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[Vulpine]

Hi
I have been told that the projector style headlights can take halogen or xenon bulbs. Is this true? I thought the halogen versions would be different to the xenon ones.
In this case I am talking about pre-face lift omegas.

[dbug]

Halogen & Xenon headlights - are they the same? - No

You need to make sure you get right fittings either H1 or H7 etc for your light units.  Then either halogen filled or xenon filled bulbs will fit.

The "true" xenon lights - HIDs - are a totally different animal requiring HID headlight units etc etc.

For bulb list see http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1175644433

[TheBoy]

And legally HID lights cannot be fitted into non HID approved lenses (which in real terms means you have to buy HID headlamp units). Also legally need washers and a automatic levelling system.

On top of that, you need the ballast packs to make them work

[3.2 manual]

yep he's right, the levelling comes from front+ rear heights and a jet wash system... pain in the ass, but is possable if your made of money.

[steve-o2.5]

halogen gas burns with a yellow tinge and at a lower temp than xenon which gives a slightly blue tinge.

[pedroMV6]

xenon which gives a slightly blue tinge.

Depends on the Kelvin rating - they can burn from halogen yellow (low K rating, not sure how much!!!) to ice white (6K, best light) to purple (12K, pretty, but overall amount of light decreased a fair bit from 6K).

[Vulpine]

thanks everyone
thats what i thought.
I need halogen projector style replacements and there is a guy on ebay saying i can use xenons and just put halogens bulbs in! i will avoid.

[Andy H]

What I find confusing is that HID's can be referred to as Xenons (because HID lamps have a noble gas in them [which is probably xenon]) AND Quartz Halogen lamps can be called Xenons (normal Quartz Halogen lamps use Argon but the extra bright ones use Xenon).

What I also find confusing is that mini-facelift and facelift cars have very similar looking projector headlights (with what looks like a glass ball for the dip beam). In each case they could be either Quartz Halogen or HID but you can't tell which unless you see them working (or lift the bonnet & look for the HID ballast and warning sticker).

The extra bright (Xenon) Quartz Halogen lamps are the same wattage (& heat output) as the normal (Argon) Quartz Halogen lamps so you can swap them over and get better lighting without damaging your existing headlights or changing any wiring.

HID's are HID's and totally different (but contain Xenon)

And finally... HID's are only fitted to the dip beam. Main beam is still quartz halogen.

[joshwyatt]

You're correct, Xenon is a noble gas (Right hand side of peridodic table). It has a full shell of electrons, which makes it very stable and safe. When a current is passed through the xenon gas it gives of a white/blue light. You can compare it to Neon. Neon is also a nobe gas, and as we know that's used in those bright signs. I never really got where HID came from, in my eye's it just explains how Xenon lights are different. High Intensity Discharge.
The easiest way to tell I find is to simply look if it has headlight washers, if it does it most likely has Xenon's. The second way I check is to look for a headlight adjustment switch. No car with Xenon will have this. And of course the easiest way, simply turn the lights on.

[Andy H]

thanks everyone
thats what i thought.
I need halogen projector style replacements and there is a guy on ebay saying i can use xenons and just put halogens bulbs in! i will avoid.

If they are quartz halogen (not HID) and ultra bright (Xenon) lamps have been put in then the seller is correct. If the Xenon lamps are fitted then keep them

[Andy H]

The easiest way to tell I find is to simply look if it has headlight washers, if it does it most likely has Xenon's.

My pre-facelift CD with flat fronted quartz halogen headlights had headlight washers so I wouldn't be so certain.

[pedroMV6]

HID = High Intensity Discharge.
The "ballasts" (for want of a better word) provide a very high voltage when the lights are switched on, to ignite the Xenon gas inside the burners - a bit like an arc welder. This is for a second or two, and reduces back to 12V when the burners are working.
So, if Xenon is used in halogen bulbs too, why don't they need more power at start up?
Is it a different mix of gas? :-/

[Entwood]

In very simple terms   ....   the difference between "normal" Quartz Halogen/Quartz Xenon and HID (High Intensity Discharge) is how the light is produced,

Both Quartz Halogen and Quartz Xenon are filament bulbs, where the light is produced by the filament glowing white hot .. the "Quartz" refers to the makeup of the glass of the bulb aas quartz withstands the intense heat better, and the Halogen/Xenon (or any other gas) refers to the gas inserted into the bulb that prevents the filament oxidising away ... different gases allow different temperatures at the filament so producing different light.

A HID light does not have a filament .. but is a very small type of discharge light ..  The light is caused by a discharge of electricity across a space .. think welding arc .... the gas not only protects the arc but "fluoresces" ... think "strip light".

Any filament bulb will work off 12v.... may draw a high wattage (current) but 'twill work and is almost instant.

A discharge light requires a much higher voltage to "strike" and takes a moment to activate (as the gas has to heat up before it fluoresces) .. you can see this when you switch them on .... dim for a second then brighten...which is why they are not used on main beam.

So they are markedly different.

HTH

[Andy H]

So, if Xenon is used in halogen bulbs too, why don't they need more power at start up?
Is it a different mix of gas? :-/

1. Incandescent Lamp - passes an electric current through a coil of wire to heat it white hot and give off light.

2. Discharge Lamp - passes an electric current through a gas. The electrons passing through the gas excite the molecules of the gas which then give off light.

Quartz halogen lamps are incandescent lamps that use a quartz glass tube and surround the filament in a noble gas (Argon or Xenon) in an attempt to get the filament to last a long time and get very hot.

HID's (high intensity discharge) lamps need to use a very high voltage to get a miniature lighting strike started (and keep it steady) in a tube of Xenon.

We are comparing apples and pears here. They both contain Xenon but use it in a different way.

[pedroMV6]

Great replies - easy to digest and understand, cheers lads!

I knew the 'ballasts' supply the high voltage required to set off the arc, but wasn't up to speed on the rest - now I am!

We are comparing apples and pears here. They both contain Xenon but use it in a different way.

Excellent!