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does anyone know what the legal height is for headlight beam
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The Lighting Regulations can be found here:
tinyurl.com/68ety
Type approval FAQs at:
www.vca.gov.uk/faq/type-approval.shtm
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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The Lighting Regulations can be found here: tinyurl.com/68ety
The answer seems to be:
500-1200mm
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thanks all. its well with in those sizes but the mot station are saying yhey are shineing to low peugeot 306 ive set them to max i know that they have equipment to line the beam up
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Ah, cut off height, not physical height.
One brick down for 15 feet. Roughly. Find a brick wall on the flat, and there's a start. You'll still need a beam setter to get it bang on, but that is a start.
I've never had a problem getting MOT garages to let me set to their beam checkers - although I do pay the full price for MOTs. (I don't begrudge the fee for a proper look).
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>>One brick down for 15 feet. Roughly.>>
That doesn't make any sense.
Do you mean one brick up?
Otherwise the one brick down could relate to a wall that could be six, nine, 12 feet etc in height.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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If you align the car on the level pointing at a wall, about 20 feet away, then the two points of maximum intensity should be spaced exactly as the layout of the headlights (full beam). That is, the height should be the physical headlamp height, the separation should be their actual distance apart, and they should be pointing straight forwards.
Than when you switch to dip, the beams will drop downwards automatically, by a pre-determined amount set by the design of the bulb.
I don't really understand the point about the brick, unless it is a way of dipping the main beams a tiny amount to be absolutely certain of avoiding dazle, or alowing for times when the car may have a heavier load if it hasn't got automatic beam adjusters.
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Indeed, the dipped beam should dip at approximately 1.5 degrees.
For the pedantic detail, see; www.motuk.co.uk/manual_160.htm
Setting 4.5" dip at 15' distance isn't too far away from this, at 1.43 degress, and is a good starting point.
number_cruncher
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I had problems adjusting the height of my 306 beams (also too low). Required the use of an allen key which drops through a hole on the front panel, next to the manual adjuster. This gives much greater adjustment, than the manual adjuster alone.
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PS. also check your bulbs are seated correctly.
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Also, some headlamp bulbs are poorly made and not the easiest things to set up right or see down the road with.
Rich
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>>Also, some headlamp bulbs are poorly made and not the easiest things to set up right
if the bulb is out of focus. you cannot set up. New bulb needed
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Steve
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how can a bulb be out of focus? It is just a light source. The mirror reflector does all the focussing.
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how can a bulb be out of focus? It is just a light source. The mirror reflector does all the focussing.
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True in a way, but really the focusing is a product of the relative positions of the bulb and reflector. This is normally pre-set, but as has been pointed out, a badly seated bulb, or a rusty reflector, or a bent locating lug, could put the assembly out of focus. It is true I can't see how an aging bulb in itself could get out of focus, unless the filament can move somehow.
Originally bulbs were adjustable for focus. I had a car with enormous Lucas P80 "King of the Road" headlamps on stalks. The bulbs had to be focused by releasing a clamp and moving them in and out in relation to the reflector. The reflectors had to be polished with silvo, and the electromagnetic dipping mechanism cleaned and adjusted. This was a device that pivotted the reflector inside the headlamp shell. Only the nearside reflector dipped - the offside was extinguished via a contact on the dipping reflector.
Then British Pre-focus dual-filament bulbs came in, along with chromed reflectors that rusted and couldn't be re-silvered.
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