Keep Your Fog Lights At Its Best Perfromance With Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens

Keep Your Fog Lights At Its Best Perfromance With Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens
by ARCY KOONTZ Original post 06/27/2007

The Mercedes Benz fog light provides a wider light dispersion pattern that is especially useful when driving at night or during total darkness caused by foul weather. Although the light it disperses is bright, it is not bright enough to cause blinding reflections that often cause accidents. It is strategically located just below the the headlights so as to give the driver a better view of the sides of the vehicle. Since it is called fog light, one can practically say that it was invented to be able to help the driver see through the fog. Fog is defined as a thick cloud of water droplets, 0.00039 to 0.00156 inches in diameter, suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth's surface and reducing visibility to below half a mile. A typical fog light which should perform its function well has a wide beam pattern (about 70 degrees to 120 degrees) with a sharp, flat cutoff on top.

The Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens have a way of deflecting the light. Fluting, which is the cut in the lens, shapes the pattern by how the lens deflect light. With a totally clear lens without fluting, the light produced would be too blinding.The material of the Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens has an effect on how much light actually passes through the lens. Lead crystal, the clearest one, allows the most amount of light to pass through. Other materials such as ordinary glass and hardened glass, although it doesn't break easily, are usually full of dirt and other contaminants that make the passage of light lesser. Plastic lens, on the other hand, also blocks even more of the light and it easily gets scratched up.

Breakage is a the most common reason for replacing Mercedes Benz fog light lenses. This, however, greatly depends on the environment one is driving in. For example, if one lives in a sandy place, chances are, the fog light lens would be occasionally sand blasted and all the little pits would have a great effect on the flow of light and the light pattern. This is also true to other environments aside from the dessert. The lenses will eventually scuffed by other elements so it would be best to replace them anytime soon.

Of course, when one is talking about Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens, reflectors are never too far from the topic. The reflector is the the shiny part that gathers the light from the bulb and reflects it out at precise angles through the lens. In the early years, reflectors were silver plated. Silver is not optimally reflective even when first applied. And through tarnishing, it loses 40 to 50 percent of its reflectivity after about 48 hours. Because of these, reflectors were supposed to be polished monthly. Some reflectors are silver plated. This is from the olden days. Prior to the invention of sealed beam headlights, American cars had separate bulbs, reflectors and lenses, and the reflectors were silver. Silver is not optimally reflective even when first applied. And through tarnishing, it loses 40 to 50 percent of its reflectivity after about 48 hours. These reflectors were supposed to be polished monthly. Aluminized vapor coating is still believed to be the best reflective material.

The mounting of the fog light is also crucial in maximizing its function and protecting its Mercedes Benz Fog Light Lens. Generally, the lower the fog lights, the better. But it has to be just right because the lower the fog lights are mounted, the more vulnerable they are to impacts from stones and other various objects. The lower mountings also decrease how far forward the light will go and lower they're mounted, the more the shadowy effect from from rises and depressions in the road increases. It is therefore important to give only the best protection and maintenance to the Mercedes Benz fog light lens to continually benefit from the important function that fog lights offer.