From: Harry Bloomfield on
Derek C wrote on 21/02/2010 :
> The second bulb to fail had only been replaced a few weeks earlier, so
> that explanation is unlikely!
>
> AA men have to deal with many breakdowns, so I assume that he had
> plenty of experience of this problem.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk


From: Harry Bloomfield on
Derek C formulated on Sunday :
> The second bulb to fail had only been replaced a few weeks earlier, so
> that explanation is unlikely!

Most lamps fail either in a very short period after they are fitted or
last for their design life - so not that unusual.

>
> AA men have to deal with many breakdowns, so I assume that he had
> plenty of experience of this problem.

I have never heard of it.

>
> Yes, but the under bonnet space could, and should, be designed so that
> it's easy to get at the headlight units to change bulbs. Easy
> maintenance seems to be an afterthought for many modern car designs.

I am happy to trade off lack of need for regular maintenance for a
little extra difficulty when maintenance is needed. Imagine having to
decoke a modern engine every 5K miles.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk


From: Another Dave on
On 21/02/2010 10:11, Derek C wrote:
> Bearing in mind that my car is of French origin, where it is a legal
> requirement to carry a spare bulb set, the difficulty of changing
> headlamp bulbs is a dangerous nonsense. Even if I had the bulbs, I
> would have no chance of fitting them myself. It might just be possible
> if you have a very thin double jointed wrists and fingers like ET!
>
> Derek C

It's not just French cars - Italian too.

It took me nearly three hours to replace a headlamp bulb on my diesel Fiat.

When the other side failed (about a year later) I took it to a garage.
It took them just over an hour.

Impossible to replace at the roadside.

Another Dave


From: Derek C on
On 21 Feb, 16:51, Another Dave <dmars...(a)nospam.com> wrote:
> On 21/02/2010 10:11, Derek C wrote:
>
> > Bearing in mind that my car is of French origin, where it is a legal
> > requirement to carry a spare bulb set, the difficulty of changing
> > headlamp bulbs is a dangerous nonsense. Even if I had the bulbs, I
> > would have no chance of fitting them myself. It might just be possible
> > if you have a very thin double jointed wrists and fingers like ET!
>
> > Derek C
>
> It's not just French cars - Italian too.
>
> It took me nearly three hours to replace a headlamp bulb on my diesel Fiat.
>
> When the other side failed (about a year later) I took it to a garage.
> It took them just over an hour.
>
> Impossible to replace at the roadside.
>
> Another Dave

My AA man said that some VW Models (German) and the Ford Ka are even
worse than my Citroen, so it's not only French or Italian cars that
have this design fault. Maybe it's deliberate to keep their main
dealers in business!

Incidentally Halfords offer a fixed price bulb fitting deal, so I just
take my car to them now if a bulb needs replacing. My local branch
seem to have a mechanic with ultra thin, double jointed wrists and
long thin fingers, who can just about fit the headlight bulbs without
dismantling the car. Even he managed to break a bulb trying to fit it,
but this was down to Halfords.

Derek C
From: CorporalJones on
On 21/02/2010 12:49, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
> Derek C brought next idea :
>> The AA man said that with modern wiring systems, it is quite common
>> for a second headlight bulb to fail shortly after the first due to an
>> electrical surge.
>
> Don't believe it, what surge? Where did the surge come from?
>
> The most likely explanation is that both lamps were exactly the same age
> and therefor lasted a similar amount of time.
>
>> In older cars, changing a bulb was about a two minute job. As cars
>> with blown headlamps are a safety issue, surely cars should be
>> designed so that it is easy to fit replacement bulbs!
>
> There is much more under the hood, so space is at a premium in modern
> cars. Despite this I can change mine in around 15 minutes. I took the
> time to fit new ones in my car a few days after I bought it, in the
> comfort of my garage - so I would know how to do it at the side of the
> road if necessary.
>

In my Volvo S40 it only takes a few minutes to remove the light unit
complete and take it into the warmth of indoors to replace it.

As the bloody lights are on all the time it is a regular occurrence, in
my previous Mondy I replaced the headlight bulb twice in 8 years, I have
done the Volvo twice in the last 9 months, at least the designers gave
it some thought.

--
Corporal Jones
"I don't like it up me"
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