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Unhappy W/Silverstars.

M

marc_w

Full Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
1,112
Location
Douglas, MA
Good evening everyone...

After loosing one of my beloved PIAA Platinum Superwhite low beams... I decided to try something different and go for the Silverstars.

I just tossed them in tonight, and frankly, I'm really not happy with them. :cautious:

You guys are going to think I'm nuts, but when I view the headlights beam out of any of the interior windows (windshield or doors) - the beam pattern appears to be a strong greenish blue. If I stand aside the truck and look at the beam's pattern, the color they give off is not as strong.

I should note here, that it's been snowing out now for most of the afternoon and evening. I'm looking at beam-patterns illuminating perfectly white snow.

The greenish color is EXTREMELY noticeable and distracting when I drove down the highway earlier, next to cars with HID's and stock headlights.

The actual brightness does not appear to be much different than stock...

If I turn on my fogs (the 30-something watters), the yellow-ish beam mixes with the green from the Silverstars, and really hides the 'greeness' a good amount, and it becomes pretty bearable.

Now, I have the hi-low mod done... and I'm still running PIAA high's. :p When I turn the high's on, the light they give off is extremely white compared to the Silverstars. When I have to turn the high's off, and go back to the lows... the green seems very exaggerated. :( (kind of like walking out of bright sunlight into a dark house)

When I view all four lights on from outside, and looking at the front of the truck, the PIAA's look to be a super bright, light purple, while the Silverstars are a slight blueish silver.

That's fine with me... :) it's just when I get in the truck, I think the super-light tint GM uses in the front windows is messing with me. It looks a lot like the auto-dimming rearview mirror color.

Is anyone else experiencing problems like this?

Another note:
I believe my PIAA's had a small "burn in" period. When I first got 'em, I was not too happy with them either. After a week or so of use, I noticed the color of them changed a bit and I loved them ever since. Do the Silverstars also requite a little runnin' in before the color possibly settles down?

Thanks a lot,
-marc
 
I don't have the PIAA's, but I did switch out the stock regular beams for the silverstars (and went to 899 fogs). I did not switch out the high beams because I don't use them much at all. The other night, I did have the occasion to switch to high beams, and man, what a difference! Compared to running the silverstars and the fogs, the high beams looked like I didn't even have any head lights. Bottom line, I'm happy with the silverstars for now.
 
Hi Marc,

I too am not happy/convinced that the Silverstars are worth the $$. I changed my highs and lows at the GTG on Sunday and on the way home Sunday I kept pulling off the road to re-adjust them. The beam is very concentrated to a rectangluar shape. I also have them adjusted almost all the way up so the beam is straight in front of me. But due to the beam shape I don't seem to be illuminating the highway signs until I am right on top of them. Even then it only lights the bottom half of the sign. :C:

Does this sound like I have them adjusted wrong? I have also been using my fogs to illuminate the road.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Russ...
 
AHOY said:
I changed my highs and lows at the GTG on Sunday and on the way home Sunday I kept pulling off the road to re-adjust them. ?The beam is very concentrated to a rectangular shape. ?I also have them adjusted almost all the way up so the beam is straight in front of me. ?But due to the beam shape I don't seem to be illuminating the highway signs until I am right on top of them. ?Even then it only lights the bottom half of the sign. :C:

Does this sound like I have them adjusted wrong? I have also been using my fogs to illuminate the road.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Russ...
Click to expand...

I guess I don't understand how one bulb can change the alignment over another. I am not going to shame anyone or make anyone feel bad here, but how can one bulb affect alignment? A lamp with more lumens per watt will certainly cause a brighter beam, but wouldn't the dimmer beam have the same characteristics as the brighter beam? It does make sense that a brighter beam will be "tighter" as it is more concentrated, but how does that cause the beam to be higher or lower than a lower lumen lamp?

Yes, I have had SilverStars for about 10 months now and swear by them and even have them in our TrailBlazer.

Curious to know more - Jamie
 
Once again I'm going to throw my hat out there with the Piaa's...they are a great investment for the low's...I love them...I've had them now for at least 10 months or so...and the type of light they project is clean and bright.....I don't want any kind of color coming out from my lights....crystal clear will do just fine for me..... (y)

Dave
 
jamie said:
I guess I don't understand how one bulb can change the alignment over another. I am not going to shame anyone or make anyone feel bad here, but how can one bulb affect alignment? A lamp with more lumens per watt will certainly cause a brighter beam, but wouldn't the dimmer beam have the same characteristics as the brighter beam? It does make sense that a brighter beam will be "tighter" as it is more concentrated, but how does that cause the beam to be higher or lower than a lower lumen lamp?

- Jamie
Click to expand...

Jamie,
The low beam headlight assembly consists of a parabolic mirror centered very closed to the light source (the filament), with another focusing parabolic mirror in front of that. The smaller mirror is to prevent the light rays from going forward. All rays must hit the rear (large) mirror before casting forward. Anyway, it takes VERY LITTLE movement of the filament to adjust the beam. No, the filament doesn't move, but between different light bulbs, they are not always in the same place.

So three things adjust the low beam angle. 1) the big mirror (adjusted by owner), 2) the little mirror and 3) the filament location. So when you change the lightbulb on low beam, 2 of the 3 may be different.

For high beams, there is no small focusing mirror, plus the big reflector is less focused, so the filament location will have less of an effect.

So to answer your question, changing the light bulb can adjust the beam angle.
 
Terminator said:
...So to answer your question, changing the light bulb can adjust the beam angle.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I am by no means an expert on lighting so I appreciate your technical assistance.

Jamie
 
Terminator covered that pretty good, Jamie...

In my old truck I had some weird problems with my headlights. They were almost the exact same setup as the Av's got - but they were all glass, not composite... and I could adjust them side to side.

