Foglamp bulb dies after a month

[Picard]

Nagpakabit ako ng Taiwan foglamps sa Banawe for my Altis. The problem is, the bulbs doesn't last (standard H3 12V 55W). Sinubukan ko na diff brands like Narva and Kosser (Germany) pero ganun pa rin. Dalawang palit na ako both sides. Lifespan for about 30-40 days. Ano kaya problema? Filament is intact but when i replace it with new bulbs it works.

[alwayz_yummy]

kaya sa susunod wag kayo bibili nung taiwan/clone copy na bulbs! buy branded kahit mahal--sulit naman (sasawa ka nalang di parin siya pundido)

i have a philips crystal vision: galing pa sa maxima ko 10 years ago--still ginagamit ko parin sa liteace ko..

nga pala, just like in my liteace: may light sensor yan: kung ordinary type lang talagang i-reread nya as busted yun--yung corner lamps ng liteace ko di gumagana because of those taiwan bulbs--and mahal ang japan-raybrig/IPF na white bulbs...

[pajerokid]

Nagpakabit ako ng Taiwan foglamps sa Banawe for my Altis. The problem is, the bulbs doesn't last (standard H3 12V 55W). Sinubukan ko na diff brands like Narva and Kosser (Germany) pero ganun pa rin. Dalawang palit na ako both sides. Lifespan for about 30-40 days. Ano kaya problema? Filament is intact but when i replace it with new bulbs it works.

Are you using a relay? if not use one.

[Picard]

Yes merong relay. Do you think sa bulb mismo ang problema? Di kaya sa wiring and/or electrical? Although the "busted" bulb's filament is intact, yung parang short wire nung bulbs parang umitim sa isang dulo pero light lang.

[wildthing]

One of the reasons pointed out to me was that the bulb gets too hot. So ideally use your fog lamps only when needed.

If you are running on a rain, the water splash will cool down the glass and so with the temperature of the "insides" of the lamp assembly. Thereby, hindi gaano ito iinit ng husto.

On regular driving, don't use it, the headlight should be enough.

Ung dmax ko, at least once a year ito bago mabust.

[pajerokid]

so hard to diagnose this one... if this keeps on happening even with a change of brand of bulbs, then it should be your wiring/electricals.

[4JGtootsie]

Double ulit

[Flagg]

Malamang may ground yan somewhere along the line.

[4JGtootsie]

na double! sorry

[4JGtootsie]

Silly but important questions.
Do you hold the bulb with your bare fingers?
Did you try to connect the bulb directly to the battery after it got busted?
Saan naka tap ng power yung lamps. How is the switching? May kasama ba siya naka tap sa supply.
Sufficient ba grounding?

[v6dreamer]

Your bulb capsule usually has quite a bit pressure inside(about 60 psi), so you must handle them carefully during installation. Your bulb sometimes are not operated at full output, this may cause the halogen cycle to stop allowing the bulb to BLACKEN and BURNS OUT quickly. In worst case a blackened bulb may soften and explode.

Some people doesnt know that fingerprints on the bulb can cause failure. I fact when oils from your skin gets hot, they cause the bulb to " devirity" or change from amorphous state into crystaline state called "lamp rupture". To prevent problem, do not touch the bulb w/ your bare hands. If you touch it clean it with soap and water or alcohol.

[mbeige]

The fog lamp stock rating should be 55W for H3 bulbs, so it should not be too hot to handle especially the plastic lenses. If it is, it's made of substandard quality so do not expect a lot from it.

Tootsie has a good point, saan na-tap yung power source and grounded ba siya? Parang tricky itong problem kasi it only manifests itself after some time so it's not too much current or too much heat. Take the fog lamp assemblies out and see if there's anything wrong, craftmanship-wise or otherwise.

[non-vtec]

My guess would be the installation. hindi kaya maluwag yung socket/mounting? afaik too much vibration can damage your bulbs.

[pajerokid]

does the foglamp assembly have a heat exhaust tube? di kaya blocked?

[Picard]

Thanks for your inputs. Right now I'm leaning towards vibration and loose connections as the major cause of the problem. I already did some adjustments and hopefully put an end to the mystery.

[altec]

I experienced short life span on my headlight bulb of my pajero before. Headlight yung akin ang problema, hindi yung foglamp bulbs. Eventually discovered that the relay case had a crack and was shorting on occasion. It wasn't obvious, and took me around 3 bulb changes before discovering it. Changed the relay and the problem went away.

[wool]

I experienced short life span on my headlight bulb of my pajero before. Headlight yung akin ang problema, hindi yung foglamp bulbs. Eventually discovered that the relay case had a crack and was shorting on occasion. It wasn't obvious, and took me around 3 bulb changes before discovering it. Changed the relay and the problem went away.

what brand of relay is that? i usually use bosch kahit mabuhasan ng ulan. gumagana pa rin.

[batang_raon14]

Since nangitim ung dulo ng isang wire, you might want to upgrade the wirings of your fogs. Nangyari saken dati yan na talagang nasunog ung wiring dahil sa nipis ng nilagay.

Bago nasunog ng todo ung wiring, gumagana pa naman. Pero same case, minsan gumagana, minsan hindi. To the point na hindi na talaga at saka dun ko lang pinacheck. Luckily wiring lang ang nadali.

[jaguarpw]

From what I've read in this thread, I'm afraid my foglamps won't last very long. I just bought a cheap (under 1K) set of fog lamps today and had them installed. It works fine but i dunno for how long. It gets very hot quickly, so i guess the best thing for me to do is use them sparingly.