Word of warning about aux. lights!!

I went wheelin last night around a lake and was running my hella black magic lights the whole time. I went into a puddle and the glass lenses cracked. The heat from the lamps mixed with the cold of the puddle and caused both of them to crack in many different places. Just a word of advice, If you are running higher wattage bulbs in your lights like I was and get them wet from a puddle or something they might crack from the temperature shock. Just a warning to everyone out there.

Oh yeah, I had to order new lenses for them at $75 each. The entire black magic kit was only $200. Costly mistake on my part!

 

[X~FACTOR]

Good looking out.

Aren't wheeling at night dangerous?

 

[Black Magic]

I would try and have Hella replace them under warrenty.

 

[Rob Slade]

Yeah, wheelin at night can be more dangerous. The stuff we got into wasn't too bad and I wasn't alone. Plus I have 8 lights so I could see very well. I

tried to get hella to replace them, but I have had them for over 2 years and they only offer a 1 year warranty...no good.

 

[DocVijay]

Same here.

My PIAA 1100X lights did the same thing after driving through a big puddle (small lake?). Both bulbs cracked at the base. The 1100X has a integrated bulb/lens unit that costs $40 a piece, so needless to say I was pretty pissed!

 

[jssong]

so what if you use aux lights in really cold temperatures? im at school in buffalo, and sometimes it gets pretty cold, and im sure others are in colder climates. does this only happen when going into puddles? because i would imagine the colder air to be more of a problem then water hitting the lens.

 

[Rob Slade]

As long as you don't shock the glass with a sudden temperature change. In the cold, it would be a gradual cool down and heat up when you turned on the lights. You should be okay. Also if you run the bulbs that came with the lights, there won't be as much heat as using higher wattage bulbs like I was doing. That was the main reason this happened.

 

[Nitrous SSC]

I've had that happen twice in the summer going into a car wash at night....next thing I know I've got water swiming in my lights...

damn pilot lights!

 

[lonestar]

$200 for the kit vs. $75 for the lenses, I would have just bought a whole other set and had spare parts.

If you mount the lights up higher you can get them away from the water, or any other light smashing obstacle.

Cold air is not a problem. For one thing, air is less dense and does not transfer energy like water. It's the whole cake in the oven example, when you bake a cake what burns, the cake or the pan. Also, if your truck sets out, everything cools evenly, its a temp shock that causes glass to break.

 

[Rob Slade]

I thought about buying the kit again, but I'm selling the vehicle and already have a set of rally 4000's ready for the next vehicle. I really didnt' have the use for the spare parts especially since they have different wiring harnesses.

 

[wired_af]

Ya think those high quality brands would be smart enough to use pyrex glass as the lenses. that way they could withstand sudden changes in temp.

 

[DocVijay]

Yes, but even Pyrex will shatter under he right conditions. Trust me, I've done it.