astraintx

I'm about to order the Recon black projector headlights for my truck with the Xenon Recon bulbs but a guy at the custom shop said the output on these lights are not good. Have not heard this but wanted to get your take? Thanks

OnMyLevel

i'd like to know as well. thinking of pulling the trigger on some soon but if the output is sub par ill look elsewhere.

iRub1Out

Those housings may come with HID bulbs, but they aren't designed for them. They are designed for halogens, but using an HID bulb in it wouldn't hurt I dont think but it wouldn't be "as good" as using the correct bulbs.

Will the output diminish? No, probably not but it will be a HID bulb in a halogen projector. It will glare a little bit, but all in all it will be a pretty nice improvement over halogen reflectors.

Either way, let us know what you do and the outcome!!!

astraintx

That's not what I'm asking. I have DDM tuning HIDs now but I don't like them so I'm going to go with the Recon black projector headlights with xenon bulbs. They will not have HIDs in them. I'm wondering if these will have better, worse, or same light output than stock

iRub1Out

Halogen, xenon, and krypton all refer to the gasses used to fill the bulb.

Light bulbs are usually filled with a mixture of gasses, selected to help retard the evaporation of the filament and to minimize heat loss from the filament. Argon works OK for this, krypton works better, and xenon better still. The better gasses are more expensive, of course. Because flashlight bulbs are so small, it's relatively economical to use pricier gasses like krypton and xenon, so they're pretty common. It's not used very commonly in halogen headlamp bulbs (other than Phillips, and I believe Salvania exclusively)

Halogen, on the other hand, isn't a particular element or chemical. Halogen bulbs include small amounts of one of the halogen family of elements (usually iodine) in the fill gas. The halogen gas in the bulb can actually bond temporarily with evaporated filament metal, and redeposit the metal back on the filament. This extends the filament life and keeps the bulb's glass free of the filament deposits that make other bulbs turn gray as they age.

Basically, "Xenon" labeled bulbs usually don't truly contain Xenon gas. Higher quality bulbs will use it, and not mention it whereas low quality "blue" Xenon bulbs just say this to get customers to buy them. They have lower output, substantially lower life expectancy, and cost about the same as a good set that would work exactly the same. Use the Silverstar Ultras for the whitest output, and if you want that blueish hue stick with HID, halogens can't reproduce this.

astraintx

Well I purchased my headlights on Monday and called today about them. One of the guys that works for Recon said they just ran out of them and will have them wed or thurs and will ship them out same day they recieve them. He also said he would throw in a set of the xenon bulbs to match my fogs with and would express ship them. Really nice of them to do all that but at same time I'm ready for my dang lights! I'm not a patient person.

iRub1Out

Basically what I was getting at was that Xenon and Halogen are two different things. If the bulbs are true Xenon bulbs then they are going to be HID, if not they will be H13 halogen.

If they plug into your STOCK wiring, they are halogen. I've seen/used those recon housings myself and can tell you they are NOT HID projectors. You can use an HID bulb, sure, but if he told you it's an HID projector then I'd sure like to see the specs.
If not, then he told you he would send Xenon bulbs, I'll guess they are halogens, please let me know if they are as soon as you get them!

astraintx

I haven't recieved them yet but I know there not going to be HID's with ballest and so on. There the halogen type bulbs. I have HIDs now (not with projectors) and I don't like them. I'm just hoping these bulbs put off enough light, at least as good as stock was. Other than that I'm exciteded about getting the blacked out lights

Oilsander

I have a set of the smoked projectors on my '10 from recon. You have to splice into the harness so you won't be using the standard H13. It uses H1 bulbs. I threw in a set of piaa bulbs as I didn't like the output of recon bulbs. Very happy with the units themselves though.