sealed beam headlights

[busyguy]

My Harney coach has the sealed beam headlights. The high beam is great but, the low beam is almost worthless.
I am thinking about changing them to LED's and was wondering if anyone else has already did this. If so how did it work and was there much improvement.
Bulbs are $139.00 a pair on Amazon. Not cheap but may be worth it.
Thanks for your response
Busyguy

[MEXICOWANDERER]

HOLY MOLE!

http://www.carid.com/headlights.html?utm_source=microsoft&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=led%206054%20headl...

[Ava]

There are LED sealed beam lights available on web sites as. aliexspress.com. They are not bulb replacements they are a rack of LEDs in the shape of the original sealed beams. I don't know how good they are but look interesting.

[MrWizard]

You have duals, two headlights, two beams each light
Rectangular equivalent of the old round head lights

I have quads, four individual sealed lamps , two low beam, two high beam

[busyguy]

Thanks for all the replies. I do know what headlights I have. There is one headlight on each side and they are sealed beams. I have checked the voltage and it is where it should be. I was looking at LED bulbs that are a plug in replacement for my sealed beams. My headlights have also been aligned and are set correctly.
Anyway got lots of info. Will check into this deeper before I do anything.
Busyguy

[landyacht318]

The Hella 6054 h4 replacements have a rather severe issue with the High beam being too High when the low beam is adjusted correctly.

We don't know what size the OPs bulbs are, and his complaints of a poor low beam might be resolved simply with a voltage drop test, and a GE NightHawk bulb replacement and properly aiming them.

The GE nighthawks are acknowledge by lighting experts to have a beam patterns much superior to Wagner and Sylvania in the sealed beam formats.

I upgraded from Sylvania bulbs to GEs the same time I added a new relayed 12awg harness, so I can't make a direct comparison, but brightness was at least 30% better and the beam pattern was wider with a less intense hotspot.

Too bright a Hotspot constricts the drivers pupils, reducing the ability to see, as well as drawing the drivers eyes to the hotspot, when perhaps the obstacle required to be seen lies outside the hotspot.

Sylvania recently got called on their false marketing and had to pay out 30 million in fines for their insupportable claims of improved lighting.

The Op should Email Daniel Stern with all the information they have concerning their lighting on their vehicle

[Gdetrailer]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Pardon me 🙂

I was solely going by the fitment number. What I was driving at is essentially there are no drop-in replacement lamps with higher wattage. I am donating time and materials upgrading an ambulance that uses the 6054 lamps. At night the lighting is a death sentence at Code 3 operation. That thing needs 100-watt KC off-road lamps. Too great a burden for my meager resources. Asphalt tinted cattle and scrap iron engine blocks that tumble off of trucks can be a real bear at 80-mph.

Correct, and understood.

6054 is the "OEM" or Original Equipment Manufacturer Non Halogen part number..

It has been superseded (IE "replaced") with Halogen PN which typically will have the"H" added to the PN..

So, the 6054 bulb is now replaced by a "H6054" PN..

No matter the aftermarket manufacturer brand, the H6054 "should" be a vast improvement over the OEM 6054..

Toss in the headlight relay upgrade and you should have a noticeable improvement on the lighting..

I did that for my Dad's 1980 F350 and it is like you turned on the sun instead of lighting a birthday candle :B

[MrWizard]

if his Harney is like my Safari
there are FOUR indiviual lamps(sealed beam)
each one is adjustable

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Pardon me 🙂

I was solely going by the fitment number. What I was driving at is essentially there are no drop-in replacement lamps with higher wattage. I am donating time and materials upgrading an ambulance that uses the 6054 lamps. At night the lighting is a death sentence at Code 3 operation. That thing needs 100-watt KC off-road lamps. Too great a burden for my meager resources. Asphalt tinted cattle and scrap iron engine blocks that tumble off of trucks can be a real bear at 80-mph.

[Gdetrailer]

landyacht318 wrote:
Sylvania's cheapest 6054 sealed beam is no upgrade. None of sylvania's sealed beams have a good beam pattern.

Start engine, turn on the headlamps, and put a DMM on the prongs of the bulb.

Compare to voltage at battery terminal for both high and low beam.

Find where the h4 connector grounds to the body/frame/fenderwell, and clean that ground.

Retest voltage drop.

My point to Mex, is there ARE "6054" bulbs available and they do not cost $180 either but to FIND the bulbs he was looking for you need to look for HALOGEN.. Many of the HALOGEN bulbs use a "H" IN FRONT OF THE PN.. Hence the H6054 designation..

