Jim Cathey wrote:
The life of the lamps WILL be inversely (but not linearly) proportional
to the output from the voltage regulator. All other things being equal,
if your voltage regulator limits the alternator output to 13.8 V or a
bit less (as the OE regulators in my cars did) the lamp life will be
almost double that of lamps run with a voltage regulator output of 14.4
V. Small changes in voltage translate in large changes in lamp life.
Both light output and lamp life equations have high powers of
voltage in them. Brightness may go up with V^2 (for example),
but life will go down with V^4 (also made-up). My leaky memory
says it was a power of 9 and 11, but those sound awfully high
to me. Regardless, it's pretty bad.
-- Jim
I don't recall the equations either (it's been almost 50 years since I
even saw them - whe I was working as a theatrical lighting designer)
but as light intensity increases with voltage increase, longevity
decreases a LOT faster!
Marshall
--
Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned questions)
"der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
'87 300TD 182Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 229Kmi, '85 190D 2.0 161Kmi, '87 190D 2.5
turbo 237kmi
