Gerhard

5th Gen H1 Bulb Comparison and General Information
by Gerhard

This is the second version of my original article about H1 type bulbs for the 5th Gen Honda Prelude. The original version was posted in August of 2000 on the now defunct icon of Prelude history – HondaPrelude.com. (The actual bulb comparisons are in the second messge, general background is in this one...)

Since then there have been a lot of vendors that have produced H1 type bulbs using newer halogen / noble gas technologies. I can’t really say that everything’s changed, but I can give you a list of updated bulbs and vendors. However, we are going to take a look at some technical facts / background first.

Over the past four years I’ve been looking for a better bulb, particularly for the low beams, so that I can see more clearly at night. The primary reason for this is that the low beams tend to truncate at a certain level to prevent you from blinding on-coming traffic. It’s a great design, unless you want to see a little further down the road. This is further complicated by the fact that the stock bulbs for the car are 55watt Halogen H1s.

Before we get going, first thing first:

Disclaimer:

Use any of my notes here is doing so at your own risk! I make no warranties about the information contained herein. What follows are my observations. Using 100 watt H1 bulbs in the head lamp assembly can be a problem, especially if they are not a brand name!


The 1997-2001 Prelude head lamps:

The headlamp housing in the Prelude was made for 55watt bulbs. If you put an extremely hot bulb in the head lamp, you might damage the fixture. I’ve used 85watt bulbs and I’ve read that other people have as well, so they appear pretty safe. However: I have noticed that some 70watt and 85watt bulbs have started to burn the bulb holders when used in the low beams. This seems to be as a result of continued use over time. Basically, the bulb holders get baked as the higher wattage bulbs warm up the assembly. The most notable signs of the bulb holders getting to hot are the white plastic nubs that level the metal base of the bulb showing signs of melting, and the glue at the base of the holder turning a deep brown. It is also possible in some extreme instances to see brown burning in the gray plastic part of the headlamp assembly where the bulbs plug in.

One of the interesting things I’ve noticed is that putting 100w bulb in the high beams doesn’t seem to damage anything (bulb holders, wiring, etc.). I think this is because the high beams are not used as much and never bake any of the headlamp parts for long periods of time.

What goes into automotive lamps from a technology standpoint?

H1 bulbs are pretty simple in design. There is a simple tungsten filament that is wound at various lengths and runs about 50% the length of the quartz capsule. Aside from the filament, the bulb itself is charged with a halogen gas.

From your high school chemistry class you probably know that the halides are a group of elements with similar properties. Our area of interest is what happens when you charge the charge a gas with electrons. There are two ways to do this:

1) You can arc the electrons from one electrode to another by using extremely high voltages. That flow of electrons through the gas (usually Xenon) causes a broad spectrum white light to be produced. The automotive world uses lamps based on this technology that are called H.I.D. or High Intensity Discharge lamps. These are the cool ass lamps that most folks want.

2) You can also use a tungsten filament attached to the two electrodes, but fill the bulb with a halogen gas (chlorine or fluorine). In this method the filament vaporizes slightly as it heats up and gaseous tungsten flows through the bulb. The halogen gas interacts with tungsten gas / filament combo causing it to “burn� hotter all the while re-depositing the tungsten onto the filament as it vaporized off. This process in turn radiates photons of light in wavelengths directly related to the gas / filament used. For a halogen based bulb the gas is going to be chlorine, or if a solid is used one of the various halides. This setup is known as a normal light bulb, and that is exactly what an H1 bulb is.

Why does any of this matter? Well, it’s helpful because it enables you to better understand one of the options you have to seeing better if you’ve got a 5th gen: Knowing the difference between the many H1 bulbs.

What are the options for better lighting on your 5th Gen?
Well, to get more light, you have several options:

1. Get a higher wattage bulb. I’ve found H1 bulbs in 55w, 70w, 85w and 100w so far.

2. Get a newer technology bulb. (Xenon, xenon/halogen mix, etc.)

3. Install a HID system. (Big bucks, and not generally a do it yourself project.)

4. Install an additional light system. (Fogs or Driving lights)
Higher wattage bulbs:

As you’ve read about there are can be issues with using higher wattage bulbs and their physical placement in the Prelude.
However, there is no doubt that installing a higher wattage bulb will produce a higher output or intensity of light. This can be a big advantage to seeing the road at night, especially when used in the high beams. However, in the low beams very high wattage bulbs tend to blind on coming traffic as they are too intense for the OEM reflector. The one other complication with higher wattage halogen lights is that they burn VERY hot. Hot is not good in the OEM head lamps.

One other consideration deals with the wiring harness of your Prelude. When you use the highest wattage bulbs (100 watts) they draw a lot of current (energy). This draw can cause the factory wiring harness to overload and burn up. To be safe, you should not use 100 watt H1 bulbs in all 4 bulb places on the 5th Gen. You should only use them in 2 of the 4 locations (your choice).

Mixed technology bulbs:

There is another gas that has found its way into normal bulb manufacture: Xenon. Xenon’s use in halogen bulbs provides a whiter light than just using the standard filament / halogen method. It also produces a slightly cooler bulb. The neat thing about this is that you get about a 30% increase in light output just by changing the gas mixtures.

The real advantage for someone looking to get rid of that yellowish light look is that Xenon based halogen bulbs produce a white light. This light is closer to the color temperature of a HID system, but brighter enough to produce the equivalent output of a higher wattage bulb.

Krypton, Argon, and Neon are also used in halogen bulbs, but not generally in automotive applications.
One other manner of insuring decently blue / white light is by coating the bulbs in with a light filter. Generally, the coatings are either blue (which creates a more sunlight like white light) or dichroic (which produces the aqua blue head lamp color). The best bulbs usually use a Xenon gas and bulb filter to get a comfortable white color temperature out of a bulb.

Installing a HID system:

It is possible to install a HID system in a Honda Prelude. There are two ways to do this and neither are really cheap.
The first way it to get a H1 bulb replacement kit where HID lamps have been glued into an H1 base. There a huge problems with this method. The worst of them being that you blind every driver on the road because of the tremendous glare generated by the OEM reflectors. The stock Prelude’s headlamp assembly is not made for the intensity of the light produced and scatters the light everywhere. It looks really cool up close, but it also blinds on coming traffic and doesn’t provide enough directed light to see the road well. This method is brighter than H1 bulbs, but not really better per se.

The second way is to have you head lamp housing modified with the reflector from an OEM system made for another car. This is the most successful manner of performing a HID upgrade because it puts the light exactly where it should be by correcting the beam pattern and focusing the light.

Beware: The 1st aftermarket HID install is not DOT approved and can cause problems when you go to have your car inspected.

Installing additional lighting systems:

I finally went out and got the Catz MSX driving lights. These I’ve mounted onto each side of the front license plate. These are not DOT approved, but are much better than fog lamps at producing additional directed light. The other neat thing is that they use a 1 inch thick lens and a normal 85w H3 bulb to produce a light the most people swear is a HID system. So I end up with a set of auxiliary lights that throw really white light out to about 60 ft on the road in front of the car. (I see everything without blinding on coming traffic.) In many respects this type of mod is probably your most cost effective option for adding light for night time driving applications.