Focus of Headlamps

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7211, 18 July 1933, Page 4

Focus of Headlamps

To secure the correct focus of a headlamp.tho car should.be taken to a dark, straight road, and one of the lamps covered frith a thick cloth so that only the ono under attention shows a light. Tho bulb of the headlamp under examination should .then be moved iiuiand out until tho best beam is secured,' not tho parallel beam of the searchlight, but a slightly. spreading boam, free from shadows and streaks.’ 'When a satisfactory setting is obtained the samo plan should be adopted with the other . headlight, with the exception that, if it is on the near side, a wider beam should bo given, but still with the proviso that there are no shadows ot streaks,.

The next amd most important thing is to get tho direction of each lamp Tight. It has been found that the off headlight, shining straight along tho road gives the best results, while the neaT lamp should be turned very slightly to tho left, so as to illuminate the near side of the road. In no case should the off lamp be set toward the off side of the road. The diffused light given by the shorter beams of tho lamp will indicate this verge sufficiently.

To obviate the chief cause of dazzle, the headlight which throws it 3 concentrated beam into the eyes of drivers of oncoming traffic, the aid of a second person is necessary to set tho lamps properly. The assistant should stand at least 100 yards in front of the car, and each lamp should be moved up and down until a point is found in which neither shitnes straight into his eyes.

The power of the headlamp bulb has very little to do with dangerous dazzle. It is the setting of the lamp that matters. If a lamp dazzles an observer a. quarter of a mile away, tho effoct will have passed away by the time tho car reaches the danger zone af the lamp is correctly set.

Side-lamps are often a source of serious trouble. Too many makers seem to think that the only purpose of a side-lamp is to indicate tho position of the car, without regard to tho question of illumination. For such a reason many owners put in more powerful bulbs in the hope of seoing where they are going without using tho head-lamps. The result is too often extra dazzle for other traffic, with little gain to tho driver of tho car.