What tool, to adapt H9 bulb to H11 socket?

[Benzadmiral]

Like a lot of us, I drive to work in dark or near dark right now. Some extra light on the road would be good. The Regal takes the H11 bulb, but I've read here that the 65W H9 is not only brighter but longer-lived. A plastic tab within the socket apparently needs to be removed before the H9 will fit into the H11's mount.

What tool(s) would I use to remove this tab? And they warn us continually not to touch the bulbs with your hands. With nitrile gloves, should I be able to do this without harming the bulbs? (I picture myself breaking the bulb as I saw away at the plastic tab.)

 

[redhat]

Fingernail clippers do well with those tabs.

 

[Benzadmiral]

The tabs are that thin??

 

[razel]

I used to just use a well sharpened utility knife. If it gave me any trouble I'd just heat the knife. There was only one time where I put it in a vice. I did that in reverse though. The knife in vice and me holding the bulb. Thinking back a nail cutter would actually work better.

It's not the end of the world if you touch the bulb glass. Just wipe it with a microfiber cloth then finish it off with rubbing alcohol with paper towel. Don't worry about any leftover fibers, they blow right off and all bulbs collect dust in the headlight. It's the oil your worried about.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Like a lot of us, I drive to work in dark or near dark right now. Some extra light on the road would be good. The Regal takes the H11 bulb, but I've read here that the 65W H9 is not only brighter but longer-lived. A plastic tab within the socket apparently needs to be removed before the H9 will fit into the H11's mount.

What tool(s) would I use to remove this tab? And they warn us continually not to touch the bulbs with your hands. With nitrile gloves, should I be able to do this without harming the bulbs? (I picture myself breaking the bulb as I saw away at the plastic tab.)


you're not modifying the bulb. You're modifying the H11 connector to accept the H9 bulb.

If you have a dremel... it's super easy.

otherwise... utility knife.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Like a lot of us, I drive to work in dark or near dark right now. Some extra light on the road would be good. The Regal takes the H11 bulb, but I've read here that the 65W H9 is not only brighter but longer-lived. A plastic tab within the socket apparently needs to be removed before the H9 will fit into the H11's mount.

What tool(s) would I use to remove this tab? And they warn us continually not to touch the bulbs with your hands. With nitrile gloves, should I be able to do this without harming the bulbs? (I picture myself breaking the bulb as I saw away at the plastic tab.)


you're not modifying the bulb. You're modifying the H11 connector to accept the H9 bulb.

If you have a dremel... it's super easy.

otherwise... utility knife.

Oh, I know what I'll be modifying is the base, the connector part. But to hold the entire unit while I cut or clip, my hand will almost certainly have to touch the bulb, I'd guess.

An X-acto knife sounds like a good idea, then?

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Like a lot of us, I drive to work in dark or near dark right now. Some extra light on the road would be good. The Regal takes the H11 bulb, but I've read here that the 65W H9 is not only brighter but longer-lived. A plastic tab within the socket apparently needs to be removed before the H9 will fit into the H11's mount.

What tool(s) would I use to remove this tab? And they warn us continually not to touch the bulbs with your hands. With nitrile gloves, should I be able to do this without harming the bulbs? (I picture myself breaking the bulb as I saw away at the plastic tab.)


you're not modifying the bulb. You're modifying the H11 connector to accept the H9 bulb.

If you have a dremel... it's super easy.

otherwise... utility knife.

Oh, I know what I'll be modifying is the base, the connector part. But to hold the entire unit while I cut or clip, my hand will almost certainly have to touch the bulb, I'd guess.

An X-acto knife sounds like a good idea, then?


you don't need to touch the bulb. When you compare the connector to the bulb... you know which wall to remove. YOu can keep the bulb attached to the housing while working on the connector.

An X-act knife will work also...

 

[Benzadmiral]

So in this pic, http://store.candlepower.com/h-9.html, the bulb is removable from the black base? I can unscrew the bulb, work on the connector, and then put the bulb back in?

 

[UG_Passat]

sorry, had a brain [censored].

yes, you do modify the bulb... wear gloves nitrile or latex gloves when you hold the bulb.

then clean with rubbing alcohol and a lint-free cloth.

h9 (remove the small wall, so it matches a H11):

h11:

 

[oldhp]

No bulb do not unscrew. Look at inside of the H11 bulb and make the inside of the H9 look the same, you'll see what you have to trim. Very easy mod.

 

[racin4ds]

I just did this upgrade for our '13 Sentra, factory H11 bulbs suck!

