Can the headlight wiring harness handle 65W bulbs?

I bought some 65W Osram H7 bulbs and would like to install them.

That shouldn't be a problem, it isn't even one more amp per bulb. 100W bulbs would be something I would not try.

Stock H7

The stock H7 bulb is 55 W, https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/appl...tems/Pages/lrgproductspecs.aspx?partnumber=H7 so you are looking at approximately 1 amp difference. Wattage = Voltage X Amperage or Amperage = Wattage/Voltage. The wiring should be capable of handling that additional current as Ford_6L_E350 mentions.

One point to mention is the longevity of the bulb may be slightly less due to the increase heat inside the headlight housing. I know that I have installed the 9005 in place of the 9006 in my fog-lights but with the higher light output comes shorter bulb life.

Where did you acquire said 65W H7 bulbs?

L8r,..........dogger

would heat build up be an issue and melt the housing?

I installed them this afternoon. They definitely give out more light. The manufacturer claims a 50% increase in lumens, I'm not so sure though.

Any chance of before and after shots?

TDI_Timmy said:

Any chance of before and after shots?

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Too late! Stock bulbs are in the recycling bin that I just brought out to the curb.

I have had these on my Jetta for the past month and they're worth it. I bought them from candlepower inc (free shipping)

As for melting the housing , I haven't noticed anything bad happening. No one has flashed their high beams at me. There have been a lot of people that have installed the osram rallye without melting their housings.

Doug3 said:

Too late! Stock bulbs are in the recycling bin that I just brought out to the curb.

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i usually keep the bulbs, incase one goes out, swap out both bulbs then wait to purchase new ones

Probably not

mo_focus said:

would heat build up be an issue and melt the housing?

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I do not think that the heat build up would melt the housing. I have never had a housing problem with the 9005 - 65W bulbs replacing the 9006 - 55W in my fog lights.

L8r,...........irondogger

irondogger said:

The stock H7 bulb is 55 W, https://www.sylvania.com/en-us/appl...tems/Pages/lrgproductspecs.aspx?partnumber=H7 so you are looking at approximately 1 amp difference. Wattage = Voltage X Amperage or Amperage = Wattage/Voltage. The wiring should be capable of handling that additional current as Ford_6L_E350 mentions.

One point to mention is the longevity of the bulb may be slightly less due to the increase heat inside the headlight housing. I know that I have installed the 9005 in place of the 9006 in my fog-lights but with the higher light output comes shorter bulb life.

Click to expand...

Actually, in this case the issue isn't the heat it's the smaller filament being driver harder to produce more lumens. The 9006 is rated at 1000 hours service life. The 9005 is rated for 300 hours service life.

Oh, but if you want serious lumens from your fog lights you should try a HIR 1 bulb which has in excess of 100% more lumins at the same power rating (65W)...and is rated for a longer service life (350 hours). Best part is that other than the plastic locating tabs it's a drop in replacement in virtually all cases. However, if you want similar lumens of your 9006 but the most of the service life of a 9005 you can use the HIR 2 bulbs.


FYI, the way the HIR bulb gets more lumens is that it recycles the infrared to produce additional filament heating allowing for less heating needed from the electrical current. So in effect with an HIR 1 bulb you may have effectively a 120W bulb but with only the heat of a 65W bulb. Best part the bulbs are DOT certified and even used in certain production cars such as the Viper.

Needless to say: Make sure your lights are properly aimed and when used in place of high beams insuring you go back to low beams LONG before you get close to traffic in front of you.