Really Disappointed with Hellas

[hectikart]

It has been less than a week since I installed my Hella 500FF's on my bumper and I'm already having problems with them. I did some searching on here and alot of people seem to like them, but so far I'm very unimpressed...

Wired them properly, according to instructions with the relay and switch..except I used all heat shrink crimps, eyelets etc. instead of the cheap parts it came with. Had it all wired up last Wednesday and everything was working great, except the switch didn't illuminate like it is supposed to. I also noticed they weren't sealed very well, so I tried to make somewhat of a seal with petroleum jelly between the lens and housing to keep water out...one of them has already fogged up despite this.

I did some moderate off-road driving Sunday night. They did fine, got back to my friends house, no problems. Jeep sat for a few hours and when I went to go home they wouldn't come on. I checked all my connections and everything seemed fine. Checked the lights by keeping them grounded and touching the positive to the battery...one worked...fogged up light did not come on. Opened the housing, filament in the bulb had completely broken off...not burnt out, broken off completely...plus the entire housing was loose inside, probably why the seal was worse on that side than the other. Even still, wired everything back up and neither work.

Has anyone else had problems with Hellas? I bought them thinking they were fairly good, but I need something that is going to hold up on trails...not just look pretty. They really don't seem like that great of quality. But this is my first set, so maybe I just got a bad set? I'm definitely returning them....and thinking about switching to KC daylighters. Anyone have a good recommendation? I was hoping to keep it under $150 for a pair.

 

[Loki]

Dont know about the Hellas. I am running KC 5" Apollos and really like them. I run both a set of fogs and driving.

 

[cplchris]

rigid industries duallys, 189.99 a pair on 4wd and with code ju4wddis1 youll save 5 percent, awesome lights, unfortunately when it comes to lighting the rule still applies: you get what you pay for

 

[tommudd]

I've got 8 Hellas on mine and have not had an issue with any of them
either not working/ fogging up etc
Have ran them on various Jeeps/Trucks for over twenty years
Have also ran other brands but keep coming back to these

 

[Ry' N Jen]

That's sad to hear Dan.
Try returning the 500 FF's and get a new pair.
I've had Hella H4 headlamps and 500's on my classic Mini and they were excellent!
Got stolen so I went back to Bosch which are also excellent. Bosch Touring 160 are
about the same as Hella 500's. I like them better. Then switched to Bosch Rallye 225's,
But they also cost $280.00 each. But those have mental light output with only 100 watt
bulbs...
Even better with 130 watt each!

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1010 watts of light!

 

[Luke]

I would try and return them too ... if you haven't modified them too much. The two hellas on the front of my renegade have been going strong for 8+ years.

 

[hectikart]

That's why I'm really surprised. Everyone seems to speak highly of them. I'm thinking that maybe I just got a bad set or something. I have heard some people say the 500FF went downhill a little from the original 500's. So maybe that's the case too. Right now I'm thinking I will exchange them for either a pair of original 500's or KC Apollos. Leaning towards KC because they are a stainless steel housing as opposed to the plastic Hellas. But they're also like $40 more than the Hellas.

 

[tjkj2002]

When your done wasting $$$ on halogen bulbed lights you should try LED's.Not the cheap fleebay ones but good ones from companies like Vision X,Rigid,or Baja Designs.They will outlast a KC or Hella halogen bulb by about 49,500 hours on average(halogen bulbs rating being 250-500 hours of life).

Yes there much more expensive but will most likely outlast the vehicle installed on.

Vision X's 20" 20 degree EVO prime LED..................

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KC Daylighter 50watt HID's................

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Only $200 price difference between those 2 setups.

 

[hectikart]

When your done wasting $$$ on halogen bulbed lights you should try LED's.Not the cheap fleebay ones but good ones from companies like Vision X,Rigid,or Baja Designs.They will outlast a KC or Hella halogen bulb by about 49,500 hours on average(halogen bulbs rating being 250-500 hours of life).

Yes there much more expensive but will most likely outlast the vehicle installed on.

Only $200 price difference between those 2 setups.

I'm using the hellas as on-road aux driving lights, so I don't want something I'm going to get tickets with....but when it comes to off-road lights, I'll definitely check out the LED stuff.

update: I talked to the place I bought the lights from last week. Because they fogged up and are under warranty, hella is going to send me a replacement set. I requested the original 500's instead of the 500FF as a replacement. They said I should be able to field scrap the lights I have now as well...just waiting for them to approve the field scrap and I should be getting my new lights.

 

[hectikart]

So I ended up getting the lights working again. Replaced a bulb, fuse, relay and switch and they're good as new...and I just received my replacement set from Hella, which I don't feel guilty about keeping at all since I replaced so much getting them working again...now the question, where to put the second set??

I was going to wire them up as reverse lights, but I don't really like the look of big, round lights on the back. Also thinking about putting them in the bottom corners of the windshield...but seems like a tricky place to mount them. Maybe below, or cut into the underside of the front bumper like fog lights.

I don't want them on the roof rack in front because I'm going to do 4 higher wattage lights up there. Any opinions or additional ideas?

 

[Ry' N Jen]

So I ended up getting the lights working again. Replaced a bulb, fuse, relay and switch and they're good as new...and I just received my replacement set from Hella, which I don't feel guilty about keeping at all since I replaced so much getting them working again...now the question, where to put the second set??

I was going to wire them up as reverse lights, but I don't really like the look of big, round lights on the back. Also thinking about putting them in the bottom corners of the windshield...but seems like a tricky place to mount them. Maybe below, or cut into the underside of the front bumper like fog lights.

I don't want them on the roof rack in front because I'm going to do 4 higher wattage lights up there. Any opinions or additional ideas?

Go Rally style!
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/members...103-may-31st-2010-our-2004-jeep-liberty-0004/

 

[hectikart]

Go Rally style!
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/members...103-may-31st-2010-our-2004-jeep-liberty-0004/

that's actually pretty close to what I did. I have all 4 on the bumper. 2 lights close together on each side. I need to build something better to mount them on though...I really hacked the hell out of the bumper, definitely not my finest work. And I get a lot of shaking from them. I'm planning on building something that will come out of the front tow hook mounts and wrap the bumper in steel...Then I'll put tow points on it, light mounts and a license plate..just need to design it.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

You should invest in some lamp steadies.
Google them if you don't know what I'm talking about.