Just wondering if it's bad (long term wise) if we leave the headlights on when shutting off the car. If so, why? Since it's a feature of the car.

 

its bad to keep turning the HID's on and off...it won't KILL UR LIGHTS...but it will shorten their life...they have it as a convenience as to oppose the AUTO ON headlights...which would decrease the life of the lights even more (going through tunnels, dark spots).

 

ok now why is it bad to keep turning the HID's on and off, and where did you get this info? Just curious!

 

HIDs operate in a similar manner to any sort of gas filled light. Basically, the lights are good for a certain number of cycles as opposed to a particular duration of use, like the life of standard filament bulbs. I forget the scientific reasoning behind this, but essentially that the basic reasoning.

 

oh I c, so in a sense HID's will last longer then reg filament, but just like regular light char. it will eventually burn out....I better stop turning my HID's on all the time.

 

don't understand the q. Sorry.

You mean turning off HID AFTER shutting off the engine ?
or
Walking away with HID on and let it auto-shutoff ?

 

walking away letting it auto-shutoff

 

Dude, it shuts them off about 20 seconds after you lock the car. It doesn't really make much of a difference. Especially when considering you were driving around with them on for the last half hour or so.

 

You have a heck of a way of composing a question. :shakehead

WHY ? why would you want to do that ? Are you a senior citizen fear of trip & fall ?

 

nothing to do with the gas really - but with the tungsten/malibdenum strip inside the bulb which "ignites" the xenon gas is very fragile - turning it on and off (running current and halting current) many times in a cycle of ignition will destroy the filament - literally, fry it, over a period of time. The filament must reach a certain temperature in order to ignite (im not sure if ignite is the right word, but i cant think of a better one at the moment) the gas and make it glow, which is why when u turn the light on the first time - it flickers on because it needs to charge up like a strobe - thus, high intensity discharge.

 

There are many luxury cars that have the auto-off headlights. Its a feature of the car, thats WHY.

I only do this at night though. So if I leave somewhere and park at night, I just leave the lights on and let them auto-off. Only when I get home do I actually turn them off manually.

This is a great feature if your at a place with many other cars parked since as soon as you hit your unlock on the fob, the lights turn on, making it very easy to find.

 

Oh, I see so you don't have to burn that 2 calories to lift your left hand and flip the light switch off....excellent explanation


yes, indeed.
But I personally never will have hard time locating my car cause I never park where the general public park.

 

I don't really use the auto-off feature on purpose. But, I have been known to leave my lights on accidentally, and in those instances, it helps quite a bit.

 

I try to always remember to turn off the lights. I'm paranoid like that. Besides, it helps if i'm driving someone else's car, and i don't know if they have auto-off lights anyway.

The auto-off definitely helps with peace-of-mind in those moments of doubt after you get into the office on a rainy day... "oh crap... did i turn off the lights? oh yeah, my car's got auto-off lights"

 

You don't understand english? I re-read it and it makes perfect sense to me. Seems like you're the only one that doesn't understand it. Hmmmm?


Thank you. If your car has the feature, might as well use it.

 

You asked "Why", fucktard, and I told you


So I guess you've never been to any sporting event in your life? Never been to a race at a large track? Never been to a mall? How exciting...

 

Judging by his grammar

 

I had a feeling this was coming.....

 

me too

 

yeah makes perfect sense to you.

 

Guys.. jeez..

The auto-off feature will NOT harm your HIDs. All it does is delay their turning off. It's like sitting in your car an additional 15 seconds then turning them off. When you come back to the car and unlock it, they come back on (just as you would have turned them on seconds later). The ballast keeps them stable so, if you notice, they do not dim when the engine is turning over.

HIDs life is shortened by rapidly blinking them. They have a life in hours - ~3000. Roughly the equivalent of driving 55mph at night for 165,000 miles (this is why they are said to last the life of the car)

Leave them on if you want to. Leave them on 24/7 and you'll likely never have one go bad. Just try to avoid flashing them.

 

There is no strip inside of a HID capsule, no filament, etc. There are two electrodes at opposite ends of a capsule filled with metal halide salts, xenon, and mercury gas. Rapidly blinking the lights causes something (it's evading me at this time) on the electrodes to evaporate and create deposites on the capsule, resulting in hot, fragile spots or cracks. This is end-of-life for a HID bulb.

However, the HIDs have a "halogen" process. When they're running, they clean off deposits from the HID capsule - but they must be on constantly for a while for this to work.

In general, however, as I said in my earlier post - avoid flashing/blinking the HIDs and they should be a part of your car that never needs servicing (there are exceptions).

And again - the Auto-off will not harm the headlights in any way.

 

Agree, rapid blinking of the HID is probably the only thing that will shorten their life. Industry standard for D2R/D2S bulbs are in HOURS (duration) so I don't know why some of you are saying its life is in cycles like in rechargable battery. HID are not Florence lights which do hold some truth with on/off cycle effecting their life hour.

BUT if you do keep your headlights on and you lock your car with the remote, you'll notice that it flashes the headlights when the parking light flashes as a confirmation WHICH is bad for the bulbs and ignitor. SO just base on that I'd try not to keep my HID on my TSX. The 03+ Accord and TSX suffer from this flashing of headlights when the parking light flashes as you press the lock/unlock. My 01 TL never flashes when I locked/unlock my car while keeping the headlights on. BAD or CHEAP DESIGN.

 

Ah, I didn't consider that possibility as all the TSXs I've driven have been loaners (no remotes). My 05 Accord also flashes its headlights in combination with the parking lights if I leave the lights on.

This means it's a good idea that if you're going to use the auto-off feature, lock your doors by the lock switch before shutting it and don't use the fob. When you come back it should flash the parking lights twice before turning on the headlights (at least it is this way in the Accord).

 

Edit: But in Honda's defense, the auto-off feature is a safety measure against running down the battery (and even I dunno how HIDs would respond to dying current). It's not necessarily designed for active use, it's a passive safety measure.

That may be why it will flash the lights as well as the parking lights when you lock it.

So to address the thread - perhaps you should consider not using this feature or follow my recommendation for the betterment of your HIDs.

 

Seems like it makes perfect sense to everyone else except you ....hmmmm? Since you don't understand simple english, I'm guessing you're passed your 20's with a maximum grade 6 education or you're still in grade 6. I guess that's ok. Some people are just born stupid so I won't hold that against you. But of course, I probably wasted my time for typing this since you most likely don't understand.

To everyone else that appearantly understands the english language, thank you for your input.

 

ahhh thank you - i never knew that