Osram Nightbreaker death after only 7 months?

Tom|Nbk

Tom|Nbk

Tom|Nbk

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Joined
12 Mar 2006
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N.E England
As per title, one of my bulbs has gone after 7 months. Has anyone else had a Nightbreaker go after what seems like a short period of time?

How long should these normally last?

I don't exactly use my car for a large amount of time per day either
 
could shaking from your stiffer suspension have shortened the life perhaps -_-
 
mjt said:
do you drive with your headlights on all day?
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what difference does that make? i did about 15k miles in 18 months with my ring xtreme blue bulbs in the mondeo and they were still going strong with constant usage, 7 months is ****
 
rG-tom said:
what difference does that make? i did about 15k miles in 18 months with my ring xtreme blue bulbs in the mondeo and they were still going strong with constant usage, 7 months is ****
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The filament only has a certain life. When I had Osram Silverstars in my Volvo I would get about 18months out of them as they were on all the time the car was running. Nightbreakers are running even hotter so I wouldnt expect them to last as long although I would expect more than 7 months.
 
If it is vibration then I'd expect the other to go some time soon. I cant see it being that though tbh, I'm sure theres far harder suspension setups out there so they would last even less in them.
 
Wicksta said:
Apparently the grease in your skin causes hot spots on the bulb which can overheat it and cause premature failure.
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It will cause premature failure but only because the grease left from your skin will cause hot spots on the glass and can crack it due the difference in heating of the glass.
 
Didn't touch the bulbs when installing them I made sure of that :)

It would be cracked if that even was the issue though?

Beats me. Put some uber cheapies back in for the time being..
 
Dandle said:
It will cause premature failure but only because the grease left from your skin will cause hot spots on the glass and can crack it due the difference in heating of the glass.
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Would it not cause extra heat on the inside of the bulb as well though, thus reducing the life of the filament.
 
Dandle said:
Maybe but I was always told it was becuase of the glass cracking due to different heating times.
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Yeah I'm sure that is the more likely outcome, I just wondered if the hot spots would increase the temperature of the halogen gas inside the bulb as well.
 
Sounds to me like the bulbs have a clue to their reliability in the name!

Nightbreaker indeed!

Hard suspension won't kill bulbs, headlight failures are very rare in HGV's for example. :)
 
Well they do run hotter than standard bulbs, I'm not surprised they don't last as long. I've had mine for a year tho, and have been fine do far.
 
My Osram Starsilver's which Osram probably just renamed for their newer line didnt even last a year. And that was with very careful installation as I knew about grease causing a hot spot.
 
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