Just thought I'd share my experience with IPF lights.

They're great! I upgraded the stock Land Rover candles with the "Headlight Inserts" with 85/110 bulbs. The difference unsurprisingly amazing.

I also have the IPF 968 wired to my full beam as driving lights. They are 55W bulbs, but are nicely focused and clear.

They are made(?)/distributed by ARB and worth considering if you're thinking of upgrading. I've also seen the 960 working and that's like having the sun with you at night!

http://www.arb.com.au/IPF_Range.htm

Cheers,
Nick.

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www.nickt.com
96 BMW F650
96 Defender 90 300TDi
97 NAS D90
98 Camel Trophy 110

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Nick Taylor, a Colorado Mack'em
blog | vehicles

Nick,
That's great, as long as the bulbs work. The higher the wattage the more problems with reliability. I used to have 130W bulbs and were wondering why I had to change them every few weeks. 100W bulbs lasted three times longer.

Rgds,
Roman (UK)

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Roman (UK)

Hi Roman,
That's a good point. I also forgot to mention that I upgraded the wiring harness that would handle the extra current. No problems with bulbs so far...

Nick.

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Nick Taylor, a Colorado Mack'em
blog | vehicles

Hi Nick,

Just as a point of reference. Here are the major factors that affect the life of incandescent lamps in automotive applications:

1) Vibration and shock
2) Ambient temperature in the headlights or luminaries
3) Power supply

ad 1) By increasing the wattage you go for a filament type lamp that burns at a higher rate, i.e. becomes thinner more quickly and consequently becomes more vulnerable to shock and vibration

ad 2) Self-evident, particularly as filament lamps by their very nature are heat radiators that also happen to radiate at visible wavelengths

ad 3)By upgrading the harness to lower gauge(i.e. lower resistance ) wiring you protect it from overheating. This is just to save the wiring, not the bulbs. Too little resistance in the wiring is also detrimental, as bulbs are designed for and tested at 13.2V. The typical alternator voltage is 14.5V. Wiring resistance is thus included in the design.

I know it's all anorak stuff, but I've learned these things when my lights started giving me problems. I used to buy PIAA bulbs at £15 each. They lasted two-three months and would go without any apparent reason. Rather than splashing out on new headlight bulbs I installed new lamps - Lightforce - that use a completely different bulb (100W Osram Xenophot) with average lamp life of 2000 hours.

Hope it helps,
Roman (UK)

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Roman (UK)

Hi Roman,

"I know it's all anorak stuff"

Ha! No comment

Sounds like you've done a bit of research. While the IPF bulbs are not cheap, I've had no problems with them installed in IPF replacement lights. I've used the Hella/Osram combination too - they don't last long - though not the Xenophot bulbs you mention.

Cheers,
Nick.

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Nick Taylor, a Colorado Mack'em
blog | vehicles