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I installed my bulbs which are the Piaa Xtreme White ones about 7 and a half months ago. Just a couple of days ago the passenger side one went out. I thought I blew the harness or something but even if the low beam is out the high beam still works. Does this mean the bulb got burned out? I'd expect this from a knock off or some cheap brand but damn these are Piaa's. How long are they suppose to last and is this common?

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Chances are you touched the bulb. The oil from your hands over heats ha;pgens and blows them. Or you could be having the problem my boy was with his bike. The bulbs have a higher intensity than the factory ones and is causung them to blow.

 
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I have had my PIAA Xtremes for about.... 9-10 months, don't recall. I haven't heard much about people blowing PIAA Xtremes.... The PIAA plasmas seem to explode VERY frequently though, I'm guessing it could be that multi-coloured coating they put on it...

Whatever you do, don't go cheap and driving around in high beam mode, just so you have both lights on. Don't go cheap either by driving with only one light on either

I guess it depends on how much you use them. I've got 17000km on my car now, so I say I probably used them for 15000km or so. However, I don't do much night driving, BUT, I do have DRL, which means my high beams run at half power all the time (when my low beams are not on.)

Going over crazy bumps can also mess up the tiny filaments, but I've sure tested that one. Roads around the city here are mad ugly, and I drive over them as if I had a Hummer.... [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/IMG] But, my bulbs are still working. And they better; I paid $125CDN (~$80USD) for these damn bulbs!

 
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What's DRL?

 
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DRL=daytime running lights

another reason why aftermarket bulbs blow is that the wattage of the bulb is higher than it is from the factory. i.e. most factory bulbs are 55/60 (lo/hi) whereas the aftermarket bulb could be 75/80.

 
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i've had mine for 4 months and they've held up great... got em free when I wrecked my car, the shop replaced the cheap nokyas for xtreme whites

well i did have to pay for the $500 deductible

 
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Hmm...I could be wrong about this, but I saw some bulbs by Sylvania; called, I think, "Super Blues" or something along those lines. I think they are 55/60w...anybody heard of 'em? If I'm wrong on the name, please correct me! Anyway, are they any good?

 
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The Sylvannia Cool Blue are excellent bulbs. Better than PIAAs, in my opinion. I've used various bulbs in the past, including PIAA Super Whites, PIAA Super White High Wattage (80/80W), PIAA Super Plasma, Heliolite, Eurolite Super Plasma, Hyper Industries Super Plazma, Narva, Sylvannia Cool Blue... out of all of them, I would say the Sylvannia offers the best lighting pattern. It is very wide with even lighting pool, with fantastic high beam that spreads far & beyond. Looks wise though, it is the most conventional out of all of them. It looks *slightly* whiter than stock bulb, but not much different.

My PIAA Super Whites lasted a while (installed on a '99 Toyota 4Runner)... even the high-wattage ones. I've used PIAA Super Plasmas on my Civic for about 10 months, and it blew twice on me. I was on my 3rd set. Then I had a projector headlamp swap a month ago, and bought H3 PIAA Super Plasma, and so far, so good. I think I even touched the bulb by accident, but still no probs. I've heard lots of rumours of PIAA's new rice bulbs burning out pre-maturely. I think I could testify to that.

 
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I love the look my PIAA's give me .. and everything but i have gone through 3 sets... they suck in longevity ... and no i didnt touch the bulb.. uses gloves... but i will pay for them cause i like how the look , and its a small sacrifice... stipud but my choice

 
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<< Hmm...I could be wrong about this, but I saw some bulbs by Sylvania; called, I think, "Super Blues" or something along those lines. I think they are 55/60w...anybody heard of 'em? If I'm wrong on the name, please correct me! Anyway, are they any good? >>


Yes they're called the Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs. They are excellent. I highly recommend them. It's much brighter than stock and has a very very slight blue tint to them. I got them for $15 a piece at a local car shop so go get them.

 
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Doesn't PIAA have a 1 yr warranty on all their bulbs? My PIAA Parking lights blew out under 2 mths so I have them sending me some new ones. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/IMG] So thats one good thing but the morons ordered me the super white PIAA H4's first so I had to get the Xtreme ones re ordered.

But they look good got to love the warranty on them,

Nick

 
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I got GE Super Blue Halogens from Wal-Mart for $17 a pair. They're good enough- brighter than stock, blue-white glow at night, and I doubt they'll blow anytime soon.

 
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PIAA's used to be warranted for lifetime, but recently, they just changed to a one year warranty. I guess the sophisticated electronic devices in cars can cause sudden voltage drops and spikes, so they only guarantee for one year. I had mine about 4 months before one went out, the low beam, then the other one followed in another month, but I did get two brand new ones from the dealer, and so far they are holding up well. I know how you feel though.....they are supposed to be the best, and they just go out. I did not touch mine at all. I did clean the new ones with alcohol before I installed them, I am hoping this may help, but they sure do put out the light, and I love the bright white color...[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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I had some off brand hypers then after going through 2 pairs in 5 months I switched to Eurolite , and had no problems until They both went out . It wasn't the bulbs but the harness. Honda said that I had too much current going through the electrical system and it melted the harness near the dimmer switch on the steering column. Also by the way,my brights would work but dim didn't . Honda dealer was nice enough to put under warranty even though it wasn't.Said The cutting on the wires for the alarm and keyless entry created too much current.!!!![IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG]

 
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Maybe these tips may save your bulbs....

- If you have DRL (daytime running lights), make sure you have your ebrake up before you start your car. Basically, I was told the spike when you turn on your car (and the lights are also on) could potentially hurt the bulbs........ Though personally, I thought it was more of a brownout than a spike?? Anyhow, better safe than sorry.

- Similar to above. If you ever start your car up, make sure the headlights are off.

