Xenon 6000K: reviews

Today the most fashionable version of automotive optics are xenon headlights. They are more perfect than vacuum, halogen and gas-filled lamps. But they attracted motorists with an unusual glow, which makes any car beautiful and a little mysterious. Light blue gives the light of the head optics and fog lamps, and, therefore, a special spectacularity of any car, xenon 6000K.

Xenon headlight

Xenon lamps in car headlights are selected by several indicators.

The first of these is the luminescence temperature, which, according to the International System of Units, is measured in Kelvin (K).

There are many manufacturers of xenon lamps. The assortment is usually represented by four types of color temperatures: 4300K, 5000K, 6000K and 8000K. Sometimes there is also 3000K, which is used only in fog lights due to poisonous-yellow color.

The 8000K lamp shines in blue with a purple hue, 5000K is pure white, and between them is a 6000K xenon, which is described as "cool white with a light blue".

Xenon lamp is a device that consists of a flask with gas, electrodes with high-voltage wires and a socle.
The flasks themselves produce large factories, but they manufacture and solder the socles on a lot of smaller enterprises in accordance with certain standards.

In the automotive industry, the bases of the H, D and HB series are used:

- H1, H3, H4, H7, H8, H9, H10, H11, H27 (880/881) - the most universal;
- D1S, D1R, D2C, D2R, D4S, which are installed only on lamps with a glow of 4300K;
- HB2 (9004), HB3 (9005), HB4 (9006), HB5 (9007), the first and last of which are rare, the second is set into the main beam, the third - into the fog lights.

Xenon Ignition Blocks

The ignition unit is the starting device for burning the xenon lamp. It serves to transform the low voltage of the battery into a momentary impulse of 23,000 volts, at which the lamp ignition begins.

Different generations of these devices differ in technical level, options and characteristics.

The supply voltage can be 12, 24 or 36 volts, power - 35 and 55 (50) watts.

In a conventional car, the voltage of the electrical networks is 12 volts. Therefore, and xenon ignition blocks are used standard, only 12 V.

Universal blocks for the range of voltages from 9 to 32 V are much more expensive and installed on trucks.

For the quality of the glow of the xenon lamp, the power of the device is of primary importance.

Xenon lamp emission temperature

Maximum light output of xenon lamps is achieved at a temperature of 4300K, with further increase in temperature, the brightness decreases. The Xenon 6000K lamp is less bright, but its motorists are attracted by its bright cool color with a light bluish tinge.

In the factory factory optics only xenon 4300K is installed. In addition to high light output, it has a pleasant color for perception and attracts less attention of road users, the light of these lamps is clearly visible on wet asphalt.

In winter it is more expedient to use xenon 6000K. Feedback is confirmed. On snow-covered roads or dry asphalt, such lighting provides better visibility. But in rainy weather, these lamps are losing significantly.

The bases of the xenon lamp 6000K

If the car owner wants to install a 6000K xenon with a D-series socle, then one must understand that such lamps can only be of Chinese quality. In addition, Chinese lamps do not work with factory ignition units, so instead of regular ones, conventional devices with adapters are installed, which does not add reliability. Do not be surprised that reviews of such lamps are not always positive, the main advantage in them is called price.

Xenon H7 6000K is installed in the dipped beam headlights. The lamps of this luminescence are produced with the H1 cap for installation mainly in the main beam, H4 - both in the far and in the near. Xenon 6000K can be found even with very rare H10, H11 caps for Japanese cars and H27 for Koreans, they are installed in the fog lights.

Electric power of xenon

The standard power applied to the lamp is 35W. The 55W xenon ignition unit (50W) is equipped with components with specific conductive properties, because of which the price for such a device is higher. Otherwise, the ignition blocks of different power do not differ in anything and are set exactly the same.

And here too identical lamps work in different modes. The service life of xenon with a more powerful unit is less by almost a quarter because of the forced mode of operation.

And another significant difference concerns the color of the glow, it becomes more yellow. Therefore, usually high-power xenon is installed in the fog-light.

How does xenon 6000K shine in this case? Like a 5000K lamp - white light without blueness.

Xenon fog lights

So, in the fog lights, xenon 6000K is installed with a 55 W ignition unit. The plinth in this case is most often H27 or H11. Such lamps are put in Korean and Japanese cars. Owners of European cars prefer the standard lamps with a glow temperature of 4300K and the usual power, although in them and the socle H3.

Fogs with xenon shine brighter, if you compare them with halogen, increases the area of the illuminated route, the illumination of the road and the right side of the road, that is, the risk of flying into the ditch at the turn, dropping into the oncoming lane or falling into a deep puddle.

The minus of the fog lamps with xenon drivers consider only the need to wash the low-lying headlights more often, so as not to blind the oncoming ones.

Sometimes in the reviews there are complaints about the poor work of xenon in the fog lamps, but experts believe that the problem is too thin a regular wiring and advised to replace it. In the case where such headlamps are installed additionally, special attention should be paid to the cross-section of the wires.

dipped headlights

If the optics in the headlights are combined, then the lamp, as a rule, has a base H4. If the light is divided into the near and far, then a lamp with a large base, for example, xenon 6000K H7, is placed on the near lamp. After all, the quality of the most used passing light affects the safety of traffic, and manufacturers leave more space in the headlight for it.

When installing xenon, especially with a power of 55 watts, you need a good adjustment of the light flux, so as not to blind the oncoming drivers.

When choosing the color of the lamp, there are no special restrictions or preferences, colors like 4300K, 5000K and 6000K are suitable. How is the illumination of the road with a xenon 6000K lamp, the photo below shows clearly.

It is worth mentioning, and many reviews mention this, that this is the picture with high-quality products of well-known manufacturers. A lot of today's counterfeits can be determined from the spectrum of the glow.

High beam headlights

Far from everyone agrees with the installation of xenon lamps into the main beam. In addition to the high cost, arguments are given that frequent blinking leads to the fact that xenon quickly fails.

But if you have to travel often in the dark, especially in areas with complex terrain with a lot of turns, on mountain tracks, or to pass through small settlements, then powerful high beam can help in a correct assessment of the traffic situation.

The main sockets of the driving light are H1 for European and HB3 for Japanese cars. The choice of color characteristics is affected only by the aesthetic preferences of the owner. Xenon 6000K is produced with both and the other cap, although many drivers agree that the practical value of a lamp with such a glow for driving does not have, it's just an ornament.

Xenon on domestic cars

When installing xenon lamps, you must install the headlight washer and automatic headlight range adjustment. Only in this case there is a guarantee that a powerful light flux will not dazzle the drivers of oncoming cars.

Therefore, without problems, you can replace the regular xenon 4300K with a more attractive 6000K on foreign cars.

The situation with domestic cars is much more complicated. Problems are absent only when installing xenon on cars of the VAZ 2010 family and on the Lada Priora, in which separate optics with a lens in the dipped beam. And only on the "Prior" can be installed in the dipped beam xenon 6000K H7.

As for the earlier models of VAZ, GAZ cars, Volga and Zaporozhye Tavri and Slavut, the installation of high-quality xenon equipment on them translates into a serious event with significant expenses with grinding and glass replacement. Domestic craftsmen can, of course, everything, but do not forget about the safety on the roads, the observance of which is designed to monitor the traffic police. And the bluish glow of even pseudo-xenon lamps attracts the deserved attention of its inspectors.

Summarizing, we can say that xenon 6000K can be installed on cars, but mostly for beauty. Such lamps can be useful only in areas with a prolonged snowy winter. And the rest .... Famous European car manufacturers know what they are doing by installing a xenon with a glow temperature of 4300K.