# 160w h3 bulb?



## snakebite (Mar 14, 2004)

found some 160w h3 bulbs at the flea this morning.
anyone try anything this hot in a handheld?


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2004)

Interested in selling one? I'd really love to try.


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## snakebite (Mar 14, 2004)

ygpm


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## iddibhai (Mar 14, 2004)

if they are indeed 130w H3, they are 3650 lumens, and most definitely NOT for use in plastic housed lamps of any sort! the stock H3s are 55w. metal housings are kosher, assuming the stock wiring/switch can handle it.


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2004)

My 12v model has a 100w bulb stock, metal reflector/bulb housing and has a glass lens. Should be ok I assume. Anything in the 100 wattage range I'm assuming has to be 12v. I can't wait to try one.


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## iddibhai (Mar 14, 2004)

dark sounds good /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ~1350 more lumens from the additional 30watts. should you want to get more (and i dare say better) lamps, give daniel a holler (dastern[at]torque[net]). no connections other than having bought top quality automotive lighting from him. the premium bulbs can have 50% greater luminance (not lumens) in a given optic housing from better tolerances on filament build/placement and gas fill. good enough to see immediately and by the naked eye.


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## darkzero (Mar 14, 2004)

iddibhai, thanks for the heads up. Is Daniel a cpf member? Any specs on the lamps he offers?


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## iddibhai (Mar 14, 2004)

no, he's not a CPF-er even though i've invited him a couple of times, he's mainly in the automotive lighting and consulting biz. i believe most of his stuff is Osram/Hella/Cibie and other big german/french brands, made in germany and stuff i cant get here (which is why i end up buying thru him).

his website is http://lighting.mbz.org/


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## phyhsuts (Mar 15, 2004)

160 or 130W?? I know Phoenix Lamp of India makes a 130W 3500lm 30 hours H3. The filament is larger than that of a 55W H3 though and the spot may not be as tight. More light but not necessarily more reach. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif


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## iddibhai (Mar 15, 2004)

130w 12v, likely Osram SilverStar ((what i have in H1) what dan carries, *NOT* the same as the sylvania silverstars sold in the usa, even tho osram/sylvania are one company). as you say, changing the size and placement of filament will change the focus and throw.


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## snakebite (Mar 15, 2004)

these are definatly 160w.
ipf hb-5
lots of warnings about damage they wont accept responsibility for ect.
filiment is huge.


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## iddibhai (Mar 15, 2004)

hb5? that's a different twin filament bulb AFAIK.


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## darkzero (Mar 15, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*snakebite said:*
ygpm 

[/ QUOTE ]

PM replied. Just in case you didn't recieve the reply I'll send it again. I've been replying a bunch of messages today, maybe I forgot to hit send?


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## snakebite (Mar 15, 2004)

nope
its a single fil h3.
apparently custom made.

[ QUOTE ]
*iddibhai said:*
hb5? that's a different twin filament bulb AFAIK. 

[/ QUOTE ]


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## iddibhai (Mar 15, 2004)

neat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


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## AlexGT (Mar 15, 2004)

I tried a 130 watt H3 on my Thor a couple of months back and I did NOT notice any difference in brightness, maybe 130 or 160 in an AXIAL filament will make a noticeable difference. IMO.

Alex


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## snakebite (Mar 25, 2004)

well darkzero
did you install it yet?
i hooked one up to a 7ah sla and its damm bright.


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## -Virgil- (Mar 26, 2004)

The 3rd-world "back-alley" junk shops will produce bulbs saying whatever you want them to say on the base. "160W"? Sure, no problem. "55w = 120w"? Fine. "Hi, mommy!"? You betchya. These extreme-wattage bulbs are usually dreamware of this nature. The highest-wattage automotive-type halogen bulbs made by the reputable companies are 130w (H1, H2, H3 and the high beam of H4 -- made by Philips and marketed under the Philips, Norma and Narva brands as well as several other private labels such as Hella). 

Remember also that filament placement and other performance-influencing characteristics are usually *WAY* out of line on the no-name bulbs. Fractions of a millimetre matter! Don't believe me? Here, take a look at 
this picture . The English is a little hosey because the article that contained the comparison was originally written in another language and translated perhaps less than smoothly, but the pictures speak for themselves.

And beyond all that, remember, wattage does not directly imply anything about light output. There are (nominal) 12v 55w automotive halogen bulbs providing, by design, from 980 to 1820 lumens, NOT factoring in any BS "55w = 85w" nonsense.

/SWM


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## -Virgil- (Mar 26, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*darkzero said:*
Is Daniel a cpf member?

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems to stay off the forums.


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## -Virgil- (Mar 26, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*iddibhai said:*
his website is http://lighting.mbz.org/ 

[/ QUOTE ]

Naw, it ain't. It's www.danielsternlighting.com


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## -Virgil- (Mar 26, 2004)

Filament orientation (axial or transverse) does not have any bearing on the effect of additional filament power on light output. If you installed a well-made overwattage bulb *AND* your wiring and relays weren't dropping volts all over the road *AND* the lamps you installed them in had optics worth a toss (usually not the case if we're talking car auxiliary lamps in North AMerica), and you didn't see any difference, it's not 'cause the filament's transverse!


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## gwbaltzell (Mar 27, 2004)

I'll adimit I haven't looked at the issue closely, but I would think that in a well designed optic system using the wrong (the one its not design for) filament orientation would degrade the performance?

