One of our low beam headlights is out. When I pulled the headlight shell, I found I've got high intensity headlights, oh joy. The only online tutorial I found recommended that home mechanics not change these out, citing voltage (I take it in a capacitor) that can zap you. Our neighbor mechanic says, yes, you can get zapped, but not if you're careful.

He also says that it's more commonly the ballast than the bulb, but that the thing to do is change the bulb first, because the ballast is a lot more expensive.

Advice sought.

How about swapping the LH and RH bulbs and then see which side doesn’t work.
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Current rides: 2005 Volvo S80 2.5T, 2003 Volvo V70 2.4NA, 1973 Volvo 1800ES (getting ever closer to road worthiness)

I know which side doesn't work (left). I can see it not shining when the motor's running, while the right side is. That's not the problem. Apparently, the circuit for the high intensity lights has a capacitor that can zap you if you happen to be the discharge path; and the disconnect on the bulb is not obvious. So I'm wondering if it's wise to try changing the bulb when I don't know enough about how the circuit is laid out.

What the previous reply tried to say was move the bulb to the other side and see if it is the bulb or the ballast.

Unless you are standing in water with wet feet, there are very few amps to seriously hurt you. If you screw up and ground a tool with a plastic handle, no problem.

When handling the bulb, do not touch the glass part with your skin. The oils will kill the bulb in short order.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new