It is royally a PITA to remove that little tab all the way down in the socket of that bulb! There is NO WAY nail clippers are getting in there and your gonna have lots a fun with an X-acto knife which is what I did.

I'm honestly thinking about just buying the proper H9 headlight pig tails and soldering them in place of my OEM plugs. It isn't like your ever going to want to go back to that [censored] H11 bulb!

 

[razel]

By the way, my experience with higher wattage bulbs in stock locations isn't worth it. I did a blind test on my buddy when we replaced his headlights. The original was 55 watt OEM, the replacement was a 30% brighter clear bulb 55 watt and the others were a 65 watt and 100 watt modded.

He couldn't tell the difference sitting inside the car between the 30% brighter 55 watt vs the 65 watt. We both noticed the difference with the 100 watt, but it wasn't twice as bright (obviously) but it certainly wasn't worth melting the headlight.

We left the 100 watt in the driver and 65 watt in the passenger. Less than 2 months later the 100 watt blew out.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
sorry, had a brain [censored].

yes, you do modify the bulb... wear gloves nitrile or latex gloves when you hold the bulb.

then clean with rubbing alcohol and a lint-free cloth.

h9 (remove the small wall, so it matches a H11):

h11:

Right, that was your original diagram that made this seem feasible to me. I'll check with my local hobby store, or maybe I have an old knife I can heat up to do the job.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: racin4ds
I just did this upgrade for our '13 Sentra, factory H11 bulbs suck!

It is royally a PITA to remove that little tab all the way down in the socket of that bulb! There is NO WAY nail clippers are getting in there and your gonna have lots a fun with an X-acto knife which is what I did.

I'm honestly thinking about just buying the proper H9 headlight pig tails and soldering them in place of my OEM plugs. It isn't like your ever going to want to go back to that [censored] H11 bulb!

I didn't think standard nail clippers would do it, from the pics I've seen of the H9 bulb. What about if I take an old knife and heat it, then slice away at the plastic tab/wall?

 

[NYSteve]

I just did this a couple weeks ago. You are really overthinking it. There is plenty of room to hold the black plastic body without grabbing the bulb. Just wear gloves.

Cuticle cutters would work best, as the tab has a natural break where it meets the body. I used a dremel which worked fine, just a little messy with the bits everywhere.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: NYSteve
I just did this a couple weeks ago. You are really overthinking it. There is plenty of room to hold the black plastic body without grabbing the bulb. Just wear gloves.

Cuticle cutters would work best, as the tab has a natural break where it meets the body. I used a dremel which worked fine, just a little messy with the bits everywhere.

Isn't that the requirement for membership on BITOG? "I regularly overthink things"?

 

[Rand]

your h11 low beams have the reflector in front of the bulb right?

If not you will be blinding everyone with the h9

(what happens if you put them in most fog lights)

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: Rand
your h11 low beams have the reflector in front of the bulb right?

If not you will be blinding everyone with the h9

(what happens if you put them in most fog lights)

No idea; this car is quite new to me. I asked on Buickforums.com, and nobody had apparently done this. One guy suggested purchasing Wagner H11s, like these: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4201740&cc=1446341 So I'm confused about which way to go.

 

[NYSteve]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: NYSteve
I just did this a couple weeks ago. You are really overthinking it. There is plenty of room to hold the black plastic body without grabbing the bulb. Just wear gloves.

Cuticle cutters would work best, as the tab has a natural break where it meets the body. I used a dremel which worked fine, just a little messy with the bits everywhere.

Isn't that the requirement for membership on BITOG? "I regularly overthink things"?


Touche - well played sir!

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: Rand
your h11 low beams have the reflector in front of the bulb right?

If not you will be blinding everyone with the h9

(what happens if you put them in most fog lights)

No idea; this car is quite new to me. I asked on Buickforums.com, and nobody had apparently done this. One guy suggested purchasing Wagner H11s, like these: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4201740&cc=1446341 So I'm confused about which way to go.


Are these your headlights? If your low beams are the round, circle part, H9s will work.

 

[Ken2]

H9 bulbs have a shorter life than H11. H9s are designed to be high beams that are usually run for a much shorter period of time than the low beams. From another site: The H9 has a 65w (nominal) filament optimized for maximum luminance and flux at the expense of shorter lifespan. The H11 has a 55w (nominal) filament optimized for long life at the expense of lower luminance and flux.

I replaced the H11s in our car with H9s. Brighter, well controlled, I'm glad I did it, but not brighter in a major way. I'm OK with shorter bulb life to get more light on the road.