Theoretical proposal for more light output with stock H4 bulbs

[jay-d]

I purchased Tightwad's HID kit and honestly wasn't my cup of tea. The light output was great but the amount of light scatter wasn't to my liking. I'm going to keep it and eventually retrofit projectors and do it properly.

However, upon disassembly, I noticed that our H4 bulbs are not being used to their full potential. All H4 bulbs contain dual filaments, one for low beam, one for high beam. That's why there's three prongs on the bulb.

The high beam connector, only has two wires connected with the low beam filament wire non existent like so.

and the opposite is true for the low beam connector.

So I've gone out and bought 4 of these:

Isn't is possible, to splice the high beam's, low beam prong (that's not in use) to the low beam wire on the actual low beam connector? And vice versa for the high beam wire that's not in use on the low beam bulb?

Theoretically, giving us the usage of all four low beam filaments and all four high beam filaments. Any thoughts?

[Skids]

We don't get an option over here...H7 bulbs in our Vtecs.

Good luck.

[Lee 2002]

Done it.

Buy ceramic sockets with all three pins loaded and wired. Splice it in.

But you're going to want the unshielded filament to only come on with high beams or you'll be blinding people.

On high beams I'm running six filaments... On low just the original two filaments.

It does make a difference.

[jay-d]

Done it.

Buy ceramic sockets with all three pins loaded and wired. Splice it in.

But you're going to want the unshielded filament to only come on with high beams or you'll be blinding people.

On high beams I'm running six filaments... On low just the original two filaments.

It does make a difference.

Definitely will only keep low beams with low and high beams with high!

How are you running six filaments.. ?

Edit: Nevermind, there's a total of 8 filaments, so with the high beams, you're running all four filaments in the high beam H4 bulb and two in the low beam H4 bulb.

[obryap]

Will the Vfers charging system keep up with all 8 filiments burning at once? Im not saying it won't, just wondering if it will be an issue.

[jay-d]

Will the Vfers charging system keep up with all 8 filiments burning at once? Im not saying it won't, just wondering if it will be an issue.

Thought about it.. but really, you'd only be running with 4, since the high beam ones will be off until you need them.

I Know 4 wouldn't be a problem !

Guess I'll find out soon lol

[Tamworth]

There is a very specific reason why no vehicle uses both high and low beams at the same time. A properly adjusted high beam puts light where it's needed, having the low beam on diminishes your ability to see into the distance of the highs by causing an overly bright spot right in front where it's not needed. No vehicle would ever pass a safety check with both activated together.

[jeremy77]

There is a very specific reason why no vehicle uses both high and low beams at the same time. A properly adjusted high beam puts light where it's needed, having the low beam on diminishes your ability to see into the distance of the highs by causing an overly bright spot right in front where it's not needed. No vehicle would ever pass a safety check with both activated together.

I'm not arguing the safety aspect here... but I used to have an old school suburban from the mid 80's. It had separate hi and low sealed beams. There was an aftermarket kit that would plug in and cause all four beams to run together when the hi beams were on.

[Tamworth]

There is a very specific reason why no vehicle uses both high and low beams at the same time. A properly adjusted high beam puts light where it's needed, having the low beam on diminishes your ability to see into the distance of the highs by causing an overly bright spot right in front where it's not needed. No vehicle would ever pass a safety check with both activated together.

I'm not arguing the safety aspect here... but I used to have an old school suburban from the mid 80's. It had separate hi and low sealed beams. There was an aftermarket kit that would plug in and cause all four beams to run together when the hi beams were on.

Just saying, the extra light will actually hinder your ability to see well with your high beams on. If your ultimate goal is to get more light out of the headlight system then it will achieve that. If your goal is to get better performance from your high beams then it will do the opposite. The people who made the aftermarket kit for your old Sub didn't understand how headlights work.

[Lee 2002]

I don't know where everybody is getting 8 filaments. My bike only has 6 filaments. One in each top bulb, two in each bottom bulb.

