Yes, that is a nominal current at 12 volts. However, Sylvania rates their H11 at 13.2 volts and 55 watts. That would give a current of 4.17 amps and indicate a resistance of 3.17 ohms at that voltage. My observation however is that auto 12 volt systems run higher than that for volts. I've measured mine at 14.6 volts. A 3.17 ohm bulb at 14.6 volts will draw a current of 4.6 amps. That incidentally gives an output of 67.2 watts.

P=IV
V=IR

are the two key formulas.

 

I got everything replaced and aimed my lights. There is a lot of fog tonight so it is very hard to tell if the lights are aimed properly. It seems like the driver side may be pointed toward the passenger side of the road a little much, but is hard to tell right now. Is there a way to adjust horizontally? It didn't look like there was since they snapped into place before you installed the bolts.

 

Ronald,

They only have vertical adjustments to the lights. If you are off horizontally, check to make sure everything is seated well. If that is OK, check to see if both the low beam and high beam are both off, if both are off, either the headlight mounting base (car sheet metal) has been "tweaked" or the headlight assembly is off. If only one is off, either the headlight assembly is off or the bulb is not seated well in the headlight (the bulb flange could also be warped).

 

Thanks David, things weren't as bad as I thought. Fog was so bad last night after I adjusted my lights I could barely see 50 feet. Fog was gone this morning and things looked much better. I was careful to seat everything correctly and I need to tweak my lights up a little now. I was careful to go low to start with on my adjustment, but they are very close. i am of the opinion that bad/cheap bulbs were the cause of my assemblies melting.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

 

Did you measure the resistance of those bulbs to see how they compared to the better ones?

 

No Ron I have not done that. When I get a chance I will try to get an ohm reading on them. I have some more of the Sylvania Osram bulbs coming to compare them against.

David, how far were you from the bad weather in GA last night? Hope you came through it unscathed.

 

Ronald,

They hit about 45 miles away from me. We had all of the tornados I ever want to see two years ago when 3 came thru my subdivision. Still had some good come from it, the good lord cleared all of the trees that used to be beside my house (due to an F1 setting down in the back yard) so I built a nice 3 car garage on the cleared land.

When life gives you lemons......

 

Glad to hear you weren't involved this time.

Glad to hear you made some nice lemonade from the last time.

 

Just a general note about handling the bulbs used in cars these days.

The bulbs themselves are separate from the housings, and they will get very hot when in use. If you are going to be working with them, make sure you keep them as clean as possible. That includes wiping them off after handling them with a clean soft paper towel or cloth. The little amount of oils from your fingers can cause heat related stress on the glass of the bulbs, leading to premature failure.

The problem first started occurring years ago, and the manufacturers may have done something to compensate for it, but being careful handling them, and cleaning them thoroughly when you do, is just a good preventative measure. A little time and care now can save a lot of hassle later.

Good Luck,
Scott

 

I checked the Ohms on one of the bulbs that caused the melting problem, it showed 6 Ohms. I think that converts to 72 watts? 12V x 6 Ohms=Watts? Please correct me if I am wrong.

The new Osram 55W bulbs are performing perfectly. A lesson learned, cheaper bulbs may not be worth the savings. I think the bulbs that melted my housings were marked incorrectly showing 55 Watts. I had purchased the same bulbs before but they were probably from a different vendor, I will stay with name brand bulbs from now on.