New headlight bulb creates complaints from other drivers

Maintenance/Repairs
21

Great idea. We would have to get out of the car, go around to the front and light a match to see if our headlights are on.

With the Lincoln Mark VIIIs that comment is pretty much on the mark so to speak. Until revamping mine a bit (and true of my old Mark also) I actually did get out of the car a number of times to make sure the headlights were on. When parking by a single orange street lamp it was impossible to tell if they were on or not.

The Ford engineers really underwhelmed themselves over the lamps on these cars.

22

Carbonized bamboo was one of the earliest semi-practical incandescent filaments, used in some of Edison’s early bulbs. We’re rediscovering a material quite popular in the 19th century. I love my bamboo rayon socks.

23

Point your headlights at a blank wall on level ground.

Put on high beams. They should hit the wall at the same height and spacing as on the car.

When you put the low beams on the lights should drop appropriately.

Yes, replacing the other side is a good idea.

24

An update on this “replacement headlight so bright it is annoying other drivers” problem. I decided this was a candidate for my “hope it fixes itself” file. And what do you know? It did fix itself!

Within a few more nights of using it, the new headlight had noticeably dimmed, to the point where no one complained any more. And now – a few months later – the replacement headlight is pretty much the same brightness as the other one.

Sometimes the best antidote is doing nothing.

25

Thanks Mark. Ironically, I didn’t recall that, even though it has simce seeped out of a recess in my memory. I used to work for a company in NH that was originally a division of McGraw Edison, and we actuallly had a few of Edison’s original prototype bulbs, as well as some of his other original produc prototypess, in display cases in our lobby.