# 15/50 watt - no difference?



## NightShift (Sep 22, 2001)

I bought a couple halogen 1157 bulbs for my car (2 filaments). When you see 15/50 watt, you figure the running light will be a little brighter than regular bulbs and the brake light will be really bright. But actually it is very hard to tell the difference between the running light and the brake light. Can anyone explain why the brake light is not much brighter than the running light if the wattage ratings are so far apart?


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## Brock (Sep 23, 2001)

My guess would be where the filiments are. Usually the reflector is made to be brightest at one spot. I have found that halogen replacements are usually shorter then standard lamps so that could be whats causing it. You could try looking at them out of the reflector housing and see if you notice a differnce there. My guess is you would see a big differnce.


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## NightShift (Sep 23, 2001)

Thats true - the bulb's filaments are much lower than the regular bulb....i wonder why they didnt think of that. I guess they arent really worth the extra draw on my electrical system. I'll just get some 2057 bulbs or wait till LED bulbs have the intensity 

Thanks.


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## Bart (Sep 26, 2001)

Could be true, but I don't think the filiment placement makes that much of a difference... at least in the tail lights. That type of design feature would only be used in headlights for the high/low beam pattern as you probably already know. Both tail-lights and brake lights have the same "viewing" angle... and if there was any difference in the angle of the beam pattern, it would all be scattered anyway from the pillow lens of the tail-light. My experience with the halogen "upgrades" for tail-lights, brake lights, and reverse lights have been the same as yours. In fact, the 50w halogen reverse light is not very much brighter, if any brighter, than the standard 3157 bulb in there right now. Definitely not worth the extra draw on the alternator. I don't understand how it can draw 50 watts and not be that much brighter than the standard bulb. If 55w fog lights are as bright as they are, why isn't 50w halogens in these 1157/3157 replacements almost as bright as the fog lights? Doesn't make sense to me.


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## NightShift (Sep 27, 2001)

Bart I agree totally with your question...Re: Fog Lights as bright as they are. I have a 55w halogen Bulb and I held it in one of my directionals and it is almost too bright to look at or use. I notice when I compare the H1157 (50w) and this one (55w), the 55w is much whiter and brighter than the other. Does 5 extra watts do that or is the 1157's wattage ratings off target?

...Ok i just found a picture of the bulb but dont know what its used for in automotive. Its called a H3c:


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