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Date:         Fri, 7 Mar 2003 15:44:13 -0800
Reply-To:     TJ Hannink <tjhannink@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         TJ Hannink <tjhannink@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: headlight bulb question... One more...
Comments: To: "James V." <tornadored@EARTHLINK.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <BA8E55D2.2AF4%tornadored@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

--- "James V." <tornadored@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote: > But on Frank Condelli's how-to, it suggests > that all that is > necessary is a larger 15amp fuse (along w/ the > relays) when going to 100w > bulbs: > > http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/hdltrela.htm > > Again, maybe I misunderstood...?

If the higher wattage bulbs are the 100/80 watt variety, the low beams would only draw 6.7 Amps (80w/12V), as the high beams are on a separate circuit/filament. I would leave the 10A fuses in place until they blew (if they ever did). Fuses are sized to protect the wiring, I would rather undersize them then oversize them. The current low-beam wiring should support up to 120 watts since that's what it's fused for.

It's the opinion of some that these higher wattage bulbs offer very little benefit due to the poor design of the reflector in the rectangular headlamp unit. I've never tried them, instead I installed a set of auxiliary headlights in addition to the relay modification.

The main purpose of the relay upgrade is to get the low beam current out of the headlight switch. When I originally measured the voltage at the headlight bulb terminal, I found it was 1 vdc under battery voltage found at the fuseblock. I found a .6 vdc drop across the headlight switch itself. That's why I installed my relay in the position it is in and didn't bother to bypass anymore of the stock wiring and dimmer switch.

Good luck

===== TJ Hannink Goldibox - 1987 Vanagon Camper, Wolfsburg Edition Winter Park, Florida http://home.earthlink.net/~tjhannink/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wolfsburg_campers http://photos.yahoo.com/tjhannink [Vanagon] Album

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