- When shutting down the car, my brother in law (who thinks his SRI gives him 10 HP ) says you should probably SLOWLY turn off your lights. One notch at a time. From low beam, to just parking lights, then all lights off. Do this while engine is still running. Engine should be the final thing to go off.

I dunno if any of these would save your PIAAs....

As a final note, all you guys saying that you use gloves to put the bulbs in. It isn't that difficult to put the bulbs in without touching the glass. I've done at least 4 pairs of bulbs, never touched the glass, never blown. I'm currently still on my first pair of PIAA Xtremes.

 
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Actually PIAAs only last about 1 year or so. I've had many PIAA bulbs, all of which were installed properly, and the all blew about 1 year after I had them.

 
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ONE YEAR WARRANTY ON THESE BULBS EVERYBODY, READ YOUR INFO THAT COMES WITH THE BULBS!

 
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I agree with the last post, haven't gotten much more than a year or so out of the PIAA's, I thought they were warranteed but never found any info on it cause I am lazy, so I just ate the expense... well good to know they are warrantied but personally I am gonna save up for 6000K xenons, they are phat and they guy quoted me a priece of 450 installed by my house...

 
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I like the hyper blue lights I bought in Chicago in China Town. Everything on the box is in Japanese so i dont know anything about them. They work great and give off a really bright blue light (not just a tint, but a solid blue). I hope they last long though.

 
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Go with quality... go with Philips Blue Vision or Philips Vision Plus

 
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straight from PIAA's legal rambles, so read on.. from http://www.piaa.com/warranty.html


BULBS
Bulb failures caused by voltage surges have become more common as new vehicles have placed greater demands on factory electrical systems. The main lamp ground wire must be connected to the battery negative terminal or to a cable leading to it. If a voltage surge occurs, the bulb will look like it was struck by lightning! The metal base & glass will be burnt or the filament will blow up!

Prevent voltage surges by always starting the engine before turning on auxiliary lamps, and turn the lamps off before turning off the ignition (the latter is the most common cause of bulb destroying voltage surges).

CONDENSATION Some moisture inside the lamp is normal. The lamp should dry out after a few minutes of operation. If it doesn't, check the following:

1) The lens may be upside down. The PIAA name must read right side up so the vent on the bottom can drain.

2) The lens/reflector unit may not be mounted tight against the lamp housing. Loosen, then re-tighten the screws.

3) The gasket may be twisted or pinched. Some gaskets have a vent gap. Make sure it's on the bottom.

4)
Lamps with a "Snorkel" type wiring grommet in the back of the housing must have the opening facing down.

5)
9O Pro lamps have a vent on the back of the housing in the center. The opening must be facing down.

Water leaks through an obvious gap in the sealant or from a loose lens are defects covered under warranty.



Proper auxiliary lamp aiming is the most important part of an installation.
For more information, check Light Aiming Instructions.


says nothing about any type of warranty for the bulbs
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I cant believe I paid 75 bucks for a pair of Piaa Super Plasmas. The bulbs were more white than stock but emitted a really cheezy purple tint to them even tho the bulb was blue. Another thing is that the color was inconsistant and if you drove up to a white wall you could definately see the difference. To top that off they died in 6 months just like my coworkers for his RSX. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/IMG]

We both went with Eurolite bulbs and so far they lasted longer, burned brigther and a cool blue blue instead of the Piaas. Not to mention they only costed $15 a pair instead of $75. So far ive only seen one civic with a set of lights even brighter and more blue than what ive got when i was on the road at night. Could have been a real HID conversion? Dunno but probably cause they were really strong. Im sorry but Id rather keep buying these $15 lamps that seem to last a while instead of a $600 light kit which could go towards a nice exhaust system

A while back I bought an old 90 accord and one of the first things I changed out was the bulbs in the headlights. I picked up a pair of thoes blue sylvania bulbs everyone has been talking about and they are only a little bit brighter and whiter than stock. Relatively inexpensive bulbs but the best part about it is that they've lasted for about 3 years now and are still going.

 
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Actually, Eurolites are not as white as PIAA SuperPlasma... I know you can see the purple hue, that is because it is layered. The actual light emitted onto the ground is PURE white. You will notice only the top tip of the light pattern is blue/purple. From a far, SuprePlasmas does give the most convincing HID look. Having said that, there are many better bulbs out there that you can go with that perform a LOT better.

Eurolites are not that great either.......

 
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i paid 20 for my XENON SUPERWHITE . had NO problem. i turn on headlights on day too. used about 8 months. no problems at all

 
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See, bulbs are supposed to last longer than 8 months [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

Seems like everyone has lowered their standards... but bulbs should last WELL over a year. Stock bulbs typically last up to years...

 
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Totally true hehe. Not cool to have to buy a new set of 75 dollar bulbs every time the season changes. I mean jeez, 75 bucks will get you like 2 or 3 PS2 games! [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] Shoulda seen the look on my face when i pulled away from driveway one dark morning only to see one headlight reflecting off a window. I was pissed. I expected thoes bulbs to last like 3-6 years. not 3-6 months.

 
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the member Bluelle was telling me you need an extensoin wire or something ,because our civics can't run aftermarket bulbs correctly or something, maybe PM him i burned out 4 sets of bulbs, finally got HID kit

 
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Damn really?? I never knew you had HID... i wanna see

 
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I had PIAA bulbs, Extreme Whites I think, That I got for X-MAS
and they just burned out last week (which sux)
only one, the passanger low beam burned out.
So I put my stock bulbs back in (since they only had about 1 hour of use... if that)
I really liked the way that my PIAAs looked, but I don't want to be spening that kind of money towards new bulbs every six month. I might as well get HIDs.
I think that I'm gonna keep the stock ones in until they burn out.
Then maybe I'll get HID's
-Lowtek