headlight conversions

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shuggy
Posts: 2269
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:35 am
Location: Perth, WA

headlight conversions

Post by shuggy »

Hi all

so blew another hi beam last week, so im going to change them,

for now i have just ordered 2 x 150W high beam spots for the inners, but the question i have is, will these blow my fuses/melt my harness?

I want to convert to all H4 and H7, or possibly even convert my inners to H4 also to have 4 headlights on during normal driving and not just high beam.

This is for my GD. anyone know any good brand conversion kits? and what globes are people running? i do NOT want anything even remotely blue!

cheers
A112H
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Re: headlight conversions

Post by A112H »

Yeah mate, the 150w inners will over load your system if you straight wire them. If you run a relay system you will be fine.
shuggy
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Location: Perth, WA

Re: headlight conversions

Post by shuggy »

STD relays be able to cope?
GB_BB4C
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Location: Adelaide, SA

Re: headlight conversions

Post by GB_BB4C »

any 20A-30A relay should be fine. I run a separate 30A relay per light (most likely overkill). that way if one relay fails you still have lights and also spare relays you can just move around
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A112H
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Re: headlight conversions

Post by A112H »

This is the set up on mine

Extra fuse box (also runs the thermos) and separate relays.
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LukeAussie
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Location: Adelaide

Re: headlight conversions

Post by LukeAussie »

Yep, definitely go the relay path, as you can then essentially run whatever you like, and almost never have to worry about blown fuses again. To determine if your relays are big enough, use the P=VI formula (power = volts x current). For instance, on a standard 10A fuse, you can have up to 120W on the circuit, so you'd definitely blow a fuse with a 150W globe. If you upped to a 15A fuse, technically you can go up to 180W, but with other losses in the system, and allowing for surge currents (such as when you first turn the lights on), you may still blow a fuse. Going for 20A relay or more should definitely cover it.

If you make the change, be careful how you set up the wiring. By default, all the lights run on separate circuits, and it's a good idea to maintain this. You can make things simpler by running left and right of the same relay (using a double-pole relay), but it all depends how much wiring you want to fiddle with :-)
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LukeAussie
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Re: headlight conversions

Post by LukeAussie »

Oh, and for the record, I've got a whole rack of relays in my GC - I've got high and low beams, a/c, thermo fan, and even the horn going through relays. If you're confident with electronics, you can wire up power trannies to do the same thing too :-) Anything that draws a lot of current is good to drive through a relay, as you don't load up circuits and wiring, and you can drive some pretty huge currents through a relay. Also, over time, switches can develop their own impedance (through dirt, etc), and various components can diminish in effectiveness. The wipers is the most classic example (where the motor runs too slowly) of this.
Billsy
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Re: headlight conversions

Post by Billsy »

what about HID kits from fleabay? they have all the wiring and relays with them and give a better light than std bulbs.
i had 4300k HIDs in my siggy and they were unreal!
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davetrees
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Location: Sth Gippsland, Victoria

Re: headlight conversions

Post by davetrees »

Note that the "landing light" type sealed beams are actually not road legal, and aren't all that good anyway (if that's what you are planning on using). A set of 100W H1 halogen inners will give you a much better result in terms of light, and are no more expensive I wouldn't think ?

Don't forget you may well need to up your alternator capacity as well, depending on what you are running now.

Suggest you convert all your headlights to halogens (H4 outers, H1 inners) ... it costs sod-all. The lights are only about $50 a pair.

Personally I reckon HID conversions are overkill on a road car.
shuggy
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Location: Perth, WA

Re: headlight conversions

Post by shuggy »

That relay system is awesome.Yeh I'm good with electric a bit.i already havea batch of relays for my aircon, aircon thermo fan, Davies Craig fan, fuel pump and audio next week.

My regulator is 55A and I think my Alternator is the same. So 2 x 13A spotties plus the normal headlights on high beam drawing probably 6A each that's already 38A. Plus electronic ignition, wipers when wet, Tail lights, fuel pump, davies craig when stopped, that's a huge draw hey.. is there a Guagei can use to see my total draw?

I'm going to install them coz I already bought them and will change after if need be.
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davetrees
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Re: headlight conversions

Post by davetrees »

You need to check exactly what your alternator capacity is (it will be stamped on it) but sounds like it's 55A.

If your lights on high beam are 2x150 + 2x60(?) = 420watts => draw is 35A roughly (probably a smidgin less, seeing your battery should be putting out 13.8V not 12V ... so that gives a little bit of margin)

- Your electronic ignition should draw bugger all ? (check it's documentation)
- Electric fan might draw a bit when running (10A ?) but at least it's not on all the time
- General overhead for tails, wipers, fuel pump, heater fan etc is maybe 15A?
- Are you running a big stereo ? That will suck a heap of power.

You are probably running pretty "borderline" with a 55A alternator ... I would look at going up to 65A or 85A if you are doing a lot of high-beam driving (but I like lots of "headroom")

Just put a volt gauge in the car ..... you will soon see if you are losing battery voltage. It should sit on or fractionally above 12V while driving, with everything turned on. If it dips below 12V while idling, that doesn't really matter all that much
RaptorReed
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Location: Oak Harbor, WA

Re: headlight conversions

Post by RaptorReed »

I run Autopal H4 conversion lights in my Wagon, still need relays to get the most out of them, however they do a much better job as is compared to the stock H6024 lamps. Not sure if all landing lights are the same, but most still require you to replace the whole assembly to replace a burnt bulb, H1/H4 conversion lamps have removable bulbs however.
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shuggy
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Location: Perth, WA

Re: headlight conversions

Post by shuggy »

OK so thinking change of plan.

I found some H4 conversion sets amount my 'stuff' so i threw them in the outers AND inners.

The inners currently still only work with high beam but i'm thinking of converting to run all 4 lights on low beam and high beam, using just the wiring from the outer to trigger the relays for all lights and killing the inner wiring by cutting them off and removing the fuses. this will allow me to run 4 lights high and 4 lights low beam with 4 x H4 globes..

Im going to be doing a lot of cleaning up with the wiring with a bucketload of heat shrink and new wires and a fuse block. Thinking moving battery to boot too but that will come later.
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