I walked out to count filaments and check operation of mine since it has literally been years since I modded mine. I mistated above... On "high" I'm running the top bulbs and unshielded bottom filaments. On "low" I'm running only the shielded bottom filaments. Thinking back... I think I decided against running both filaments in the bottom bulb at the same time to prevent overcurrent on the common wire.

High: 4 unshielded filaments

Low: 2 shielded filaments

It does make a difference. (improvement) I would not be against running all the filaments in the lower bulbs. I think it would require an upgrage of the common (grounded) wire to prevent overheating of that wire.

[NorthernVFRDave]

There is a topic on here about something similar.

When you flip to hi beam the main low beam lights stay low, the mod adds a extra relay and a few wires so when you go to high beam the low beam lights switch to high as well. Producing much more hi beam light.

It's an old post from 07 or 08, I'd look it up but on my phone out and about right now.

And no, you don't want to run the high and low filament at the same time for 2 reasons, main one the bulb is very small and the amount of heat that would be produced from having both filaments lit at the same time would greatly reduce the the life of the bulb, my guess is the bulb may only last a few hours or evenless. Second your pulling an extra 130 watts of power as the hi filament is 65 watts a side, so that's extra load on a bike with a some what limited electrical system as it is, may cause you other issues.

[Lee 2002]

The original write up was done by 767 Fixer years and years ago..... then he got banned..... then he came back as a hot woman.... then he got banned again. Somewhere along the way his posts got deleted and you couldn't even type "Fixer" without his name being replaced by asterisks or slashes..... he was really banned.

Anyway... I think it was Darth Bling who re-wrote the 767 Fixer mod and even had some drawings.... but I don't think that's how I did it.

From way back in 2008: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/39044-headlight-rewire

[jay-d]

Ah sweet! I did all this today, and had all 6 filaments lit up.. lots of light!

I'm going to run it for a bit and see what happens. I don't usually use my high beams for an extended period of time, but I'll check it out at night when I take my bike out.

There is a very specific reason why no vehicle uses both high and low beams at the same time. A properly adjusted high beam puts light where it's needed, having the low beam on diminishes your ability to see into the distance of the highs by causing an overly bright spot right in front where it's not needed. No vehicle would ever pass a safety check with both activated together.

I get that, but the H4 low beam stays on with the H7 high beam. So really, your theory doesn't apply to the VFR.

All I did was splice the H7 power wire to the empty prong on the H4 bulb so now when I turn the high beam on, all 6 filaments light up.

Edit: I understand what you mean now, you mean for the low beam H4 bulb, not having both filaments running at the same time.

[Skids]

There is a very specific reason why no vehicle uses both high and low beams at the same time. A properly adjusted high beam puts light where it's needed, having the low beam on diminishes your ability to see into the distance of the highs by causing an overly bright spot right in front where it's not needed. No vehicle would ever pass a safety check with both activated together.

I'm not arguing the safety aspect here... but I used to have an old school suburban from the mid 80's. It had separate hi and low sealed beams. There was an aftermarket kit that would plug in and cause all four beams to run together when the hi beams were on.

Just saying, the extra light will actually hinder your ability to see well with your high beams on. If your ultimate goal is to get more light out of the headlight system then it will achieve that. If your goal is to get better performance from your high beams then it will do the opposite. The people who made the aftermarket kit for your old Sub didn't understand how headlights work.

I may have misunderstood your point, and I know that US & UK headlamps are different, but in the UK we us 4 x H7 bulbs (single filament) in the Vtec. When you select main beam, the low beam stays illuminated and the high beam comes on, so you have 4 x halogen 55w bulbs illuminated simultaneously, as standard. There is no hindering of ability to see anything.

Apologies if I have misunderstood your point.

[Tightwad]

I used to sell a kit to retrofit to 6 beams at the same time. It overpowered charging systems very easily. I also configured one to run the HB on the low beam bulb when the high beams were on.