Blowing headlight bulb

[hammerman]

My headlight bulb blew on the way home tonight(d9).Ive had my car for nearly 3 years now,this is bulb number 9!!!Allways the left headlight,can blow any time.This is the 3rd bulb this year.I ve tested the voltage to the bulb & all is well.The rear tail light bulb never blows.
Has anyone else suffered this,or is it just my car???
I`ve tryed many bulbs,long life etc,makes no difference.

[mjb]

Two things that'll cause rapid failure of incandescent bulbs:

1) Voltage spikes.
2) Voltage drops - much more likely

I'd suggest cleaning the contacts in the bulb holder and checking all the wiring

[steve_earwig]

..and checking the light mountings

[hammerman]

Checked & cleaned all contacts.Headlamp is all secure.
I though it must be a spike.But unless i drive everywhere with my multy meter(i have`nt got leads long enough )& watch it for spikes,theres not a lot i can do.
Never mind,i though voltage spkikes were too blame.
I can get bulbs free of charge from our plant workshop,so its not too bad.
Thanks.
Going to start my abs now.

[Welly]

I can get bulbs free of charge from our plant workshop.

Maybe they're crap bulbs?

I can't see you having voltage 'spikes' really otherwise the car would be going haywire? the BSi certainly won't entertain spikes.

I remember someone on here having a non-functioning headlight and traced the cause to bad wiring/connection near the battery (or under the battery).

[mjb]

I remember someone on here having a non-functioning headlight and traced the cause to bad wiring/connection near the battery (or under the battery).

The main earth point is under the battery, and I recently cleaned mine up - it was corroded to hell

[hammerman]

Cleaned all conections & earths before,but no luck.The bulbs from work are only cheapys,but have also tryed all bulbs from most makers,bosch,phillips,ring you name it,ive had it.

[TooT]

Don't hate me for this but your not touching the glass and leaving a greasy fingerprint on it are you

[hammerman]

No chance of that .I know how to handle bulbs.

[jasper5]

Have you any condensation in your headlight?

I find that is the most common cause of early bulb failure, along with greasy mitts, which you don't appear to have a problem with.

[Captain Jack]

I had this problem with my Accord - blew about 4 bulbs in 9 months! How would greasy hands affect the bulbs?

[mjb]

How would greasy hands affect the bulbs?

My understanding is the grease slightly thermally insulates the glass at that point so it's hotter and expands more than the rest of the bulb, which can create a microscopic fracture letting the inert gas out and causing the filament to burn and melt

Could be BS, but it makes sense

[steve_earwig]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_bu ... recautions

[diesel406]

I also seem to have frequent headlamp bulb failures on the left hand side (looking at the front of the car, i.e. driver's side). In the wiring loom is this headlamp closer to some source of spikes - e.g. alternator, aircon pump?

I have got through 3 in the last 12 months, with the last failure last night. (My car is a 2003 D9 - HDI 110) - what is yours hammerman? I am thinking about switching the long beam bulb into the main beam to see if this works for the time being - I like the higher output bulbs and have used Philips X-treme on all my cars ... not sure if this is connected to the problem.

Any comments welcome!

[hammerman]

Mines a 2003 D9 Hdi 110 estate SE.Mine is the nearside bulb(right hand side if looking front on).I used to use osram silver stars as they were a good upgrade in light output,then switched to phillips(extream)i think.But now just use any bulbs as it blows.I get them from work free of charge.Ok,they are unbranded,but they do the job.My Dad replaced 3 bulbs in the same unit in the 3 years he had the car,so they are blowing more often with me.
I did wonder if the auto headlamp function may be to blame,as the headlamps are on far more often,like when it rains,going under bridges etc.Where as before on my other cars,i`d tend to use the sidelights more,& the lights did`nt come on all the time.