As far as Sylvanias brand being junk, I can't say that at all, at least with the round versions I have on a antique car.. The Halogen Sylvania bulbs on it were a good upgrade in pattern and brightness when compared to the OEM style bulb..

I will agree that the VOLTAGE DROP NEEDS TO BE CHECKED AND ADDRESSED before blaming the existing bulb..

Now if you are really over the top OCD about beam pattern then perhaps a sealed beam to halogen "conversion" would be up your alley..

At about $50 each you CAN buy a reflector which is DOT approved that you can replace the halogen capsules like a non sealed headlight..

SEE HERE

[landyacht318]

Sylvania's cheapest 6054 sealed beam is no upgrade. None of sylvania's sealed beams have a good beam pattern.

Start engine, turn on the headlamps, and put a DMM on the prongs of the bulb.

Compare to voltage at battery terminal for both high and low beam.

Find where the h4 connector grounds to the body/frame/fenderwell, and clean that ground.

Retest voltage drop.

[Gdetrailer]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The rectangular 2-headlight bulbs are denoted as

6054

I looked for weeks and found a single replacement 6054 made in Italy for almost 180-dollars each. I would defintely check voltage at the headlights.

The old louvered Per Lux stainless steel lighta were hard to beat for legal low-bean use. Halogen low beam bulbs consume 45-watts.

A 30-watt LED needs a LARGE finned heatsink. A finned disc an inch thick and about the diameter of a tennis ball. A flat chip would be twice the area of a postage stamp. A COB would be needed but where are they going to stick the heatsink? I smell a rat. This does not add up.

FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

Mex.. I don't know where you have been looking BUT..

You NEED to add a "H" to the number you are looking for.. "H" is for Halogen which replaced the standard bulb.. I don't think they make non halogen sealed beams any more..

So it is H6054 you are looking for and can be had for a mere $8.88..

HERE

[landyacht318]

6054 is but one size of rectangular sealed beam light, and most are 60/55 watt high/low beam.

I plan on getting the Cibie 200MM which are a direct replacement for the 6054 size factor.

Into the Cibies, any H4 bulb will fit, but h4 bulb quality is all over the map. Daniel stern recommended me a 70/65 watt Osram bulb for the Cibies.

The Cibie's are 80$ each though before tax. Much more affordable than the JW speaker 8900 series though which are apparently the best, at this time, drop in replacement for a 6054.

My bulbs were suffering almost 3 volts of drop on the wiring. Now with a 12awg relayed harness the voltage drop is only 0.3v. Light output is not linear with voltage but exponential. So reducing voltage drop to the bulbs makes huge huge differences in light output on Halogen bulbs, but at the cost of reduced bulb lifespan.

The actual wattages on H4 bulbs are not really representative of their output. As voltage increases, so does their amp draw, and some bulbs are rated at 12v and others at 13.2, so direct comparison is not wise. Check out this h4 bulb comparison:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?392498-Interesting-headlight-bulb-test-results

[MEXICOWANDERER]

The rectangular 2-headlight bulbs are denoted as

6054

I looked for weeks and found a single replacement 6054 made in Italy for almost 180-dollars each. I would defintely check voltage at the headlights.

The old louvered Per Lux stainless steel lighta were hard to beat for legal low-bean use. Halogen low beam bulbs consume 45-watts.

A 30-watt LED needs a LARGE finned heatsink. A finned disc an inch thick and about the diameter of a tennis ball. A flat chip would be twice the area of a postage stamp. A COB would be needed but where are they going to stick the heatsink? I smell a rat. This does not add up.

FROM THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

[Gdetrailer]

busyguy wrote:
My Harney coach has the sealed beam headlights. The high beam is great but, the low beam is almost worthless.
I am thinking about changing them to LED's and was wondering if anyone else has already did this. If so how did it work and was there much improvement.
Bulbs are $139.00 a pair on Amazon. Not cheap but may be worth it.
Thanks for your response
Busyguy

Don't bother, those LEDs are for NON SEALED BEAM headlight assemblies AND they are not DOT approved...

There may not be anything wrong with your sealed beams.. What the problem tends to be is to much voltage loss from undersized wire..

Buy or make a headlight relay kit.. Check the voltage at the bulbs, most likely the bulbs are getting 10-11V and should be getting 13.2V or so..

Check the link below for headlight relay kits..

HERE

The link below is an "Instructables" on how to DIY your own relay kit..

HERE