BTW I'd looked at your site before, but glanced again and had a laugh when I saw the flashing side marker mod. identical to one I'd done 30 years ago.


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## snakebite (Mar 27, 2004)

i am aware of the cheap ricer junk but i do not suspect these of being such.i will measure current and report back.
comparing to a 55w h3 is nearly 3x light output.
these are from ipf japan


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## -Virgil- (Mar 27, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*gwbaltzell said:*
I would think that in a well designed optic system using the wrong (the one its not design for) filament orientation would degrade the performance?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, yeah, of course the filament orientation has to be correct for the optic system, but that's a different question (and the answer to why the "HIR H3" from IPF/Polarg is a total joke).


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## darkzero (Mar 28, 2004)

[ QUOTE ]
*snakebite said:*
well darkzero
did you install it yet?
i hooked one up to a 7ah sla and its damm bright. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry I haven't got back in this thread. I installed it in my Vector 1MCP and oh man, what a difference! This sucker puts out a whole mess of light but it seems it doesn't have the same throw. I not for sure. I'll have to play around with it more and report here. It's a handheld heat lamp too. Definitely a keeper.

One thing that did bother me a little is that the old lamp (which was a 100w I might add) had the filament vertical and the IPF bulb has a horizontal filament (sorry don't know the correct terms) so the beam is not round and uniform. I guess I can live with it though.

IPF was a high end lighting company that competed right up against PIAA back in the day. I'm not sure of what they're doing these days. I remember them making some quality stuff for automotive lighting. I don't hear of them much these days but when I heard from SB that this was a IPF bulb I jumped on it to give it a try.

I'll play with it somemore and will try to get some beamshots of the two bulbs to post here.


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## -Virgil- (Mar 29, 2004)

> *darkzero said:*
> IPF was a high end lighting company that competed right up against PIAA back in the day.



Geeze o' pete. It amazes me how people will just parrot advertising hype as though it's historical fact. In the first place, PIAA is not a "high end lighting company" and never has been, and they did not exist "back in the day". PIAA is a *marketing company* that appeared about 15 years ago. Their business strategy, which is extremely successful for them, is to spend a lot of money on hype, ads, glossy brochures and pretty packaging proclaiming their stuff to be "professional grade" -- and to price their products very high. ("Of COURSE they're professional grade! Just look what they cost!"). A lot of people buy into it, and PIAA does a great deal of business every year. That does not mean their products are any good -- they are almost universally garbage, especially for the price. Their bulbs consistently take last place in objective comparisons like These. 
Their lamp assemblies are just as garbageful, with poor beam patterns and poor corrosion resistance.

As far as IPF goes, they've been around somewhat longer than PIAA, and over the years they've produced some good lamps -- the 840 fog lamp was one of the best of its size class -- but they're also guilty of producing a lot of junk. Most of their bulbs fit the "junk" category, and many of their complete lamps, too. So I guess in *that* sense, yes, they "competed right up against PIAA".


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## darkzero (Mar 29, 2004)

Well, geez, sorry! Then I will eat my words, not like I care for the two companies anyways. I'm more into handheld lighting rather than automotive. I agree, marketing can be misleading and sorry to say in our world it happens alot. It may have seemed that they were on the high end or the better companies in their market of consumer automotive lighting some years ago (sorry, not back in the day) in the aftermarket world. So I guess their marketing has got me a bit too but still I never once thought about buying one of their products. I don't believe they are up to par with Hella, Osram or Philips but hey maybe marketing has got me again. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
Thank you for letting us in on the "reality".
BTW, welcome you to CPF. I know you will have a lot of good knowledge to offer to us.


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## snakebite (Mar 29, 2004)

agree.
its just amazing how much hyped up junk is out there.
look at all the ricer crap and noisemaker audio gear.
and the blue tinted crap bulbs.
i have a pair on my bench i use to load test ups batteries.
i sure wouldnt put them in a auto headlight!
as for ipf i remember using their bulbs in a h4 motorcycle headlight in the early 80's
they seemed ok at the time.they took the abuse better than others.(vibration from winding a kz1000 to 10k rpm+)

[ QUOTE ]
*Scheinwerfermann said:*
[ QUOTE ]
*darkzero said:*
IPF was a high end lighting company that competed right up against PIAA back in the day.

[/ QUOTE ]

Geeze o' pete. It amazes me how people will just parrot advertising hype as though it's historical fact. In the first place, PIAA is not a "high end lighting company" and never has been, and they did not exist "back in the day". PIAA is a *marketing company* that appeared about 15 years ago. Their business strategy, which is extremely successful for them, is to spend a lot of money on hype, ads, glossy brochures and pretty packaging proclaiming their stuff to be "professional grade" -- and to price their products very high. ("Of COURSE they're professional grade! Just look what they cost!"). A lot of people buy into it, and PIAA does a great deal of business every year. That does not mean their products are any good -- they are almost universally garbage, especially for the price. Their bulbs consistently take last place in objective comparisons like These. 
Their lamp assemblies are just as garbageful, with poor beam patterns and poor corrosion resistance.

As far as IPF goes, they've been around somewhat longer than PIAA, and over the years they've produced some good lamps -- the 840 fog lamp was one of the best of its size class -- but they're also guilty of producing a lot of junk. Most of their bulbs fit the "junk" category, and many of their complete lamps, too. So I guess in *that* sense, yes, they "competed right up against PIAA". 

[/ QUOTE ]


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