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Date:         Fri, 26 Jul 2013 12:57:47 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: [WetWesties] H3 Bulb(s) Factory Flaw? PICS
Comments: To: neil n <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Comments: cc: "wetwesties@yahoogroups.com listees" <wetwesties@yahoogroups.com>
In-Reply-To:  <CAB2RwfijY4F+9Mk3pQ_zsxuAb82f8Lxt7pT30apoCB8BzjNzEw@mail.g
              mail.com>
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At 12:36 PM 7/26/2013, neil n wrote: >So electrical "Liquid Tape" won't hold up over the long term?

I don't believe it will. You notice they use glass-fibre insulation for the wire lead (and sockets for pin-type halogen lamps are ceramic). I believe the back of the lamp may get up to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit. I used to have chronic contact problems with my Hella fog lights using H3s, and there was definite heat discoloration of metal parts.

>I see a rating to 255º F Would that suffice? In my case, the light >will see short "on" times unlike it's original intended use as a >driving light.

Yes, that was my excuse when I put larger lamps in my backup lights, the way Terry Kay recommends. That ended in tears and deformed taillight fixtures. I don't think vinyl is good stuff to have anywhere near a halogen lamp.

Just by the way...until recently I thought that halogens lasted a long time because the halogen gas kept the filament from boiling off somehow. T'ain't so. Halogens last a long time because they're under 400 psi cold and more pressure hot, and the high pressure keeps the metal from boiling off the filament quickly. But to hold the high pressure the capsule has to be tiny, which means that it has to be quartz so it won't just melt. And because it's tiny the metal that *does* boil off would blacken it quickly, and what the halogen gas does is -- if you burn it hot enough -- keep the metal from condensing on the capsule. So they have to burn very hot or they blacken very rapidly, which means they're not tolerant of overvoltage. Tricky little devils, not tolerant of sweat contamination on the envelope; and unpleasant when they explode, hot or cold.

Yours, d


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