Morette bulbs
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From: A land of lap-dancers and Lanson Black Label
what are the most powerful bulbs available to run in classic morettes without melting them?
Not worried about the legal side of things, just need daylight!!
Cheers
R
Not worried about the legal side of things, just need daylight!!
Cheers
R
A lot has been said about uprated bulbs on here, but I'll give you my experiences if they're any good to you:
Uprated wattage bulbs are OK, but CAN be dear to buy, and CAN last only a fraction of the time of ordinary ones, increasing the cost yet again. I'd had probs with 100W bulbs on another car, so didn't go this way.
Uprated wattage bulbs can cause melting of wiring, burning of the contacts/reflector, and arcing leading to premature bulb failure. Note that I say "can", not all do, on not all cars! They do really need uprated wiring with a relay, seperate fuse etc. And they are not "E" marked, so strictly illegal
:
What I did do was to try Philips Vision Plus 50% brighter bulbs: none of the above probs, and they ARE better. Try Autolamps on line for a good price, and they were doing free matching sidelight bulbs too.
When you put 'em in make sure they are seated perfectly: slightly out will cause alignment probs, see below:
Before doing ANY uprating, take your car somewhere suitable, and check the alignment of the outer pair of lights. There's no point in buying ANY better bulbs if the lights are putting light everywhere!
What I do is to remove the fuse for the inner pair, select main beam, and cover one light,( Helper, or card cover and masking tape). Then align said light where it gives the best illumination, and repeat for the other side. You could try doing the same with the inners too: I remove the outer bulb connectors to do it, so as not to see their light.
This sometimes needs doing twice or more until you're satisfied, but you'd be surprised at the difference it makes if yours are badly aligned.
Alcazar
Uprated wattage bulbs are OK, but CAN be dear to buy, and CAN last only a fraction of the time of ordinary ones, increasing the cost yet again. I'd had probs with 100W bulbs on another car, so didn't go this way.
Uprated wattage bulbs can cause melting of wiring, burning of the contacts/reflector, and arcing leading to premature bulb failure. Note that I say "can", not all do, on not all cars! They do really need uprated wiring with a relay, seperate fuse etc. And they are not "E" marked, so strictly illegal
:What I did do was to try Philips Vision Plus 50% brighter bulbs: none of the above probs, and they ARE better. Try Autolamps on line for a good price, and they were doing free matching sidelight bulbs too.
When you put 'em in make sure they are seated perfectly: slightly out will cause alignment probs, see below:
Before doing ANY uprating, take your car somewhere suitable, and check the alignment of the outer pair of lights. There's no point in buying ANY better bulbs if the lights are putting light everywhere!
What I do is to remove the fuse for the inner pair, select main beam, and cover one light,( Helper, or card cover and masking tape). Then align said light where it gives the best illumination, and repeat for the other side. You could try doing the same with the inners too: I remove the outer bulb connectors to do it, so as not to see their light.
This sometimes needs doing twice or more until you're satisfied, but you'd be surprised at the difference it makes if yours are badly aligned.
Alcazar
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The standard bulbs in the Morrettes aren't that bad compared to the OEM lights. I had an old set of Halford Xenon (30% brighter) bulbs that I tried as I had them lying around and was VERY impressed. The sidelights bulbs then looked pants, so I bought some Phillips Blue thingys.
See Thread below http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadID=200590
It now lights the road up fine and sidelights match well.
Phill
PS Got my bulbs from the link on the other thread and they arrived within 2 days
See Thread below http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/threa...hreadID=200590
It now lights the road up fine and sidelights match well.
Phill
PS Got my bulbs from the link on the other thread and they arrived within 2 days
Easyest way MissyC is to take one out & take to your friendly Motor Factors or to get them to have a look for you. I think they are the two pin type on yours (H2's) i think, Classic Morettes have H4 & H3.
Where abouts in the Peaks are you ? Im on the Edge, The Peaks that is
Dean
Where abouts in the Peaks are you ? Im on the Edge, The Peaks that is
Dean
Trending Topics
Babber,
Main Headlight on the Classic Morettes is H4 but the secondry unit is H3 I think, Simular to fog lights/Driving lights Etc.
MissyC,
I could almost throw a stone that far, Call in at BrockleHurst Motor factors on the Buxton Road in Leek, The will help you out & there prices are pretty good too
Dean
Main Headlight on the Classic Morettes is H4 but the secondry unit is H3 I think, Simular to fog lights/Driving lights Etc.
