A headlight is responsible for lighting the road ahead of the vehicle and conveys warning signals to other road users. This component also referred to as a headlight unit, often combines low and high beam lights, marker light, turn indicators, and daytime running lights. Front lighting devices are installed on both sides of a truck.

Types of headlights for trucks

By lamp type:

• Tungsten. They do not require a lot of electricity and are cheap. Their light output is rather low and their service life is not long, up to 1,000 hours on the average.
• Halogen. The most widespread variant. They are more powerful than tungsten ones, and serve longer, for about 1,500 hours.
• Gas discharge. Powerful light radiation is generated due to heating of xenon gas. The average service life is 2,000 to 3,000 hours. Since the outer side of such products is not heated, they can be placed into plastic diffusers. The disadvantage is that these car parts are costly.
• LED. They are compact, damage-resistant, and economical. They ensure the optimum level of illumination. Their service life is 3,000 hours and more. LEDs are less powerful than HID xenon lamps and a high price is a disadvantage.

By reflector shape:

• Parabolic. In these products, the larger the reflector is, the higher is the light output.
• Complex-shape (divided into several sections). Each of them reflects light in a certain manner thus ensuring the most uniform lighting.
• Ellipsoidal. They are used in projector-type lights. These components have a small size producing still an intensive enough light output.

Malfunctions and their causes

Most often, mechanical and high-temperature damage cause failure of the headlight lens of both passenger cars and trucks. When too powerful lamps are installed, melting is possible, and in case of a road accident — glass cracking. In addition, the component may get damaged due to incorrect installation and non-observance of the operating rules.

Incandescent lamps may blow up due to a short circuit, moisture may cause contact oxidation, and worn out wires may break. In many cases, replacement of the component assembly is not needed, it is sufficient to install a new element instead of the damaged one, the sole exception being sealed beam LED headlights.

How to detect headlight failure in a truck

A faulty component is indicated by a dim lighting or its absence. Besides, the light beam may become shifted or lights may flicker after switching on.

The component requires replacement if an inspection reveals cracks and chips on the diffuser or traces of melting. After removing the component, damages can be identified visually.

During maintenance, electrical wiring may be diagnosed with a specialized equipment. For example, specialists often measure resistance, voltage and amperage in the circuit.

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