Ok guys. Here's the situation.

I bought a pair of Hella yellowstars 55w H3's for my fogs last summer. Loved the way they looked. Nice light, quite yellow. Cool stuff. Anyway, the one on the driver's side blew out recently. I ordered a couple new ones (one to replace, one extra.)

I put the new one in and DAMN it was sooo white I couldn't believe it!! Look at the reflection on the garage door:

http://www.citrano.com/yellowstars3.JPG

The yellow one is the one I bought last summer, and the white one is the SAME BULB just shipped from a Hella distributor.

Also, these are crappy blurry pix but look at the ground under the lights:

http://www.citrano.com/yellowstars1.JPG

http://www.citrano.com/yellowstars2.JPG

SO.. I figured it might just be the individual BULB so I took it out and put in the second new one, SAME deal. The guy I bought them from said to send them back and he'd test before sending me a new set, but that it "could be the formulation/engineering of the coating has been changed" which I sure hope isn't the case since YELLOWSTARS should be YELLOW!!

Anyone else seen this situation? Have thoughts or input?

thanks,
/aac

 

how do the white ones compare to the yellow? It looks like the yellow one is way brighter in the pic where your lights are on the garage wall!

 

they come in white or yellow you have to specify. i almost did the same thing but last minute i saked the guy if these were yellow. he said no so i put them down. he said he can get them. i don't know if that means the yellow ones can be found and are still in production, or if they had old stock in the back and he was too lazy to get it then and there, so he was gonna make me come back tomorrow.

good luck

 

Ok so I noticed the old one is actually an 85W and the new one is a 55W. I can understand why the new ones would be dimmer.. but why are they not as yellow?

My current dilemma then is three choices:

1. Just put 55W in both sides, and deal with the fact that they are barely yellow at all (I want yellow)

2. Put 85W in and they'll probably blow again (right? the 85W one on the driver's side blew in about 2 months)

3. Find a different brand of high-quality yellow 55W H3's

Let me know what you think!!

/aac

 

Phillips All-Weather Vision H3s....stock wattage....2900K in the light band range....more amber than yellow, though....

More info here:

http://www.autooptiks.com/matrix.html

#H3AW
Lumens:1050
$35.00/pair

 

Hmmm.. I checked the site.. looks OK. Any pics of the light?? Anyone have these? Are they better than YellowStars?

/aac

 

for an informed opinion, but from what I gather the light is specifically designed for foggy/rainy conditions....

I doubt they are 'better' than Yellowstars but they probably function better. It's a function vs. style kind of thing.....

K-mart/Costco/Wal-Mart(sometimes) stock the All Weather bulbs, but usually not for the H-series lights. Mainly they only sell the 900x series lights.....

 

This is cool -- I mean, I'm looking for very good light for fog/rain (esp. fog which we get quite a bit of) but I really like a crisp yellow look -- I like the way it looks with the HID's .. Lexus does it, and it looks sharp on theirs.

/aac

 

"Ok so I noticed the old one is actually an 85W and the new one is a 55W. I can understand why the new ones would be dimmer.. but why are they not as yellow?"
---I've had a few poeple tell me this already. Seems to me that since the 85W lamps are much brighter, Hella can get away with MORE tint on the bulb glass. THis in turn makes the 85W versions MORE yellow.

"Put 85W in and they'll probably blow again (right? the 85W one on the driver's side blew in about 2 months)"
---Most likely yes. The hotter 85W bulb heats up the filament more and this in turn causes it to oxidize more rapidly until it fractures.

"...I really like a crisp yellow look -- I like the way it looks with the HID's .. Lexus does it, and it looks sharp on theirs."
---Lexus and the Infiniti QX4 have deep yellow foglamps. But this color is not controlled by the bulb, but rather by tinting the reflector. The reflector housing are molded from a thermoplastic and "chrome plated" with a process that produces the mirror-like finish. Add some tint to this process and you get colored light. Another method would be to tint the lamp lens, though I have not seen an example of this on any car out today.

Yellow light improves poor weather visibility because the light has less tendency to reflect off of the airborne moisture, thus penetrating the fog or rain, providing light on the ground and ahead onto objects near the road.

The Philips WeatherVisions are just as good...if not better...than the Hella units. I feel that Philips has a tighter quality control over their Eastern manufacture products. But, the Hellas are a bit lower in price. My final recommendation would be to live with the slightly LESS yellow light and buy the Philips WeatherVisions.

 

the 85 watt hella are the only way to go. The 55 watt hella looks like a dirty white. Guys don't waste your money on the 55 watt hella you will be dissapointed.
If you want to order Hella yellow star you can get it through PUMA he gives maxima org members a discount make sure you specify that you want 85 watts.
Later

 

Be warned, that another issue with using these bulbs, besides the shorter life, is the fact that it'll heat up your lens a lot more.

Some here...Jose being one of them, have had no problems. Most others though, find themselves with craked housings due the extreme heat and the glass lenses contact with cool water.

In your case Anthony, your I30t probably has plastic lenses. If your were running the 85W bulbs before with more melting or discoloration of the plastic lens, then continue on with the 85W bulbs. But remember, they do last for a shorter time.

 

Welp I did it. I took out the passenger side 85W Hella Yellowstar and put in the 55W Hella Yellowstar. They sure don't look yellow. Like a very very light yellow tint. Damn. But at least they're consistent...

I noticed there was some cooking going on in there, so I was glad I went back down to 55W. Just wish I could get more yellow. I might check out the Philips, but for now I'm just going to leave it as-is. It's SUCH a pain in the butt to open those up and put new bulbs in...

/aac