Date:         Sun, 19 Jan 1997 09:57:12 PST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         kdlewis@juno.com (kenneth d lewis)
Subject:      Re: halogen wisdom please

Dear sir;
As I recall the wiring in my 71 bus was pretty hefty, from an area before
the proliferation of "bean counters". What was referred to in engineering
school as a "large Idiot Factor"; i.e. if the circuit normally carries 7
amps use a wire that handles 21 amps  (IF=3).  As apposed to what I saw
on my 86 with molded connectors that already show signs of overheating
and wire that is shamefully small.
My advice is to run some 10 gauge wire from the battery (through a fuse)
to a 30 amp relay to control the 100 watt lights. I personally would use
a relay for each light, again with the big idiot factor.
Good Luck
Ken Lewis
kdlewis@juno.com
86 VW crewcab
85 VW Vanagon GL
60 356 coupe




On Sat, 18 Jan 1997 19:10:43 -0600 Jeff Diebolt <jdiebolt@up.net> writes:
>Why won't it work? Remember the purpose of a fuse is to protect the
wiring
>and equipment in the circuit. If the 100w bulb draws 7.6 amps it is
below
>the rated current carrying capacity of the wire. Also I ran 140w bulbs
in
>my 72 bus and never blew a fuse or wire and didn't have unusually short
>bulb life. My advice is go ahead and use them. IMHO
>At 10:18 PM 1/17/97 -0600, kenneth d lewis wrote:
>>Sean;
>>When it came time to replace one of mine I was wondering the same 
>thing,
>>"Will my wiring handle almost twice the current?". I doubt it.
>>Good Luck