Dipped beam faulty

So, guys, I had the bulb changed and now I remember about the burnt deflector? Should I have it changed too? The beams work fine, to be honest, so ... any opinions?

The deflector is there to block light, that's what gives the headlights the correct beam pattern for dipped beam. As such black is probably the best colour

I thought it was there to reflect the light from the bulb back to some mirror which then reflects/points it somewhat downwards at the road. On new cars and also when my c3 was new the deflector was totally metalic-greyish and shiny and when I look at new cars it is completely shiny. I think it makes sense to be shiny so as to reflect the light. If it were black by design then it would absorb the light and that would be odd, I think. Perhaps it's a misunderstanding and we're talking about different things or perhaps it's my flawed car industry vocab. See the attached pic

If I may quote C3driver52 and his earlier post in this thread he says:

I think you are describing the deflector. The metal of the deflector ensures no light is transmitted from the tip of the lamp, This ensures the reflector can angle the light down and to the side of the road not into the oncoming traffic.

So I think this is the thing my pic highlights with an arrow and I think that thing is supposed to be shiny and metallic

Sorry, my reply was a little tongue in cheek. You said your deflectors where slightly dull/brown, it was my way of saying I don't think this matters.

The deflector is there to block light from the bulb in a particular direction so giving the desired beam pattern. By making the deflector shiny, light that hits it and is blocked would be reflected back and therefore dispersed in a different direction to be reflected in the wanted area by the reflector, the silvered, shaped, shiny surface at the back of the lamp.

It's only the inside of the deflector that matters, the outside, which you see through the lense of the headlight isn't involved in the lighting process so could be any surface colour or finish. I would think that bright and shiny is used for aesthetic reasons, it looks good. Although I would suggest that if the inside of the deflector was black it wouldn't make a huge difference to light output when you consider how small an area of the bulbs light emissions it covers. Some deflectors are indeed intentionally not shiny, I replaced a pair of foglights at the weekend, the deflectors were a dark grey painted surface.

Now it makes more sense! I do agree that it does not matter what surface the outside of the deflector is. Its the inside of it that matters as that is what deflects light in the right direction. So since it works fine for now, we can call it a job well done 10x for your time anyway

Hi all.
C3 Cache 08. I have no dipped beam but have full beam. The front drivers side lamp was not working at all, gave the lens a gentle tap and it light up, very dull, but still no dipped beam.
Any info greatfuly received

Some of your headlamp bulbs are blown. You have several in there and some are not working. Replace the blown bulbs.

Arfur Dent wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:33 pm Some of your headlamp bulbs are blown. You have several in there and some are not working. Replace the blown bulbs.

By the look of that lamp box it looks like I need the manual dexterity of a a small monkey.

Arfur Dent wrote: ↑Sat Jun 06, 2020 1:33 pm By the look of that lamp box it looks like I need the manual dexterity of a a small monkey.

This is true.

There are some pictures here that may help, but if you don't refit the cover properly water can enter the headlights and there will be more problems.