Good car lighting is a critical factor in safe vehicle operation. Headlights that meet the required standards are fundamental to overall road safety, not only for the driver but for all road users. But what if your headlights are dim? In this article, we will try to answer the main questions related to this situation.
Despite such a seemingly simple problem, it is sometimes very difficult to pinpoint the cause of uneven headlight illumination. It’s another matter when the headlights are dim, and this problem is ignored by car owners. Such negligence very often causes road accidents, as poor visibility of the road in front of the car does not provide the necessary information about the section of road being driven, especially considering the quality of the road surface in our cities.
You need to approach the issue responsibly. Even minor damage or malfunction requires timely correction, especially when it comes to headlight illumination. Very often, the reasons why the low beam is dim are not critical, and even a novice can handle them.
Poor Headlight Adjustment
Since this problem is common, many experts have identified it as one of the main reasons causing such a malfunction. Poor lighting can be caused by poor headlight adjustment, because the mounted headlight, due to prolonged use or damage to the car body, can change the viewing angle. In this case, the light does not reach the road, and the visibility is reduced.
Insufficient Voltage from the Generator
Owners of standard halogen lamps often complain about the weak glow of their headlights. The most common situation in this case is insufficient voltage from the generator. To make sure of this, you need to check with the output nominal light flux. You need to focus on 13.5 volts and above. If the voltage corresponds to the generator power value, the reason should be looked for elsewhere.
Ingress of Foreign Objects
Due to the long-term operation of the car, or non-compliance with the tightness in the headlight chamber, foreign elements can get into it. As a rule, this is moisture or particles of road dust. Accumulated condensate or dust plaque absorbs the light flux, and the headlight loses its original properties. The solution to this problem is to remove these elements with special cleaning products for glass surfaces.
Clouding
Very often, drivers simply do not pay attention to the problem of constant contact of the glass surface with microelements leads to clouding of the aluminum amalgam that covers the surface of the reflector. Outside, the headlight cover can also become cloudy, due to constant contact with dust, gravel, etc. You can verify this by detaching the cover from the car and passing it through a stream of high-brightness light. In addition, most car enthusiasts initially install a protective (transparent) tint on the headlight surface, which significantly increases the life of the headlight.
What to do in this situation? It depends on your car. Older models have glass headlights, which are usually operated for more than a decade. You should assess the situation: if the degree of abrasive deformation of the surface cannot be cleaned, the headlight should be replaced with a new one. Another thing is with newer cars. In such models, in the headlight, in addition to the reflector and the lamp, there are also many different sensors and trackers, and the design is not glass, but made of transparent polycarbonate. Replacing such a headlight is calculated in solid sums.
But if the surface is deformed, and there are already irregularities / cracks / grooves of various depths and lengths on it, then most experts in such situations advise polishing the headlight surface, thus cleaning the upper layer that has damage. As a rule, such measures increase the brightness of the headlight, but sooner or later you will see again that the headlights are dim and they will still have to be changed.
Violation of Contact Conductivity
No one is immune to such a problem, and its occurrence depends only on the terms of operation of the car. Since an eternal mechanism has not yet been invented, the electronics of the headlight can also be damaged. Most often, the consequence of this malfunction is the oxidation of the lamp. Treatment with silicone grease in such situations prevents the oxidation process in the future and postpones the date of headlight replacement. Also, the problem of poor signal conductivity may lie in the usual damage to the electrode, and such a contact will “move away”. Solving this problem is also not difficult. You can identify the damaged area with a multimeter, followed by replacing the damaged element. If the connector is damaged, then it should be replaced. Finding a new one is not difficult – they are freely sold in specialized stores.