Where can I buy Cibie headlights?

[belfert]

Any other sources besides Daniel Stern Lighting and Cibie USA to get Cibie Headlights?  I need the H1 6.5"x4" lights.

I've Daniel can be hard to deal with and Cibie USA charges about $20 a light more than Daniel Stern.

[artvonne]

  I know Cibie are superior, but why not just run Hellas? They will be far better than sealed beam halogens and much cheaper and more readily available than Cibie's.

[JohnEd]

What Art said X 10.  And you are correct about Daniel Stern.  He is supremely knowledgeable but my experience is he is a snake if he doesn't like you.  Highly irregular for a businessman.  Again, he is smart and he has good prices just keep your ear to the ground.

$34.00 for the Hella.  And it is superb.....Cibie is in fact better but if they loose their light output after a couple years then the mirror reflector is not very good.  My Hellas are from 1995 and just as bright as the day I bought them.

John

[Brian Diehl]

I have the Hella's in my bus and really like them!  They are FAR better than the sealed beams!

[belfert]

I had read somewhere that the Cibies are superior to the Hellas.  Is there any truth to this?

I can certainly get the Hella headlights for a lot less money.  The two light set is only $96 shipped on Amazon.  That is the price for one Cibie light with bulb.  I am looking at the Hella 003177801 light set.

I think I'll place an order with Amazon later today unless someone has good reason not to get the Hellas.

[JohnEd]

Buy the Hellas and get full voltage to them.  You will be a happy camper.  The low beam pattern is flat across and there is a bright up-sweep to the right that illuminates  anything along the side of the road.

John

[belfert]

I did some more research and I am probably going to go with Cibie.  Everything I read says Cibie is better than Hella.

I contacted Daniel Stern Lighting and he responded with the prices.  I'm not sure what bulb to go with right now.

[JohnEd]

If you live anywhere that has a lot of rain be cautioned that the higher the temp the less well the light performs.  Those stock tungsten filaments run at 2,700 and that is distinctly yellow.  Looks anemic next to those 6,500 degree kelvin jobbers.  BUT, that warmer temp light will do far better in mist or rainy conditions.  That is also the "natural" temp for the halogen bulbs and any deviation from that temp is achieved with a filter and the filter takes away from the total light being put out by the bulb.   Sooooo you get more visible light from 2,500 than you do from 6,000 or even 3,000 for that matter.

Here is where Stern and I differ, as I best understand it.  He doesn't think there is any advantage in yellow/amber, 2 to 3 thousand Kelvin, fog lights over 6,000K units that are bright white.  He is not correct about that and he seemed firm in his conviction.  It is only in our recent past here in the USA that they started selling clear lights with a fog beam pattern, wide and low narrow vertical pattern.  Yellow as the standard color for fog lights goes back to the 20s.  Look at the old Flex's and GM's and Brill's and note that they came with 7 inch rounds of amber color to augment the clear headlights.  In my youth I remember the semi trucks having big yellow fog lights hanging from their bumpers.

I would go with the Cibie also until I checked out if Hella still uses the superb lens that I have.  Ask Stern but I know that he has a close relationship with Cibie.

John

[artvonne]

  Ive owned one set of Cibie's. They were absoluetly fantastic when new, and even today, everything you read places them at the top. As they aged however, the light output slowly dropped until they were far below the output of a standard non halogen incandescent sealed beam.

  Several things working together brought this to pass. The largest issue was erosion of the outside surface of the lens from grit, bugs etc.. Next was a breakdown of the sealant between the lens and inner housing, and the inner bulb that seals the lamp in the back. Between the two, moisture and time oxidised the reflector.

  I would say much beyond 5 years or so and the quality may start to fall off significantly. In actual use, seeing as a standard halogen sealed beam is quite bright and lights up the road pretty well, the Hella will be an absolute night and day difference over a standard sealed beam. The difference between a Hella and a Cibie? While I have never set them side by side, I doubt the difference is that remarkable. And when you break one, youll be buying another pair, because ive never seen Cibies sold as singles. Some stores will sell a single Hella however. They both take the same bulbs.

  If cost is no object and you can go somewhere and buy them, you might want the Cibie's. If you have to order and wait, just go to O'Riellys or wherever and buy a pair of Hellas.

  I also side with Ed, and many decades of automotive knowledge, that amber works best in fog and mist. White works best in clear air. Regardless of the ricers.

[belfert]

Hmm..  On one hand I read lots of posts saying the beam pattern of the Cibie lights are superior to that of the Hella lights.  On the other hand if the Cibie lights don't last very long that isn't good either.

I suppose if I had never done any research and just bought the Hella lights I would be happy as they would be better than DOT sealed beams.

[artvonne]

On the other hand if the Cibie lights don't last very long that isn't good either.

I suppose if I had never done any research and just bought the Hella lights I would be happy as they would be better than DOT sealed beams.

  I would well imagine.