Had 2(!) Stealth Auto 194's burn out on me...
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
Had 2(!) Stealth Auto 194's burn out on me...
Hi Guys,
Looking for someone with more electrical knowledge than me to explain something.
My '05 C230 Sedan is 5 months old. No problems whatsoever. A couple of weeks ago, I installed clear sidemarker lenses. They came with two amber 194 bulbs to replace the clear stock ones. No problems with that. Amber bulbs were nice and bright. Loved my new clear sidemarkers.
A week or so ago I got a pair of Stealth Auto 194 bulbs to improve the look. After less than a week of light driving, I noticed the left side bulb get dimmer. Yesterday, it burned out. While replacing it I noticed the right side bulb was pretty dim too. A few hours later, it burned out too.
I put the amber bulbs back in, and they work fine, nice and bright, but obviously I would prefer to have silver-stealthed bulbs in there.
Any ideas what the problem is here? My bulb dude is sending me free replacements, but I wonder if they will do the same thing too. Pardon my ignorance, but what kind of electrical phenomenon or defect would cause a bulb to slowly get dimmer and then burn out? I'm pretty sure it is not my car's electrical system, since the amber and clear bulbs work just fine, and have for 5 months.
I'm trying to figure out if these Stealth Auto bulbs just sh*t, and I should just try to find another brand altogether.
TIA.
Looking for someone with more electrical knowledge than me to explain something.
My '05 C230 Sedan is 5 months old. No problems whatsoever. A couple of weeks ago, I installed clear sidemarker lenses. They came with two amber 194 bulbs to replace the clear stock ones. No problems with that. Amber bulbs were nice and bright. Loved my new clear sidemarkers.
A week or so ago I got a pair of Stealth Auto 194 bulbs to improve the look. After less than a week of light driving, I noticed the left side bulb get dimmer. Yesterday, it burned out. While replacing it I noticed the right side bulb was pretty dim too. A few hours later, it burned out too.
I put the amber bulbs back in, and they work fine, nice and bright, but obviously I would prefer to have silver-stealthed bulbs in there.
Any ideas what the problem is here? My bulb dude is sending me free replacements, but I wonder if they will do the same thing too. Pardon my ignorance, but what kind of electrical phenomenon or defect would cause a bulb to slowly get dimmer and then burn out? I'm pretty sure it is not my car's electrical system, since the amber and clear bulbs work just fine, and have for 5 months.
I'm trying to figure out if these Stealth Auto bulbs just sh*t, and I should just try to find another brand altogether.
TIA.
Last edited by DiamondNoir2K5; Dec 21, 2004 at 04:09 AM.
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From: www.Traben-Trarbach.de
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It appears you have a manufacturing defect in those bulbs. This could be for a variety of reason: cheaper materials, less than adequate assembly procedures, etc.
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
Hmm, that would suck. It's weird how they both burned out within a day of each other. A 194 bulb is not a very complicated thing, it's hard to imagine they could be manfactured so poorly. Stealth Auto seems to be a pretty popular brand.
These bulbs are silver-coated. Could that have anything to do with it? Seems like I'm not the only one in this forum who has used clear sidemarkers+silvercoated bulbs, and no one seems to have had this problem before. I did a search.
Maybe my two bulbs are just from a bad manufacturing batch?
These bulbs are silver-coated. Could that have anything to do with it? Seems like I'm not the only one in this forum who has used clear sidemarkers+silvercoated bulbs, and no one seems to have had this problem before. I did a search.
Maybe my two bulbs are just from a bad manufacturing batch?
Thread Starter
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
So I was replacing the second the of the burned out Stealth bulbs this morning, and as I was pulling it out of the sidemarker socket, the damn thing crumbled in my hands (thank god I was wearing gloves)!!!!!
I had to pick out the fragmented base of the bulb using tweezers.
What the hell makes a glass bulb do that?
I know it's winter, but here in NorCal that only means 50 degrees F!!!!
I had to pick out the fragmented base of the bulb using tweezers.
What the hell makes a glass bulb do that?
I know it's winter, but here in NorCal that only means 50 degrees F!!!!
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From: Long Island, New York
'05 C230SS 6MT, 1966 Triumph TR4a IRS, Shelby Cobra 427 Supercharged
Originally Posted by DiamondNoir2K5
what kind of electrical phenomenon or defect would cause a bulb to slowly get dimmer and then burn out?
The silver coating on the lens makes the lens reflective, alowing some of the light waves to reflect back into the bulb. This could increase the temperature of the bulb. The bulb itself, being in a small, unventillated area, is already subject to higher than normal temps. This in combination with the reflected light waves increases the temperature of the filament. Increasing the filaments temperature increases the electrical resistance across the filament (as temp of a electrical component rises, its resistance rises). Due to the increased resistance the bulb now glows dimmer. This process repeatedly brings the bulb close to burning out and then back down, eventually the filament weakens, in which case it doesnt take much for it to break.
Its just a theory, and I'm probably wrong, its most likely a bad batch of bulbs!
PS: I'm in the middle of studying for my Circuit Analysis final when I read this! I just wanted to feel like I learned something I will actually use!
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
Capn Nemo. Thanks for the analysis. I'm hoping it's just a bad batch. I can't imagine they're all low enough quality to burn out in a week. Good luck on your final!
And reubenl is living proof, I guess. I just hope the replacement bulbs I get are from a different batch!
And reubenl is living proof, I guess. I just hope the replacement bulbs I get are from a different batch!
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From: The blue white rock, third out.
2002 C230 Coupe(M111)
Originally Posted by DiamondNoir2K5
Capn Nemo. Thanks for the analysis. I'm hoping it's just a bad batch. I can't imagine they're all low enough quality to burn out in a week. Good luck on your final!
And reubenl is living proof, I guess. I just hope the replacement bulbs I get are from a different batch!
And reubenl is living proof, I guess. I just hope the replacement bulbs I get are from a different batch!
Get yourself a set of LED 194 replacements. They'll look cleaner, and won't burn out. I have LED's for my turns and city lights. I have the clear corners too(just like yours), but I'm happy with the amber bulbs for now.
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
Originally Posted by FrankW
the brand must be the problem. Get some Silvanias or PIAA if they make'em or just use the amber bulb.
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From: Left Coast, USA
'05 C230K SS
Originally Posted by Outland
Most of the ricer-esque **** is just that, ****. Nemo had the right logic. Same reason you don't touch the glass on the high beam bulbs and create hot spot.
Get yourself a set of LED 194 replacements. They'll look cleaner, and won't burn out. I have LED's for my turns and city lights. I have the clear corners too(just like yours), but I'm happy with the amber bulbs for now.
What do you use to load balance your LED's? Inline resistors?
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From: The blue white rock, third out.
2002 C230 Coupe(M111)
Well obviously if you used the amber bulbs you wouldn't have posted this. I just said I'm happy with them for now. I'll probably add more LED's there at some point.
I scotch locked a second socket on the line, and just pluged the OEM bulbs into it, then let it hide out of site. Works great, and a lot cheaper than the load equalizers.
I scotch locked a second socket on the line, and just pluged the OEM bulbs into it, then let it hide out of site. Works great, and a lot cheaper than the load equalizers.
