| Home  Blogs Help Search Login Register  
« previous next »
Pages: [1] Print
Author Topic: front bfog lamps  (Read 9574 times)
tog0035
Jr. Member
**
Posts: 25


« on: March 06, 2011, 12:04:17 am »

Can anyone tell me how to operate front spot lamps. I can only flash them. Regards TOG
Logged
Oetker
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1097



« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2011, 01:37:57 am »

They only work togheter with high beam (blue light on) and switch 5 on.
Logged

I feel like Jonah, only my fish looks different.
Murena 2.2 Red 1982. Murena 1.6 black on places.
Matra_Hans
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 659


Owner of Bagheera, Rancho, Murena & Espace


« Reply #2 on: March 06, 2011, 09:48:23 am »

Hi
The two additional front lamlamps are not fog ligths but spotligths, therefore thsy can only be used for flashing or together with high beam.

Hans
Logged
Oetker
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1097



« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2011, 10:00:20 am »

Quote.
---------
The two additional front lamps are not fog ligths but spotligths.
=================================================

I am a bit mixed up about this.
In some manuals they speak about spotlights and in some about foglights.
The way it is connected it has to be spotlights, but I saw different kinds on Murena's.



Maybe it depends on the country the car is sold?
Logged

I feel like Jonah, only my fish looks different.
Murena 2.2 Red 1982. Murena 1.6 black on places.
roy4matra
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1199



« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2011, 10:29:37 am »

Can anyone tell me how to operate front spot lamps. I can only flash them. Regards TOG

These front lamps were fitted to allow quick flashing without having to wait for the head lamps to be raised, and they also can be used to assist the main beam so they will automatically come on with the main or high beam provided the driving lamp switch is engaged.  This makes them legal as they extinguish when dipped beam is selected.  In many countries, certainly the UK, they are too low to be used legally with dipped beam or instead of dipped beam in normal conditions.  Lamps below 24 inches (centre of lamp) can only be used in Fog or Falling snow.

There are (or used to be) three types of additional lamps - Fog lamps, Spot lamps and Driving lamps.

Fog lamps have a short range but a very wide area to pick out the edges of the road and a flat top to the light pattern to reduce back dazzle.  In fog you are driving slowly so you don't need the long range and it is more important to see the edges.

Spot lamps have a long range but a very narrow beam, to penetrate to the distance - a so called 'pencil beam'.  These could be set to pick out specific things depending on the drivers preferences.  So you might have it set to illuminate the white lines, or road signs etc.

Driving lamps are a sort of mix of the two - reasonably long range (but shorter than spots) to assist the headlamps to allow you to see further, but have a wider beam than spot lamps so a pair would cover the whole width of a two lane road and some of the sides.

When the glass was used to control the beam patterns, the fog lamps were heavily fluted, whilst spot lamps were almost clear glass.  Driving lamps were slightly fluted.  The choice of colour is historical and as I said in the thread on head lamps, white is best.  Yellow simply reduces the light output which is the last thing you want.  The reason yellow was chosen particularly in France, was simply that in the old days the beam pattern was not so well controlled, so by reducing the amount of light output you reduced the possible glare!  Today with well controlled beams, forget yellow as it simply reduces the lamps effectiveness.

I recently bought another Espace Quadra as you may have seen in the Espace section.  When I collected it, the previous owner had fitted yellow head lamps and the vision at night was pathetic.  I have since changed it back to white and it is now as good as my other Quadra.  Yellow head lamps and fog lamps are now purely for show!

Roy
Logged

brinkie
Jr. Member
**
Posts: 49


Previous owner of a Murena


WWW
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2011, 12:59:16 pm »

The two additional front lamlamps are not fog ligths but spotligths, therefore thsy can only be used for flashing or together with high beam.
My car has them re-wired so they can be switched on without the high beam selected. Also, the beam has been adjusted downwards, so they act as daylight driving lamps, or as emergency lighting feature when the pop-up headlamps fail.

Strictly legally speaking, this is not allowed in The Netherlands (daylight driving lamps must extinguish when selecting the dipped or high beam and they need the designation "RL" or "DRL" on the glass), but the police couldn't care less if you do this manually. For the APK (our equivalent of MoT) the inspector only checks if the lights are not blinding. Should it ever become a problem, just disconnect them and you will be fine.
I was thinking once of the same solution my daily driver (Peugeot 308) has for daylight driving lamps, there is a dual-filament lamp in the standing lights, in which the 20W-filament comes on once the engine is running and the 5W-filament is selected when the light (any light) is switched on.
Logged

/Robert

Previous owner of a Matra Murena 2.2 (1981)
Oetker
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1097



« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2011, 04:58:54 pm »

What kind of light is this?
Logged

I feel like Jonah, only my fish looks different.
Murena 2.2 Red 1982. Murena 1.6 black on places.
roy4matra
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1199



« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2011, 09:04:19 pm »

What kind of light is this?

Difficult to tell from the photo unfortunately, but by the amount of fluting on the glass I would say a fog or driving lamp.  It's not a spot lamp as the glass would be almost clear.  I suspect it is a fog lamp.  If you put a vertical screen in front of it (say 3 metres away and when it is dusk or night) and check the pattern of light, it should give you a good idea.  A very wide flat topped beam will be a fog lamp.  If the beam is narrower with more light concentrated near the centre it should be a driving lamp.  If you have the manufacturer name and the lamp number they should be able to tell you.  (assuming the company is still around!)

Roy
Logged

Oetker
YaBB God
*****
Posts: 1097



« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2011, 09:08:15 pm »

Thanks for the info Roy.
It is the original Ducellier, but I was also not sure what it was.
I think it is a driving lamp, but will do the test to find out.
Logged

I feel like Jonah, only my fish looks different.
Murena 2.2 Red 1982. Murena 1.6 black on places.
Pages: [1] Print 
« previous next »
Jump to: