TromBug
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:58 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Thanks all, that’s basically what I wanted to confirm. I might throw the stock sealed beams back in for now and reset the aim since I was happy with it before, and the car’s about to be stored for winter anyway.
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:39 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Philips crystal vision sealed beam ,thats what i replaced my empi h4 with ,very happy with them and affordable!
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Dan the workingstiff
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PostPosted: Thu Nov 25, 2021 12:52 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Good optics costs big bucks. There's more to it than a bright bulb.....
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 8:28 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Dan the workingstiff wrote:
Good optics costs big bucks. There's more to it than a bright bulb.....


A bit of a myth. They don’t have to be. Good Hella lamps with Austrian lenses are priced at about $6 for a pair here. Autopal is pretty good and not too expensive. Wonder why the pricing skyrockets when the same part in the US.
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:54 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

https://www.rallylights.com/hella-7-round-e-code-hi-lo-conversion-headlamp-kit.html
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FlyAU98
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:16 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

My https://vintagecarleds.com remain the best purchase I've made for my Beetle.
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Glenn Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2021 7:29 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Cibie Z beams... 1980s.

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:33 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

FlyAU98 wrote:
My https://vintagecarleds.com remain the best purchase I've made for my Beetle.


They sell rebranded LEDs like everyone else, but have good housings from what I can tell. Beamtech brand on Amazon are the same thing at less than half the cost if you want to go that way. They are good, but not as good as Osram or Hella bulbs in a good E-code H4 housing in my experience. I ran a set from vintagecarleds in my 96 Honda Civic for a time, only because something in that car kept killing bulbs. not as bright as traditional bulds and not as good spread, but they were reliable. I found them inadequate in my beetle, but acceptable in the honda.


I've personally yet to find a drop-in LED that is adequate compared to real name brand traditional bulbs for the typical H4 housings available. LEDs function differently and have different needs when it comes to optics. If they were in a housing that used a proper lens to focuse the beam (like a projector style housing) rather than a reflector they can be made to work well. I work with LEDs a lot for aquarium and horticultural settings, and you rarely see reflectors there on their own. They usually are used in conjunction with a specific focusing lens, or with the lens alone.

Glenn wrote:
Cibie Z beams... 1980s.


These are the single best reflector design of all time, I miss mine Sad

Still keeping an eye out for another set.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 11:24 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Lingwendil wrote:


Still keeping an eye out for another set.


I've got a NOS pair of Cibie lenses sitting on my shelf... PM me.
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 8:16 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Hello!

I recently purchased a set of the same headlights as TromBug (original post)

I also purchase these buckets...https://www.cip1.ca/vwc-141-941-041-in/

I've managed to aim the low beams pretty decently but now the high beams are almost useless. A few feet in front of car is illuminated very brightly but that's about it.

Is there anything to be done or is it just the reproduction parts?

Thanks
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 5:52 am    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

Looking at the photos of the beam patterns....they look God-awful and damn near useless except for blinding oncoming drivers. I got a cheap set from THe Bus Depot that were made in India, and are TONS better than that. At some point I'll upgrade to Hellas (cibies if I can find them), but they have a decent beam pattern, especially on low beam as they have a good sharp cut-off with very little scatter.

It's almost as if the optics are upside down...
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Simon4679
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:15 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

I actually seriously considered installing them upside down - maybe I'll try it.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 2:37 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

I would try it... might be usable.

LED "Bulbs" I bought a couple of years ago from Vintage Car LEDs are not the same design as what they are selling now. I "re-ordered" what I bought (VC5000) but they are different; I don't think they can be clocked.

The old ones rotated and clicked in place at distinct clock positions, and I had to rotate them to get a good pattern with my Hella H4 lamp assemblies... a great pattern, actually.

I haven't tried the new bulbs yet. Same Hella H4 lamps, just different bulbs.

Old bulbs (but with clear lenses):
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


New bulbs:
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


VERY different, as you can see, though they are carrying the same part number on their website. I'll report on how they work maybe this weekend. I expect they will be good... these seem to be the most "bulb-like" pattern of any I've seen.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2022 8:24 pm    Post subject: Re: H4 halogen bulbs - aiming off? Reply with quote

are the headlight left hand drive in a left hand drive country?
headlights are aimed differently for right hand drive markets.
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