ph1 headlights are weak

[BlackPhaseOne]

Had osram nightbreaker extreme 120% or something, and the light output is very low.
changed to some "ok'ish" Xenons 6000k, looks alot better but still, the actual light on the road seems very weak compated to other xenons.
now i know the projectors are for hologens and not xenons on the ph1, but still i was expecting it to perform better than the OEM bulbs and they are not.
anyway to check if the ballasts get enough power from the battery or something ? also its not an adjustment issue

 

[da rok]

most white lights like the night breakers and after market xenons seem weak on the clio, im running night breakers at the moment, and in some instances they seem better than standard bulbs but in the damp or rain they are absolutely useless, still cant beat normal halogen bulbs...

 

[RichieJA]

Have you tried cleaning the xenon lenses they go milky after a while

 

[Sesqui89]

^^ This - it has a bigger impact than you'd think. Have you checked the aim is ok as well?

 

[BoatNonce]

There's a few main culprits.

1. Aim
2. Projector lens clouded
3. Outer headlight lens clouded
4. Rubbish HID kits.

1 is often easy to sort. Can be just bad aim, or the headlight height servo popped out of its little cup on the linkage (easy). If it's an actual broken height mechanism, the unit's borked and will need replacing. (EDIT:you say it's not this)

2 requires disassembly of the headlight but can help a lot. Some of the volvo mob actually replace the lens with a clear, higher quality optic, and the clio would definitely benefit from this, but I don't know anyone who has done it.

3. Is easily sorted, search headlight correction on here.

4. Again is easily sorted. I use a HIDs Direct 55w kit, 5000k

 

[RichieJA]

Was actually on a Volvo fourm I seen the how to clean the lens guide.

 

[Sesqui89]

Just noticed you've already ruled out aim; my bad!

 

[Jekyll]

Clean the lenses then fit a 4300k/5000k HID kit. Your nightbreakers will be a distant memory!

 

[BlackPhaseOne]

I noticed there is a small white thing you can rotate with a hex screw on each headlamp, is that the height mechanism ?
my lens are kinda clouded but not too much ... i will clean them with a headlight restoration kit but i fail to see how that would make such a huge impact, they are not filthy right now or anything.
How could the projectors get clouded on the inside ? 😧 I swear i've never seen a car with such poor light output.
I will switch to 4300K, from all the graphs about the color temperature around 5700-6000 looks like its pure white. 4300 is yellow'ish. how is that better ?

also the HID kit is not poor, i actually researched this subject to death and found on eBay the same ballasts they use on quality kits ( like OPT7 ) , they are just rebranded with no brand name but many HID companies use them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321577436834?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Jekyll]

That's the adjuster.

The charts are only a guide. I always find the colour is actually one under what its described as. IE: 6000k would 5000k, 5000k would be 4300k IME.

 

[BoatNonce]

5000 is pure white.

 

[RichieJA]

I noticed there is a small white thing you can rotate with a hex screw on each headlamp, is that the height mechanism ?
my lens are kinda clouded but not too much ... i will clean them with a headlight restoration kit but i fail to see how that would make such a huge impact, they are not filthy right now or anything.
How could the projectors get clouded on the inside ? 😧 I swear i've never seen a car with such poor light output.
I will switch to 4300K, from all the graphs about the color temperature around 5700-6000 looks like its pure white. 4300 is yellow'ish. how is that better ?

also the HID kit is not poor, i actually researched this subject to death and found on eBay the same ballasts they use on quality kits ( like OPT7 ) , they are just rebranded with no brand name but many HID companies use them.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/321577436834?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

All xenon lenses cloud after time especially the low quailty renualt ones after more 10 years, as for the headlight lens imagine your windscreen with rain drops on it and shining a light on it how the light spreads all over the place .

I'm no expert on bulbs but I suspect the 10 quid for 2 bulbs for much lower quality than the 60 quid oem ones
Cleaning the lens and restoring the lights is cheap so I would do that first then move onto bulbs

 

[BlackPhaseOne]

RichieJA are you talking about the actual reflector lens inside the headlight ? Can it be taken out and cleaned ?
if you are refering to the entire headlight plastic then i will clean and polish it with a restoration kit i have.
i Will update on results.

 

[RichieJA]

Yeah the dome shaped lens inside, let us know how you get on