Osram Night Breaker Unlimited lifespan

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I wonder what is the life span of Osram Night Breaker Unlimited bulbs. How many hours? And how many hours is the lifespan of standard halogen bulbs.
 
If I am not mistaken, those bright bulbs lasts around 300hrs. Normal halogen bulbs perhaps around 450hrs. The one impressed me before on Philips bright bulbs, they always die within hrs of each other.
 
@kr_bitog You're probably right! I found this test: http://teknikensvarld.se/vart-test-avslojar-vilka-lampor-som-ger-bast-ljus-pa-bilen-181624/ which measures the life span of 3 different high performance halogen bulbs (made of 3 different manufacturers) range from 303 to 365 hours. In the same test a longlife bulb was included and according to the test it lasted for 1100 hours! Unfortunately, I can't find a test measuring the lifespan of typical OE halogen bulbs, or at least the lifespan given for them by their manufacturers. If the lifespan of a normal bulb is around 450 hours as you stated (I don't know if you have any sources to share), then I would consider the lifespan of performance bulbs satisfying and I would buy and install them, but if a typical bulb has a lifespan of 600-800 hours, in that I'm not sure I would buy performance bulbs, as the difference would seem big to me.
 
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If I am not mistaken, those bright bulbs lasts around 300hrs. Normal halogen bulbs perhaps around 450hrs. The one impressed me before on Philips bright bulbs, they always die within hrs of each other.
I noticed the same with my Philips XtremeVision bulbs. I had one blow, so I put a spare in it and a day later the other one blew. Excellent manufacturing consistency I guess. I only expect to get about a year from those XVs. I have to buy a set every December like clockwork. I like the extra brightness to much to go back to regular bulbs though.
 
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They are great bulbs. I've been using them on my car for about 3 years. Not one made it past the 6 month mark so far. If you can handle the price and are easy to swap in your car without taking out the battery, fender elements, curs like a drunken sailor and sacrificing some finger/hand skin to the automotive gods...then GO FOR IT !!!!!
 
The brighter the bulb, the shorter the life. Just plain physics ... the added heat, which is inevitable, takes it's toll. A compromise no matter which way you go.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
The brighter the bulb, the shorter the life. Just plain physics ... the added heat, which is inevitable, takes it's toll. A compromise no matter which way you go.
The question is how much shorter? If it's 20%-30% I would find it acceptable. If it's 50% or more I would be in two minds installing a high performance bulb.
 
Seems nowadays halogen bulb has better quality, i stand corrected typical bulb will last up to 750hrs. New longlife one will last up to 3000 hrs where manufacturer claims no replacement needed for 100k kms. philips
 
The original NB had a reputation for poor life. They then updated it to the NB Plus, then the Unlimited, and now the Laser. The data sheets can be found on Osram's site. Remember that the B3 figure is the minimum period that 97% are expected to last. The Tc figure is the period when 63% of the bulbs are expected to have failed. Both using 13.2v test voltage. A higher voltage will reduce life span.
 
I haven't used the Nightbreaker Unlimited in particular, but have used a number of similar premium '+100/130' type bulbs and I tend to get anywhere from 175-200 hours of use out of them. This is on a motorcycle where the low beam is required to be on at all times so I go through bulbs pretty quickly. I get ~13.8V at the headlight socket using a dedicated relayed headlight harness. As Carmudgeon mentioned, higher voltages reduce life expectancy (and light output). The opposite is also true, so those 'long life' bulbs give you longer life but they do so with reduced light output (at the lower end of legal).* Other things to consider are ease of replacement and whether the bulbs in your car are being run at a lower voltage as a DRL. * - Also bear in mind that light output reduces as the bulb ages, so a long life bulb is more likely to give you significantly reduced output over its lifetime than a premium high output bulb which will tend to burn out before light output drops significantly. You probably won't even notice the loss in output because it's gradual, until you finally replace the long life bulb.
 
