for those with silverstar headlight bulbs

G

gnahc79

New member
How long do they last for you? My first set fizzed out in ~6 months, but that was because water seeped into the headlight assembly. I replaced the headlights and put in new silverstars. Now about 6 months again and one of my bulbs burned out. I did notice it wasn't locked in all the way and it has been raining recently.



just wondering if it's water seeping in or if it's the bulb.
 
I've had mine for nearly 2 years I think. I can't remember when I put them in. I did the 9005 conversion on them too so I'm running the high beams in my low beam socket. That typically makes bulbs burn out faster and these are still going strong.



I would guess that its the water. If the bulb is hot and cold water gets on the bulb then it will pop pretty quick. Is there any discoloration on the glass? Did they shatter or just burn out? Sometimes you can tell when a bulb is about to blow because of the bubble that starts to appear on the side. Sometiems the glass will have a burn mark on the side that lets you know the end is near too.



Its possible that if you touched the bulb before you put it in that could have had something to do with it. The oils on your fingers could have compromised the glass over time and use. That's why they say you should never touch the glass on a headlight bulb.
 
I have had mine on my 96 Jeep for about 12 months. On my 03 & wife's mustang we have had PIAAs for about 18 months.
 
I'm thinking of picking up a set of silverstars for my Lincoln and Explorer. Ford stock headlights are awful.
 
Have had my SS for about three months now and no problems.



Had some other after market on before and they started to melt my harrness.:angry



When you put in the bulbs wipe them down with some alchohol and a cotton swab, that should get any oils off.
 
I put mine in back in March of this year. I've been pleased with them and no problems whatsoever. :xyxthumbs



V..
 
On the Sylvania site, the life hours are mentioned. SS have low life hours compared to OEM offerings. I have the SS's in several cars despite the claimed shorter life hours. As others have pointed out, the life WILL be shortened by water intrusion and/or contamination of the glass surface. I had a water intrusion issue with a parking/cornering lens. I fixed it with a liberal coating of dielectric grease on the gasket surfaces, and the end of the wire connector(Where the wires go into the socket).
 
I've had SilverStars for 2 yrs (next month) on the lowbeams (9006's). They were also running as 60% DRLs til the aftermarket DRL kit caught fire :( I'm happy with the longevity.



Sylvania will send you replacements if the bulbs peter out in the first year. Just call/email their customer service peeps.
 
Had mine for about a year now and I put a pair in my Dad's old ES 300 about 2 years ago and when he traded it in about 2 months ago, they were working fine.
 
Is it just me, I don't see what the hype is about the Silverstars? I tried them in my Mustang and just didn't see any difference over the stock bulbs other than the color shift. I live in the foothills of South Carolina and there are lots of dark tree lined roads. I was expecting the Silverstars to be brighter than my stock bulbs which just wasn't the case.
 
Compared to the OEM bulbs I had on my Jeep, they appeared to be brighter on the road. The only other alternative would be to convert your lighting to HID which is expensive.
 
The real Silverstars (from OSRAM) make a significant improvement and are somewhat brighter than the Silverstars sold in the US. Personally, I steer clear of lights with the blue filtering tint.



silverstar.jpg
 
It's the water that's killing your bulbs.



Even normal body oil from your skin can cause any halogen bulb to burn out more quickly...



If you have any condensation or moisture in your headlamp housing, be prepared to burn out bulbs consistently.
 
is this strange...my stock bulbs have been running strong in my maxima for 10 years...actaully, knock on wood, I've never had any bulbs in my car burn out except for the ones in my crappy bose receiver
 
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