MissyC,
I could almost throw a stone that far, Call in at BrockleHurst Motor factors on the Buxton Road in Leek, The will help you out & there prices are pretty good too
Dean
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From: Lancashire
Recently replaced the bulbs in my MY02 WRX with morettes for Philips Blue Vision Ultra (or something like that) - H1 and H7 are the types and they come with blue vision sidelight bulbs as well.
Very pleased with the results, brighter output which is also a cleaner, crisper light as well.
Very pleased with the results, brighter output which is also a cleaner, crisper light as well.
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Joined: Jun 2003
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Originally Posted by alcazar
A lot has been said about uprated bulbs on here, but I'll give you my experiences if they're any good to you:
Uprated wattage bulbs are OK, but CAN be dear to buy, and CAN last only a fraction of the time of ordinary ones, increasing the cost yet again. I'd had probs with 100W bulbs on another car, so didn't go this way.
Uprated wattage bulbs can cause melting of wiring, burning of the contacts/reflector, and arcing leading to premature bulb failure. Note that I say "can", not all do, on not all cars! They do really need uprated wiring with a relay, seperate fuse etc. And they are not "E" marked, so strictly illegal:
What I did do was to try Philips Vision Plus 50% brighter bulbs: none of the above probs, and they ARE better. Try Autolamps on line for a good price, and they were doing free matching sidelight bulbs too.
When you put 'em in make sure they are seated perfectly: slightly out will cause alignment probs, see below:
Before doing ANY uprating, take your car somewhere suitable, and check the alignment of the outer pair of lights. There's no point in buying ANY better bulbs if the lights are putting light everywhere!
What I do is to remove the fuse for the inner pair, select main beam, and cover one light,( Helper, or card cover and masking tape). Then align said light where it gives the best illumination, and repeat for the other side. You could try doing the same with the inners too: I remove the outer bulb connectors to do it, so as not to see their light.
This sometimes needs doing twice or more until you're satisfied, but you'd be surprised at the difference it makes if yours are badly aligned.
Alcazar
Uprated wattage bulbs are OK, but CAN be dear to buy, and CAN last only a fraction of the time of ordinary ones, increasing the cost yet again. I'd had probs with 100W bulbs on another car, so didn't go this way.
Uprated wattage bulbs can cause melting of wiring, burning of the contacts/reflector, and arcing leading to premature bulb failure. Note that I say "can", not all do, on not all cars! They do really need uprated wiring with a relay, seperate fuse etc. And they are not "E" marked, so strictly illegal
:What I did do was to try Philips Vision Plus 50% brighter bulbs: none of the above probs, and they ARE better. Try Autolamps on line for a good price, and they were doing free matching sidelight bulbs too.
When you put 'em in make sure they are seated perfectly: slightly out will cause alignment probs, see below:
Before doing ANY uprating, take your car somewhere suitable, and check the alignment of the outer pair of lights. There's no point in buying ANY better bulbs if the lights are putting light everywhere!
What I do is to remove the fuse for the inner pair, select main beam, and cover one light,( Helper, or card cover and masking tape). Then align said light where it gives the best illumination, and repeat for the other side. You could try doing the same with the inners too: I remove the outer bulb connectors to do it, so as not to see their light.
This sometimes needs doing twice or more until you're satisfied, but you'd be surprised at the difference it makes if yours are badly aligned.
Alcazar
The Morettes were a total bugger to fit to a banana hand like me, look good in day light though, but I must upgrade the bulbs.
I don't want to disconnect them just to see which wattage bulbs are in them (they are "off the shelf" type) for the aforesaid reasons.
Does anyone know off-hand what the Classic Morette bulb ratings are, so that I can uprate them? I've seen different accounts of this.
Failing that, it's back to the originals, with the 100W bulbs.
Ta,
k.
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Hi Richard, Not sure what bulbs are in the lights, I gather H4 from the rest of the post`s ? if they are I have just "finished" a pair of piaa 150/100 `s the ceramic based "long life" bulbs, they were very good but the bulb life was short, about 6 months x 1 hr a day ish, I run constant lights on, both dip`s have now gone, I use 3 relays to power them , 1 for dip 2 for main, I now have piaa 180/130 ceramic`s but have to uprate my relay circuit to cope , Hopefully I should get round to it next week, :-) I will let you know how they are
Have a good one
Tim
ps please email me as I have had a pc "crash" and lost your details, got a nice exhaust tucked up nice and warm in my garage to bring you :-)
Have a good one
Tim
ps please email me as I have had a pc "crash" and lost your details, got a nice exhaust tucked up nice and warm in my garage to bring you :-)
If you aren't happy with your Morettes, I'd be interested to know if they are a) clean
b) set up properly?