If you're looking for performance and not looks, skip the Philips and go straight to a modified 9011 HIR1 bulb, which is rated for ~2500 lm and ~1400h. Any bulb with a tinted envelope encompassing the filament and marketed using color temperature as a prominent feature is for the birds.
 
Originally Posted By: Carmudgeon
If you're looking for performance and not looks, skip the Philips and go straight to a modified 9011 HIR1 bulb, which is rated for ~2500 lm and ~1400h. Any bulb with a tinted envelope encompassing the filament and marketed using color temperature as a prominent feature is for the birds.
I am looking 100% for performance. I think color temperature could be counted as part of the performance equation. I have read that the best temp for the human eye is 4800K. At extreme values of temperature probably the drop in performance would be easily perceived by the driver, but of course temp is not that important as brightness, when temp values are average. My car uses HB3 (9005) and HB4 (9006) bulbs. Are the 9011 HIR1 compatible? And are they road legal without any other modification needed?
 
The base where it fits into the headlamp housing needs one minor modification, but otherwise is a direct fit. I believe the 9012 are the replacement for the 9006 and same thing, minor modification to the base.
 
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Originally Posted By: inquirer
I am looking 100% for performance. I think color temperature could be counted as part of the performance equation. I have read that the best temp for the human eye is 4800K. At extreme values of temperature probably the drop in performance would be easily perceived by the driver, but of course temp is not that important as brightness, when temp values are average. My car uses HB3 (9005) and HB4 (9006) bulbs. Are the 9011 HIR1 compatible? And are they road legal without any other modification needed?
The 9011 HIR1 and 9012 HIR2 (substitutes for each respectively) are ECE type-approved bulbs. However, modification and use in an unintended application would no doubt render them technically non-legal. My suggestion would be to do some research on the modification and suitability for retrofitting. There is a lighting forum (CPF) where the mods have credible knowledge, though they can be somewhat dogmatic and unforgiving in their manner. I would trust their recommendations over almost anything else, with few exceptions. Overall, lighting and vision is a complex subject, and the level of understanding is poor among laypersons, not helped by the fact that human eyes make for poor photometric instruments.
 
Originally Posted By: inquirer
Another good question is if there are any LED bulbs that are road legal, if they are used as a direct replacement in a halogen headlight.
No, there aren't any.
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On the other hand, if they can't be used legally why do the produce them?
Because there's a lot of money to be made selling them. Lots of things that aren't legal are highly profitable.
 
Originally Posted By: inquirer
Another good question is if there are any LED bulbs that are road legal, if they are used as a direct replacement in a halogen headlight. OPT7 (http://www.opt-7.com/fluxbeam-x-led-headlights/) and Kensun (https://kensun.com/products/led_kit_9005_super_bright_with_eti_led_chips) offer LED bulbs that can be used in place of HB3 and HB4, but the question remains: are they legal and safe for oncoming traffic? On the other hand, if they can't be used legally why do the produce them?
No x 3. Money. You'd be better off with the Philips, despite the tinted envelope.
 
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If I am not mistaken, those bright bulbs lasts around 300hrs. Normal halogen bulbs perhaps around 450hrs. The one impressed me before on Philips bright bulbs, they always die within hrs of each other.
I think the estimate for "normal halogen" bulbs is a bit off from my personal experience. High beams is typically pretty low, like 250hrs. Low beam on a "normal" I was thinking was 2000 hrs. I typically get 4 years for a set of low beams easily. at 14,000 miles per year, averaging 35 mph (per the trip computers on the volvo, that is gross average), thats 400 hours/year x 4 years is 1600 hours. I drive with the low beams on or don't use/own DRLs. the only time I've ever had to replace bulbs more often is if I tried a "higher performance" bulb or experimented with high-beam bulbs in low-beam housings (greater wattage). The "plain jane" $7 bulbs last me a long time. -m
 
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