The mini is coming with Zenon headlights and also comes with headlight washer jets. I asked my boyfriend and he said all cars with Zenon lights have to have headlight washer as well.
Why is this???
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It's all down to refraction of light. HID (or Xenon) lights are far brighter than conventional headlights - I read somewhere that conventional lights need to direct about 150% of the light towards an observer to create the same glare as HID. So, dirt on the headlamp lens of a vehicle with HID will be refracted and possibly cause more glare and discomfort than conventional lamps.
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Oops, should read my posts first ... should read
So, dirt on the headlamp lens of a vehicle with HID will cause the light to be refracted and possibly cause more glare and discomfort than conventional lamps.
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No idea, but I'm willing to guess!
Guess 1: Xenons seem to run hotter than normal ones and seem to dry out the muck more quickly. So without washing they attract a thicker coat or dirt that is baked in place. So washers are there to stop this.
Guess 2: If they are dirty, how are you going to blind all oncoming traffic?
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Sorry guys forgot zenon was actually Xenon!
Please dont turn this into a big slate of Xenon lights, they come with the chilli pack i have not specified them as an extra, they are about £500 on most cars i believe which for me would be a waste of money, i use a motorway to get to work from door to door so dont really need them. They blind me as well, just because i will have them doesnt mean i wont get blinded by other people.
Apparently they also flicker on like florescent tube lights, AND because of this they are only used in the normal dipped headlights and not in main beam!
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Oh - don't worry that I'll slate them! They came fitted on an ex-demo once and I was so impressed that they have been on every car I've bought since.
I still remember turning them on for the first time at 5am and wondering where the night had gone.
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Xenons are superb if you get off onto country roads.
The flicker could be from the self-levelling mechanism - sensors on the suspension will try to keep the headlamp aim adjusted to prevent dazzle, although you may find that you will get the odd "You've got your high-beams on" flash from other drivers if you have luggage and / or rear passengers. Probably not so much in a Mini but I occasionally get it with the Vectra.
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I've had two cars with headlamp washers (one with xenons and one with regular halogens). After a long and very unscientific study of the efficacy of washers I have concluded that they are absolutely useless at antyhing other than wasting washer water. If you need to have clean headlamps it's much more effective to stop, get out and do it yourself. Does any manufacturer still fit the little wipers on their headlamps? They were all the rage in the 80s...
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Thanks all for your replies, I do like to know why stuff is there!!!!
Also, Dilbert, yes, my boyfriends Volvo has mini wipers!
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If they keep dirt off the lenses effectively, then they are worth it. Who wants to have to stop to wipe the headlights? I have had to do it more than once during a journey and it is a pain.
On the C5, there is a really powerful fan of water, covering all of the headlight and it is really effective.
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Lada 1300 & 1600 SLs used to have wash/wipers for the headlights!
Roger. (in Spain).
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Renault 12's used to have concave headlamp glasses. Seemed a bit 'oddball' at first sight, but when cleaning my R12 lamps and lenses in dirty weather, the headlamps were always clean.
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I had washers only on the Mazda 626 I drove in the UK, but washers and wipers on my Volvo. I found the wipers to be much more effective because the grime on the headlights seemed to consist mostly of diesel residue with the remains of de-icing grit binder mixed in. The washers never seemed to be able to really clean it off. When I got my Jag in New Zealand back in 1993, I wondered what possible use its headlamp wipers could be. Living in the UK, I was soon aware of how useful they are. Perhaps if the headlamp washers had a separate reservoir, they could use some really good degreasing solvent, but it's not what you want on your windscreen as well.
PM
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My headlamp washer is great. At 4 and a half years of age she does't really have to bend over to clean them...... although she costs a fortune in chicken nuggets to run.
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The mini has two seperate bottles one for the windscreen water and one for headlamps so maybe i can use different stuff in them!! Thats a good point!
The Beetle (which im please to say was sold last night to the first person who saw it) has no headlamp washers or rear screen wiper and doesn't need either, for some aerodynamic reason it doesn't really get dirty and the rearscreen is kept clean and water runs straight off of it by the air flow, didnt't think id like not having a wiper there at first but ive got used to it now just in time to sell it!
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>>different stuff in them
Gin
& Tonic.
You see the MINI was designed for girls like you; complete with a cocktail bar!
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Yes good idea but where should i put the lemon slice?? hmm now ive got ya!
Girls like me indeed! whats that supposed to mean!
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Another thing cars with xenons must have is a levelling mechanism, so when the car is fully loaded the lights move down so as not to cause (too much) dazzle.
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>Yes good idea but where should i put the lemon slice??
On the dashboard, either above or below the radio, most cars have a pull out small compartment which would be just the right size for a couple of slices of lime (p-lease!).
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The mini has two seperate bottles one for the windscreen water and one for headlamps...
That's a great setup. I've had headlamp washers on most of my recent cars and, if you get one of those mucky winter days with lots of salt on the road where you need to keep washing the screen, the headlamp washer 'cycle' very quickly empties even a 2 gallon washer bottle.
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No, they flicker because they work in a vaguely similar way to fluorescent lamps. I believe their other name is HID; High Intensity Discharge.
The flicker is caused by the lamps starting up, as it requires a PD of several thousand volts to start them. I have one on my mountain bike for night riding (£300, but lasts 12 hours...) and because it doesn't have the grunt of a car battery, it takes about 3 minutes to come on. However, absolutely fantastic for trail riding at night. I occasionally get flashed by other drivers when on the road though, cause it's so bright.
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Xenon lights have a sharp cut off so they're not as great on country roads esp on unlit roads at high speeds.
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