sixxgunscott Posted December 26, 2017 Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 My CMax seems to blow both headlamp bulbs and tail lamp bulbs more often than I think should be normal service. Is there a Voltage Regulator on the CMax and could this be an issue? What should the normal DC Voltage be when the gas engine is running vs the elect engine running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixxgunscott Posted December 26, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 FYI I'm currently using Phillips H11 headlamp bulbs and stock tail lamp bulbs. I have previously tried Sylvania Silverstar bulbs too. The Sylvania bulbs didn't last, and both bulbs went out at the same time. The dealer told me that I should only use the standard bulbs. ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestead Posted December 26, 2017 Report Share Posted December 26, 2017 That does sound excessive. Our 2013 has all original bulbs except for one tail light.I believe the voltage should be about 14-15 VDC when charging.How many miles on the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plus 3 golfer Posted December 27, 2017 Report Share Posted December 27, 2017 (edited) Something does seem amiss. I've yet to have a bulb go out in 5 years of ownership. There is a DC/DC converter module that regulates the charging of the 12V battery and supplies power for the 12V system. There is no alternator like a conventional car. The highest voltage I've seen from monitoring the voltage at the converter was 14.8 V when the State Of Charge of the 12V battery was very low. Typically, the charging voltage runs about 14.4 - 14.6V until the SOC gets very high. You may want to monitor the 12V battery voltage while driving by one of the following ways:1) on your smartphone via ForScan (about $30 for ELM327 OBDII adapter and ForSCan App) see forscan.org2) on the Engineering Test Mode display available on the left hand dash display 3) on a volt meter that plugs into the cigarette lighter. Edited December 27, 2017 by Plus 3 Golfer obob and ptjones 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowStorm Posted December 27, 2017 Report Share Posted December 27, 2017 These halogen bulbs should never be touched by ones fingers - my apologies if you are aware of this already. ptjones and obob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-N Posted December 27, 2017 Report Share Posted December 27, 2017 I agree with Plus 3 Golfer. Highest voltage I've seen is 14.8 (based on the cheapest cigar-lighter-LCD-voltage-tester I could find on Amazon). I've yet to have a bulb burn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted December 28, 2017 Report Share Posted December 28, 2017 I haven't lost any bulbs yet at 175k mi./ over 5yrs. Was 15 volts today with 12.4 volts before starting, stabilized at 14.9 volts. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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