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About to install a Silverstar H4 Blub.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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Guest

Guest
Just curious, those of you that have switched from the old Halogen blub to any of the better Silverstars, what has been your life expectancy on them compared to the regular Halogens. I do run my headlite (mostly on high beam) on all the time. I got the Silverstar ~4000k. Standard Halogen is ~3100K
 
not Silverstar but......

not Silverstar but......

Several years ago I put in a plasma bulb made by PIAA i think. No problems yet, but I dont get a whole lot of seat time. I also generally keep the hi beam on in the day.
The light is noticeably brighter and whiter. Please let us know how the Silverstar shines.
 
Last edited:
There's no difference in life.
 
Did you manage to find a CLEAR Silverstar or is it tinted light blue?

ANY tinting of the bulb toward the blue spectrum will reduce overall visibilty, so be careful.

.
 
Steve said:
Did you manage to find a CLEAR Silverstar or is it tinted light blue?

ANY tinting of the bulb toward the blue spectrum will reduce overall visibilty, so be careful.

.
Click to expand...

Yeah I got the clear. I just installed it and turned the light out in the shop to check it, very bright white light. It is one step below the Ultra Silverstar which seems like it may have a blue tint.
 
I've been using Osram Silverstars in cars, vans and bikes for around a decade and can't honestly say they seem to last any less time than an ordinary one. There were real benefits to using them, without a doubt.
 
CNN keeps running ads about a class action lawsuit settlement from sylvania
you fill in a form and get ten bucks
 
I have never used them on a bike but I do notice a shorter life in my cars. I deal with the shorter life for the brighter bulb. I am going to try them in the 850 soon.
 
JEEPRUSTY said:
CNN keeps running ads about a class action lawsuit settlement from sylvania
you fill in a form and get ten bucks
Click to expand...

Yeah its on a few stations, i even got a flyer about it in the mail, since i had bought silverstars in the past.
I think the lawsuit is BS, sure output levels may not have been on par with what they said they had, but i havent once put in a silverstar and went.... Huh they lied about it brightness. Every silverstar i have installed has had better light spread and output than the bulb they have replaced.


dorkburger said:
Several years ago I put in a plasma bulb made by PIAA i think.
Click to expand...
I put H4 PIAA's in my old 82 Mustang GT, and they were great as well, i didnt compare vs. the silverstars but in a 82 mustang with sealed beams, converting to H4 with a relay setup was a HUGE step up lol
 
Well, gonna try the Silver Star and see what happens. I carry a spare halogen with me all the time as it is.
 
76_Mike_82 said:
I have never used them on a bike but I do notice a shorter life in my cars. I deal with the shorter life for the brighter bulb. I am going to try them in the 850 soon.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I can not agree with "shorter life for brighter bulb".

I don't have Silverstars in my van, as they only provide "legal" lights. I have 80 watt low-beam bulbs and 100 watt high-beam bulbs, and have had them in there since not long after I got the van four years ago. During those four years (and close to 100,000 miles), I have had exactly ONE bulb burn out.

Note that I am not just using "brighter" bulbs because of some hyped-up rating system, I am using bulbs that actually produce more light because they are sucking more power from the vehicle, yet I still have what I consider to be "decent life".

.
 
Steve said:
Sorry, but I can not agree with "shorter life for brighter bulb".

I don't have Silverstars in my van, as they only provide "legal" lights. I have 80 watt low-beam bulbs and 100 watt high-beam bulbs, and have had them in there since not long after I got the van four years ago. During those four years (and close to 100,000 miles), I have had exactly ONE bulb burn out.

Note that I am not just using "brighter" bulbs because of some hyped-up rating system, I am using bulbs that actually produce more light because they are sucking more power from the vehicle, yet I still have what I consider to be "decent life".

.
Click to expand...

Ah the 80/100 blub, thought about those once, I'm assuming the charging system would handle it okay.
 
There is a reduced life expectancy, it says it right on the back of the packaging.
 
Everyone will experience a different life of the bulb based on driving habits. I've had my jeep 10 years and have put just over 200000miles on it. In recent years much of that driving is at night or early morning so my lights tend to be on while driving. In the 10 years I've put 4 or 5 sets in it. So for me with the driving I do I only get around 2 years per set. I do change them in sets as I'm of the mindset if one goes the other is close. I still think they're a good bulb just shorter life then a halogen and as i said I'll be upgrading my 850 soon. Just my experience.
 
jeffgs said:
There is a reduced life expectancy, it says it right on the back of the packaging.
Click to expand...

On all the Vehicles i have owned, i never once replaced a silverstar because it burned out, not saying it cant or wont happen, but i have had great luck with silverstars

My F150 has silverstars but My lincoln has factory HID's, those are $100 a pc......not excited to ever replace those lol
 
jeffgs said:
There is a reduced life expectancy, it says it right on the back of the packaging.
Click to expand...

The package just shows bars, no idea what one bar would represent. Year? 2 Years. no idea. Reason I carry a spare at all times, ya never know.
 
My last post sounded snotty and that was not my intention. I feel bad actually. But the package does state to expect shorter life. Also and I am open to correction on this, the light is not actually brighter but it is the type of light that helps. You are restricted by the reflectivity of the light housing itself and the ability to throw light out and direct it.
 
jeffgs said:
My last post sounded snotty and that was not my intention. I feel bad actually. But the package does state to expect shorter life. Also and I am open to correction on this, the light is not actually brighter but it is the type of light that helps. You are restricted by the reflectivity of the light housing itself and the ability to throw light out and direct it.
Click to expand...
There is a greater lumen output from the Silverstar type of bulb, but obviously it will be not be shown to advantage if the reflector and lens is less than optimal - and there are, despite decades of experience and gaining of design knowledge, still many headlamps that aren't what they could be.
However, any time I've fitted Silverstars I've been lucky enough to put them into some reasonably designed lamp housings and the extra light was used to good end. In fact, it was so good on one of them (2001 Transit) I didn't bother putting the 100W bulbs back in, as the Silverstars were illuminating the road just as well, and the 100W ones were tending to overheat the connections in any case.
 
I dont want to derail the thread, but has anyone thought about trying one of the newer Cree LED bulbs?
I'm not sure how well they would work with a longer body and cooling fins on the back, with limited space in the headlight bucket.
 
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