APC Super Whites - Again

[tex_n_ct]

It finally warmed up enough in CT for us thin blooded Southerners to venture under the hood for more than a few seconds. One of the items pending on the Ford list was replacing the headlamps with a recently purbhased set of APC Plasma Super Whites (part #509004PW). These are advertised everywhere as being high wattage (69/100) replacements for the 9004 lamps.

WELL!!!! Grabbed the package and the first thing noticed is the small print on the front that says "Actual Wattage 65/45 watts". HHMMMMM.... A quick trip over to 4APC.NET only says that :

Super White & Frost
High performance, high wattage,
closest to H.I.D. bulbs. Powerful high white beam.
(High wattage bulbs are recommended to be used
with upgraded wiring harnesses)

.... no mention anywhere of what high wattage means to this manufacturer.

SO! I do the logical thing and install one bulb, wait for darkness and poll all available eyes as to which is brighter. Amazingly (well, maybe not) 4 of 6 saw no difference, one said the new bulb and one said the original bulb. No one saw any color difference. For info, the originals were one Sylvania and one that is simply marked 9004 - guess they thought they were making garbage and didn't want to put their name on it.

A quick voltage check showed >13VDC at the connector of each lamp.

Conclusions:
1. American advertising is still living down to its reputation.
2. This particular bulb in this particular application on light(ens) the owners wallet.
3. Explorer headlights are not the best example of engineering prowess.
4. Caveat emptor.

Final item. After seeing the size of the connector pins on the 9004 lamps, I am not sure I would want to install the higher wattage lamps anyway. Those puny little wimps look like they would be straining to carry the 4 amps of a regular bulb in anything other the best of conditions, much less the 7.5 amps of a 100W bulb. (values approximate)

 

[jimbo74]

not 100% sure... but most aftermarket fogs that put out a lot more light then stock bulbs are only like 35-50 watts..... so 45/65 actually seems to be on par with stock

 

[FDNYEMT]

bottom line. APC is garbage.

 

[tex_n_ct]

Exactly

Yes, most fogs and drivings (at least the good ones) are 55 watts.
And 45/65 is 100% stock.

 

[darknite3603]

I have APC Super Plasma Xenon a.k.a "The X-Bulb" in my 97 expo, and love them, they ARE higher wattage 80/100 watts. I had Silverstars before and these things outshine the silverstars big time. I think that the place that you bought your APC light bulbs didnt know what they were advertising because if they are DOT legal they CAN NOT be higher wattage. And on the APC website it says that they are DOT complaint. If you want a good blue/white super bright bulb look for the X-Bulb, 100% better

 

[tex_n_ct]

APC

Thanx for the info darknite.

However I was unable to find ANY info anywhere that does not say the 905004PW's are anything except 80/100 watt bulbs. The info from the APC website is copied in my original post. Notice that they IMPLY that the bulbs are of a higher wattage than standard without actually saying it. A search for that part number lead to numerous sites that have them for sale. All of the visited sites advertise them as 80/100 watt bulbs. Also, I can find no mention of DOT certification or lack thereof.

That was what I was trying to say in the original post - that their advertising is definitely misleading if not an outright lie. Even the place that I bought these from (which shall remain nameless since I feel they were not culpable) thought they were an upgrade from stock.

I repeat - my experience is that the company does not respect it customers, that they sell at least this product in an unethical manner and that there is no value received for money spent.

Last, I will not spend another penny to support any company that uses these kinds of tactics to mislead the market - and I feel strongly that anyone who does is betraying everyone else who has to suffer from these kinds of businesses existing.