I have Morettes on a classic. In the present sort of weather, they need cleaned every day, and sometimes half way througha journey..........the roads are so dirty that wet roads give VERY little reflection back to the driver, result: you can't see b*gger all.
If you're satisfied they are clean, you need to spend time setting up properly:
Select main beam, deselect inners by removing Morette fuse, and get someone/something to cover one side at a time while you do the other one. Do this on a carpark, long lonely straight road etc.
Now reselect inners by replacing fuse, cover BOTH outers and one inner at a time until you are satisfied. Mine took me AGES to set up properly, but once done they are pretty good
AFAIK, the outers are OE H4, 60/55W. Mine use GE Megalights H4, 60% brighter.
The inners are H2, 55W. I've left mine as standard 55W, as uprated H2 bulbs can cause FAR more probs than the benifits they give.
Give the setting up a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Alcazar
BTW: if you REALLY want to see on main beam, get some HID driving lights, see Hella's virtual light tunnel on their site!!!
b) set up properly?
I have Morettes on a classic. In the present sort of weather, they need cleaned every day, and sometimes half way througha journey..........the roads are so dirty that wet roads give VERY little reflection back to the driver, result: you can't see b*gger all.
If you're satisfied they are clean, you need to spend time setting up properly:
Select main beam, deselect inners by removing Morette fuse, and get someone/something to cover one side at a time while you do the other one. Do this on a carpark, long lonely straight road etc.
Now reselect inners by replacing fuse, cover BOTH outers and one inner at a time until you are satisfied. Mine took me AGES to set up properly, but once done they are pretty good
AFAIK, the outers are OE H4, 60/55W. Mine use GE Megalights H4, 60% brighter.
The inners are H2, 55W. I've left mine as standard 55W, as uprated H2 bulbs can cause FAR more probs than the benifits they give.
Give the setting up a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Alcazar
BTW: if you REALLY want to see on main beam, get some HID driving lights, see Hella's virtual light tunnel on their site!!!
Scooby Regular
Joined: Jun 2003
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Originally Posted by alcazar
If you aren't happy with your Morettes, I'd be interested to know if they are a) clean
b) set up properly?
I have Morettes on a classic. In the present sort of weather, they need cleaned every day, and sometimes half way througha journey..........the roads are so dirty that wet roads give VERY little reflection back to the driver, result: you can't see b*gger all.
If you're satisfied they are clean, you need to spend time setting up properly:
Select main beam, deselect inners by removing Morette fuse, and get someone/something to cover one side at a time while you do the other one. Do this on a carpark, long lonely straight road etc.
Now reselect inners by replacing fuse, cover BOTH outers and one inner at a time until you are satisfied. Mine took me AGES to set up properly, but once done they are pretty good
AFAIK, the outers are OE H4, 60/55W. Mine use GE Megalights H4, 60% brighter.
The inners are H2, 55W. I've left mine as standard 55W, as uprated H2 bulbs can cause FAR more probs than the benifits they give.
Give the setting up a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Alcazar
BTW: if you REALLY want to see on main beam, get some HID driving lights, see Hella's virtual light tunnel on their site!!!
b) set up properly?
I have Morettes on a classic. In the present sort of weather, they need cleaned every day, and sometimes half way througha journey..........the roads are so dirty that wet roads give VERY little reflection back to the driver, result: you can't see b*gger all.
If you're satisfied they are clean, you need to spend time setting up properly:
Select main beam, deselect inners by removing Morette fuse, and get someone/something to cover one side at a time while you do the other one. Do this on a carpark, long lonely straight road etc.
Now reselect inners by replacing fuse, cover BOTH outers and one inner at a time until you are satisfied. Mine took me AGES to set up properly, but once done they are pretty good
AFAIK, the outers are OE H4, 60/55W. Mine use GE Megalights H4, 60% brighter.
The inners are H2, 55W. I've left mine as standard 55W, as uprated H2 bulbs can cause FAR more probs than the benifits they give.
Give the setting up a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Alcazar
BTW: if you REALLY want to see on main beam, get some HID driving lights, see Hella's virtual light tunnel on their site!!!
Looks like I may be surfing for bulbs tonight...
HiD bulbs, yes please! I saw a guy with them on a Classic on Loch Lomond-side last Winter (might have been a P1), during a total minger of a rainstorm. And it knows how to rain in that area! They are well impressive, but unfortunately outside my budget at the mo. Are they not about £700?
Bulb quest commences!
Cheers for the info.
Regs,
K.
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A downer on the current season, but something worth bearing in mind for later on.
Alcazar : could you please just spell out which bulbs you recommend to upgrade Morettes on a Classic? I would like to know, otherwise it's back to the originals.
