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Old 11-07-2010, 07:56 PM   #1
veener79
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Default H11 to H9 conversion. DIY with temps

I have read about being able to change the headlights to a H9 bulb with just simply removing a tab in the H9 socket. Some people did it. Others have not because they were worried about their wires or head lights getting to warm. I did a 10min bench mark test without the car running. That way it would show the temps before and after the test.

First I had to file down the tab in the socket.

This is how it looked.



I used these files to work down the tab. It took me about 10min per socket.



After being done how it should look.



This is how my lights look with the OEM bulbs.



This is the temperatures of the wires and socket before I turned on the head lights. The socket is the top temp the bottom is the wire.
Low-price lockdown offers of Hyvee Ad can make sense when you need a specific product.




This is where I had the probes setup.



As you can see the temps went up around the socket. The wire increased just a little more.



After installing the new bulbs and running them for 10min also you can see the housing temps are only 3deg more. The wire temp is just a little lower.



This is the new view.



I took a test drive and I could tell the difference. I am very happy with this mod. For $30 I know I have long lasting bulbs and a lot higher output.


I hope this helps anyone with this mod if they are worried about over heating their wires or housing.
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Old 11-15-2010, 02:31 PM   #2
first suby 2010
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well done, and nice meter.
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Old 11-16-2010, 11:03 AM   #3
CRAZYHAWK
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Being the car wasn't running, you ran the lights with 12 volts. You'll have around 14 volts with car running.

Power = (E x E)/R , that's voltage squared divided by resistance

You'll have 36% more power with the car running.
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Old 11-16-2010, 12:24 PM   #4
pharmamatt
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CRAZYHAWK View Post
Being the car wasn't running, you ran the lights with 12 volts. You'll have around 14 volts with car running.

Power = (E x E)/R , that's voltage squared divided by resistance

You'll have 36% more power with the car running.
Ideally yes, but i'm pretty sure daniel stern lighting has discussed that there are massive voltage drops across the stock wiring.

anyway, i did the same thing with my car, huge improvement over stock, glad to see that there isn't a huge increase in housing or wire temperature.
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Old 11-16-2010, 01:52 PM   #5
veener79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CRAZYHAWK
Being the car wasn't running, you ran the lights with 12 volts. You'll have around 14 volts with car running.

Power = (E x E)/R , that's voltage squared divided by resistance

You'll have 36% more power with the car running.
I did have my car running for both tests. I wanted to make it real life test. I turned it off to takes the shots.
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Old 11-19-2010, 06:41 AM   #6
zhenta0
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May I ask what brand of bulbs you chose for the H9s?
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Old 11-19-2010, 02:49 PM   #7
pharmamatt
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i went with motomaster H9 units (OEM replacement) (I live in Canada, so I don't know what generic brands are available in the south). The improvement in light output is huge as it is, good quality OEM replacement bulbs would be the best bet for longevity and cost.

should have been more clear, OEM replacement H9's, came to 20 bucks (canadian).

Last edited by pharmamatt; 11-19-2010 at 08:53 PM. Reason: clarity
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Old 11-19-2010, 08:43 PM   #8
veener79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zhenta0 View Post
May I ask what brand of bulbs you chose for the H9s?
I just used the cheap Sylvania bulbs you can get at Napa, Autozone, and so on. These where the only ones I could find in stores. I did not want to pay for higher end bulbs if after modding things did not work out.
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Old 12-16-2010, 06:45 PM   #9
0BlueSTi4
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So how is the harness and housing holding up?

