I haven't tried the ones Moss sells, but I've been using H4 halogens for
many years in all my older vehicles. I love 'em ! There are a lot of
different brands around, of varying quality, beware the cheap ones. (That
said, I'm still using cheap lamps I got from JCW some 15 years ago. The
Cibies I bought a few years later have fallen apart <g>)
I've been told that low voltage will shorten the life of the H4 capsule, and
my experience seems to bear that out, so I would suggest adding relays as
well. As it was explained to me, the function of the halogen gas is to
scavenge filament material off of the inside of the envelope, and deposit it
back on the filament. There is a particular temperature range where this
happens, which is not far below the melting point of the capsule (hence the
warning to not get fingerprints on the quartz, as they can concentrate heat
and cause it to fail). At lower voltage, the quartz doesn't get hot enough
for the scavenge cycle to work, with the result that it first gets
blackened, and then the filament burns out. When I first installed H4s in
Dad's TR3, a bulb burnt out in only about 200 hours of usage (6 months of
roughly 1 hour/night). I added relays, and the replacements were still
going strong roughly 500 hours later. Of course, that was a long time ago,
it's possible new bulbs are not so sensitive. But the relays also make the
light brighter.
The H4 capsules are available in varying power levels, but even the lowest
60/55 watt is a considerable improvement over the old incandescents. Other
than initial cost, I can't think of a single drawback. You can even get
lamps that say 'Lucas' on them !
Randall
> Has anyone out there tried the halogens? Is there a
> noticeable improvement? (Any drawbacks?) At only $75
> a pair, with no modifications required, it seems like
> a great deal, if you get good results.
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