H...Outers
H...Inners
Vision-Plus?
TIA.
K.
Alcazar : could you please just spell out which bulbs you recommend to upgrade Morettes on a Classic? I would like to know, otherwise it's back to the originals.
H...Outers
H...Inners
Vision-Plus?
TIA.
K.
OK, just back from France.
Outers, H4, Philips Vision Plus or GE Megalights.
Inners, H2............leaver 'em be, for the reasons given, otherwise, you could TRY some H2 100W from Halfrauds etc..............
Alcazar
Outers, H4, Philips Vision Plus or GE Megalights.
Inners, H2............leaver 'em be, for the reasons given, otherwise, you could TRY some H2 100W from Halfrauds etc..............
Alcazar
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It's getting darker earlier and later now, so good lights are becoming a bigger issue. This afternoon I removed the Morettes and re-applied my originals.
As has been said, some cars' wiring can't accept the up-rated wattage (100W) but I seem to be lucky so far.
I've had a trawl for upgraded bulbs for the Morettes as suggested. ****, I've lost the "Post-It" where I recorded the specs; I could find alternatives for the outers but not the inners on the Morettes.
Any suggestions? My car doesn't have to be road-legal as I only use it on my private estate for rallying purposes.
K.
As has been said, some cars' wiring can't accept the up-rated wattage (100W) but I seem to be lucky so far.
I've had a trawl for upgraded bulbs for the Morettes as suggested. ****, I've lost the "Post-It" where I recorded the specs; I could find alternatives for the outers but not the inners on the Morettes.
Any suggestions? My car doesn't have to be road-legal as I only use it on my private estate for rallying purposes.
K.
Last edited by Ken 275; Oct 16, 2005 at 12:27 AM. Reason: D'Oh : it's a MY 98
Ken: the inners on a classic Morette set-up are defo H2.
If you want to try uprated lamps in there, OK.
Try: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.c.../lights-3.html
Looking at that site, they seem to do 130W lamps. Their prices are ex VAT and p&p.
You could aslo try Halfrauds, or a DECENT car shop.
PLEASE remember that uprated H2 lamps have caused problems in MUCH bigger reflectors than the Cibie inners you're thinking of putting them in............ It's the lampholders that seem to suffer.
Alcazar
If you want to try uprated lamps in there, OK.
Try: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.c.../lights-3.html
Looking at that site, they seem to do 130W lamps. Their prices are ex VAT and p&p.
You could aslo try Halfrauds, or a DECENT car shop.
PLEASE remember that uprated H2 lamps have caused problems in MUCH bigger reflectors than the Cibie inners you're thinking of putting them in............
It's the lampholders that seem to suffer.Alcazar
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Originally Posted by alcazar
Ken: the inners on a classic Morette set-up are defo H2.
If you want to try uprated lamps in there, OK.
Try: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.c.../lights-3.html
Looking at that site, they seem to do 130W lamps. Their prices are ex VAT and p&p.
You could aslo try Halfrauds, or a DECENT car shop.
PLEASE remember that uprated H2 lamps have caused problems in MUCH bigger reflectors than the Cibie inners you're thinking of putting them in............ It's the lampholders that seem to suffer.
Alcazar
If you want to try uprated lamps in there, OK.
Try: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.c.../lights-3.html
Looking at that site, they seem to do 130W lamps. Their prices are ex VAT and p&p.
You could aslo try Halfrauds, or a DECENT car shop.
PLEASE remember that uprated H2 lamps have caused problems in MUCH bigger reflectors than the Cibie inners you're thinking of putting them in............
It's the lampholders that seem to suffer.Alcazar
Forgive my electrical ignorance. Is it these jobs you are recommending to me (not other Classic drivers) :
479 Halogen H2 12 55 £4.72
They're only 55W and I can't see the benefit. I'm willing to try super ones as I have the Classics now applied, so the present ones will do as a back-up until I re-apply the Morettes.
Pls give me the part # which you recommend and I'll give it a test, loom permitting.
If I visited a garage I would be at least £45 down by now, without parts & labour.
Roll on SN and Alcazar!
K.
No, it's one down from that, Part No. 488. H2 130W, £6.79.
Be ready for it to eat bulbs though
Dunno if Halfrauds would be cheaper? Once you add VAT and p&p to that, they'll be around £22 a pair! If you have a Halfrauds anywhere near, they open sundays?
Alcazar
Be ready for it to eat bulbs though
Dunno if Halfrauds would be cheaper? Once you add VAT and p&p to that, they'll be around £22 a pair! If you have a Halfrauds anywhere near, they open sundays?
Alcazar
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