Keep Light Covers or Remove Them?

[SurferGuy710]

I got new diamond lamps (here they are ) and I am trying to decide whether to keep the little covers on the bulb or take them off. What's your opinion on this? Does this thing change the look of the light on the road?

I have HIDs if that makes a difference. Anybody with pictures with the cover on?

 

[jimbo74]

do not take them off, you will get mroe light output but those little shields shield the light from other drivers eyes and also produce a clean cutoff, not stray light bouncing all over the place

 

[UtahX]

I left mine on, yes, there is a black spot in the middle, but otherwise still great light extension. No problem at all.

 

[Afboy143]

+1 on keeping them on. Ess. with HID

 

[pabille]

Yeah, I think those covers actually deflectors. They deflect light onto the reflectors to focus a more intense pattern onto the road. Clear diamonds don't have the focusing lenses that OEMs do. They use the reflector to focus the beam. Without the covers or deflectors the light from the bulb would shine in all different directions, like into the sky.

 

[Bill Kemp]

IMO the diamonds were designed without the bulb shield. They are the multi-surface reflector technology that uses the reflector to focus the beam instead of the lenses. This is a very efficient way to get the most light on the road.
The first guys that got the diamonds had no bulb shield. Later, possibly to meet some obscure DOT standard, the shield was added. Since the reflectors were originally designed without the shield when they added the shield it created dark areas in the beam pattern. With halogen bulbs I'd remove the shields. Dont know about HID. If you get too much of a dark area you can always remove them later.
Just give it a try.....

 

[Afboy143]

its only held in with a screw so do some testing. Only prob is your going to have to open it up and seal it back

 

[pabille]

IMO the diamonds were designed without the bulb shield. They are the multi-surface reflector technology that uses the reflector to focus the beam instead of the lenses. This is a very efficient way to get the most light on the road.

Using that thought, if the bulb is behind the reflector, wouldn't a more efficient and stronger beam be generated if light shooting out of the from of the bulb is reflected back to this highly polished multi-surface reflector that will actually amplify the light? This would be similar (but opposite) to the concept behind a solar light dish. The multi-sulface reflector would also compensate for dark spots produced by the cover.

PIAA has this to say: Multi Surface Reflector - MSR, A reflector designed to control the beam pattern with a computer designed surface to project the light precisely to the desired point in the beam without the use of fluting.

Bill does brings bring up and interesting point. Gigantic 100 watt off-road long-range pencil beams don't have bulb covers so...experiment!

 

[Bill Kemp]

Your assuming that the bulb shield is a reflector. I dont think it reflects. And if the multi surface reflector was designed without the shield there it will not work as designed when the shield is addded. It would be like putting your finger over a flashlight lense. Your gonna get a shadow.
The smr type reflectors that are OEM and are designed with a bulb shield from the start dont have that shadow problem.

 

[pabille]

Agreed! If the cover is a just a shield, it will not add to the projected light from an MSR designed to reflect light directly emitted from the bulb . If the cover is a reflector, removing it would detract from the computer designed MSR light output. Of course, adding a shield to a unit that was designed to operate without one would create an unacceptable shadow.