I could aim my lows perfectly, but when I switched to the high's - they were cross eyed! It used to drive me CRAZY having to comprimise the high and low patttern.

I noticed switching lights in the Av, that I had to make a few minor adjustments.

Russ - I'm the same way! I'm very very picky about the aiming of my headlights. Little things like a beam that's not quite right will drive me nuts.

My general thoughts on the Silverstars are that they appear to be as bright, or a touch under, the stock lights... the pattern doesn't seem to light up the road signs, like you said.

It sounds like you got yours right... I like to ajust mine just low enough to get people to stop flashing their lights at me. :)

The fog lights do seem to add an extra 'kick' to the light pattern, when compared to running the fogs with the stock lights.

What mostly drive me nuts right now, is the greenish look to them in the snow... I can't atribute that to the lights themselves... but it's just odd how they are the only ones which happen to look like that inside the truck. My other lights, and all other lights I've seen on the road - all appear their typical colors...

--

I noticed a very odd thing this morning. As I was driving to work, the sun was beaming in through my passenger door, and illuminating the snow and ice on my windshield and hood. The snow was the same color green. ??? :cautious: ???

Does anyone know exactly what that haze is that builds up mostly on the inside of your windshields sometimes? The stuff that's super hard to clean off without leaving streaks? (I'm a non-smoker, for what it's worth). It seems to appear more often when I use the defroster. I'll give the windows a good cleaning and see if that helps. They don't look dirty, but it's been a while.

Also, I'm not color blind or anything like that. ;)
 
Does anyone know exactly what that haze is that builds up mostly on the inside of your windshields sometimes? The stuff that's super hard to clean off without leaving streaks? (I'm a non-smoker, for what it's worth). It seems to appear more often when I use the defroster.
Click to expand...

I believe it's the fumes emitting from the vinyl dashboard. Probably worse when the defroster runs because heating it releases the chemicals. Should be worse in summer or when sun is beating on dash. .
 
I changed to the Silverstars the 1st week I owned my AV and have been happy with them. The only way I would change them now is if I get enough $$ to go to the full HID setup :)

They do seem to have a little more of a rectangular pattern but I have not had a problem reading signs, etc. As a matter of fact, I rarely use either the high beams or fog lights now.

The color I see from the lights is blue, but I will have to look more closely against the snow tonight to see if I see any green tint.

 
marc_w said:
My general thoughts on the Silverstars are that they appear to be as bright, or a touch under, the stock lights... the pattern doesn't seem to light up the road signs, like you said.
Click to expand...

Odd. When I am driving down the highway at night, I can clearly tell that I am the guy lighting the signs up from way back n the pack.
 
Scubarex is right... from what I've heard it is a combination of ALL the chemicals in the materials used in the construction outgassing. Vinyls, carpets, foams in the seats.. you name it. All the gasses that give it that "new car smell" are chemicals coming out of the materials.
 
Yeah, I realize that now... It happens every few weeks in the summer, not so often now in the cold. ?

Thanks!

EDIT: Sorry, that was out of context - this is in reply to the window's hazing over.
 
This is strange stuff. I've give the lights a few weeks to see what happens.

Maybe I'll bring them up a bit and see if that helps the patter.

:)
 
PIAA ALL THE WAY THE SILVER STARS DONT STAND A CHANCE PIAA BULBS LAST LONGER IVE HAD MINE FOR ABOUT A YEAR NO PROBLEMS
 
Ahoy, I would say you definately have some issues with the aiming of your lights. I have the SS also. The only way I can even tell that my fogs are on is by the yellowish cast of the small area of illumination below and outboard of the Silverstars.
 
Steelheadchaser said:
The only way I can even tell that my fogs are on is by the yellowish cast of the small area of illumination below and outboard of the Silverstars.
Click to expand...

Then you should find some 50W Xenon fogs. They will cast whiter light out in the perimeter and below you lows. They are very nice!

Jamie
 
When I first put the SS in I noticed that driving where there are street lights I was wondering if they were on, But when I went on roads that had no lights I really noticed a differece over the stock lights. Defiantely a wider beam and brighter all the way.
Just my .02 $.
 
Time for a stupid question. How do I adjust the low beams? Also, has anyone done anything radical like eliminating the little mirror in front of the bulb?
 
I don't think removing that reflector would be a good idea. As far as adjusting them, it's very easy. You need a torx 10 or torx 15 driver. Here's what you need to turn: lamp adjustment jackscrew.

Since the headlight assembly seems to have been engineered a certain way, one adjustment adjusts both hi and lo beams horizontally.

Jamie
 
any tricks on adjusting them? i used to point them at the garage door, but how far out onto the road should they shoot and how far out laterally. just a personal preference or are there some kind of industry standards? right now, mine seem to be pointing a little too high. thanks
 
Find a nice level area with a vertical wall (or garage door).

Set your AV back about 20' to 30' if you can (at least 10').

Then I measure from the ground to the center of the headlight on the truck. Then measure the same distance up the wall and mark (electrical tape works well).

Turn on the high beams and the bright spot should on the mark directly in front of the lights. With the high beams set (parallel to the ground and straight ahead) the low beams will be set also.

This method works for driving lights as well. It is at least a good starting point.

You may want the drivers side just slightly lower and to the right to lessen blinding on-coming traffic.

Cheers - Jim
 
jamie said:
Then you should find some 50W Xenon fogs. They will cast whiter light out in the perimeter and below you lows. They are very nice!

Jamie
Click to expand...
I can't seem to find the 50W Xenon Fogs, are these an ebay item that I need to search for? Last question will the Xenon fogs be brighter than the 50W Sylvania bulbs I have in?

TIA
 
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