Come to think of it the high beams are rated at 60 watts and I have a feeling that Subaru used the same wire for both the low and high beams. If this is the case then we are talking about 5 extra watts in lows over the highs on the same wire. Logic tells me it should be just fine. BTW, I haven't investigated this yet but does it look like the wiring for lows and highs is the same?
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Old 12-16-2010, 06:54 PM   #10
aleutdude
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I did this mod for my Mom's '09 Impreza a year ago and one of the modded bulbs just recently went out. No melted wires or anything else that I saw when I replaced it. Beware high wattage H9s though. I've seen blue bulbs that say 60 watts on packaging but read 100 watts on the bulb. I used Osram H9s but nodody carries them locally anymore but the generic ones I got from Ebay don't seem much, if any dimmer.
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Old 12-16-2010, 09:01 PM   #11
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Everything is holding up great. I have not had a single issue. No on coming drivers have had a issue with them. Even noticed after the last snow/ice storm the housing did not even get hot enough to melt the ice on them while I was driving.
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Old 12-25-2010, 02:18 AM   #12
0BlueSTi4
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Default Just converted to H9s...

Just plugged in H9 bulbs into the low beams and it is noticeably brighter and whiter light. Stock H11s were barely visible and really yellow looking. Next step is to see how many watts the bulbs are actually getting with stock wiring harness and decide whether upgrading the harness is worth the extra lumens.
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Old 01-01-2011, 09:43 PM   #13
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Finally Did the mod! Came out great, easy to do!
No Glare is a plus!









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Old 01-02-2011, 10:01 AM   #14
littlec
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OP, this is a fantastic post. Nice to see some informed posting with empirical data to support it too.

Will definitely be a mod i do once the current lights burn out.
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Old 02-06-2011, 11:18 AM   #15
Don Plata
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I did it to my car, thank you guys I wont be using HIDs for a long time
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Old 02-06-2011, 06:04 PM   #16
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Is there an H9 upgrade bulb? Like an Osram Nightbreaker or Sylvania SilverStar Ultra?
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Old 02-16-2011, 06:02 PM   #17
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Just finished installing! Now to wait for nightfall.... Pics will be up soon of the difference on mine.
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Old 02-16-2011, 07:06 PM   #18
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The difference in the bulbs is quite amazing. Really glad I did this.

The H9s are much brighter and whiter, and I no longer wonder if my lights are on . I highly recommend.
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Old 03-31-2011, 03:43 PM   #19
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I just did this today before class, took me a total of 20 mins max! I had bought a "heavy duty" harness (which when I took a closer look have much difference from the factory harness) and some Osram H9s. I shined them on a car today and they look alot brighter even against a white car in broad daylight. Im excited to see how they look at night!
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Old 04-03-2011, 04:35 PM   #20
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joecoolly, to clarify, you upgraded your harness wires?

hows everyone holding up with some longer term use? (the early guys)

i want to do this + HIR high beam bulbs. obviously dont want to cause any melting or fires lol.
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Old 04-03-2011, 04:49 PM   #21
veener79
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This has been working great for me. I just cleaned my engine yesterday and checked my wires and everything looks great.
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Old 04-03-2011, 08:27 PM   #22
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Yeah I bought them off of a site called racinglab.



Like I said they looked to be the same size as the factory but I didnt notice that until install. Probably not even necessary.

They are soo much better at night I love them btw, and I let them run for a while when I was sitting at work and checked the wires and everything looks great!
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Old 04-04-2011, 09:27 AM   #23
Da Sola Setter
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i have been using them for about a week and no problems yet. i used a dremel tool to cut the tab out and it worked great.
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Old 04-04-2011, 10:35 AM   #24
gsrcrxsi
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Are there any plus +50 high efficiency bulbs for H9? I want to put a GOOD bulb in there for even more light. Something like an oscram silver star or better.
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Old 09-15-2011, 01:45 AM   #25
Confucius37
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Did this today and it's definitelly a noticeable difference. I used Phillips OEM replacement H9 bulbs from Amazon. The Subaru OEM H11 bulbs are also Phillips and look almost exactly identical except for the color of the plastic and the tip of the H11s is painted over.

I had the H9's in and decided to take a photo comparison and when I put the H11s back in I thought I did somehting wrong because it looked so dim, but in reality the H9 bulbs are just significantly whiter and brighter.

so far it's the best $20 I spent on the car. Here is a comparo pic:

H9s on top



It's a little hard to see the difference in the photo, but it was an obvious difference.
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