Tips For Quickly and Effectively Changing Your Headlight Bulbs
The chances are that at some point throughout the life of your car you are going to have to change, replace or upgrade your headlight bulbs. The option is always open for you to take your car along to your main dealership or local garage and ask them to do the work for you, but if like many of us today you are concerned with saving as much money as possible, it may be that you simply cannot afford to pay the hefty premiums that are charged for parts and labour. When it comes to changing your headlight bulbs, you may find that the entire process is much simpler than it seems, but with so much different advice available for you to take, it can be difficult to decide which instructions to follow, so here are some of the most important tips for changing your bulbs quickly and effectively.
1) Never touch the glass of your headlight bulbs when you are changing them with your bare fingers. This is one piece of advice that you will be given over and over again when you're searching for hints on switching bulbs, and there is a good reason for it. No matter how clean you think your hands are, when you touch the glass of your headlight bulbs with your naked fingers you are going to leave some residue behind. This is because your skin produces natural oils, which means that when your headlight bulbs is illuminated a hot spot will be produced on the glass, leading to the bulb failing much earlier than it should. Luckily, many high-end bulb manufacturers are now using toughened glass in the production of their bulbs so the issue of hotspots is not as aggressive as it used to be, but it is typically good practice to have a set of latex gloves handy whenever you are handling headlight bulbs to ensure you get the most life from them.
2) Checking the owner's manual is not the only way to figure out which headlight bulbs have been fitted to your car. Although the owner's manual will usually give you pretty accurate information about which bulbs are fitted in your car and their location, during a production run some manufacturers will end up changing the design or parts supplier that they use, so the bulbs may end up differing from what is stated in the manual. To avoid any mistakes, remove the bulbs yourself and check them visually, as usually the type is printed somewhere on the bulb itself.
1) Never touch the glass of your headlight bulbs when you are changing them with your bare fingers. This is one piece of advice that you will be given over and over again when you're searching for hints on switching bulbs, and there is a good reason for it. No matter how clean you think your hands are, when you touch the glass of your headlight bulbs with your naked fingers you are going to leave some residue behind. This is because your skin produces natural oils, which means that when your headlight bulbs is illuminated a hot spot will be produced on the glass, leading to the bulb failing much earlier than it should. Luckily, many high-end bulb manufacturers are now using toughened glass in the production of their bulbs so the issue of hotspots is not as aggressive as it used to be, but it is typically good practice to have a set of latex gloves handy whenever you are handling headlight bulbs to ensure you get the most life from them.
2) Checking the owner's manual is not the only way to figure out which headlight bulbs have been fitted to your car. Although the owner's manual will usually give you pretty accurate information about which bulbs are fitted in your car and their location, during a production run some manufacturers will end up changing the design or parts supplier that they use, so the bulbs may end up differing from what is stated in the manual. To avoid any mistakes, remove the bulbs yourself and check them visually, as usually the type is printed somewhere on the bulb itself.
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