brighter light...

[artpart]

One of my headlights went out today and so I got to thinking about upgrading to brighter lights. Has anyone installed halogen lights? If so, have you also installed the heavy-duty headlight harness?

 

[TRDejaVu]

I just put Halogen sealed beams from NAPA into my TR4 as a straight swap after one of the earlier non-halogen beams went out. I have a dynamo (generator) and it all seems to work fine without any changes to the wiring harness. I keep feeling the light switch body for overheating, but it doesn't appear to be any different than before and the wires seem fine as well. Obviously I can only comment based on what I have experienced with my car.

 

[PeterK]

I had been running sealed beam halogens on the stock harness on the 3A without any problems. The sealed beams produced a much whiter and brighter light than the conventional bulbs

But now, I am adding 2 relays (finishing up the install tomorrow) for a H4 halogen conversion.

The benefit of the relays (sealed beam or H4) is that the power to the lights is direct from the power source (battery post or starter solenoid terminal), rather than through the switch and wiring harness. With direct power, the lights get the full 12V and produce better light as there is no voltage loss through the harness. Also the load is not carried ny the headlight switch when using relays. Part of my project was also to rewire the headlight socket harness with a new set from British Wiring.

 

[Guest]

What condition is your wiring harness in? Is it the original? If you have no other electrical upgrades on your system and the harness is in very good condition, you should be ok with simple H4-bulbed headlights. Installing a relay would take the load off the headlight switch. Remember, the headlights in your car are not fused, do not add such. Do you have a copy of Dan Master's book on TR6 electricals? Worth every penny from Moss and TRF. Goes into great detail on anything and everything electrical.

 

[Tinster]

Bill,

On a side note of general interest concerning wires
and the aging process.

You remember I installed the entire car Dan Masters Power
Block wire harness back in October for my TR6.

Yesterday I had to cut a few wires to strip some paint
under them. I was really shocked at how quickly the bright
coppers wires inside the PVC coating had turned black in 6
short months. And Dan's wires are much heavier gage that
the Triumph originals.

I wonder what condition a 40 year wire harness could
possibly be? I have to believe an awful lot of resistance
has built up over the years.

d

 

[PeterK]

Remember, the headlights in your car are not fused, do not add such. Do you have a copy of Dan Master's book on TR6 electricals?

I agree on the fuses but I noticed than Dan Master's headlight relay harness adds a separate fuse for each lo-beam and hi-beam, 4 fuses total. This way you can protect the wiring with a fuse but not have all the lights go dark if a single fuse blows (if you just protect the wiring with a single master fuse.)

 

[kodanja]

Concider Lucus PL700's, they are very bright!

 

[Tinster]

PeterK:

When I installed the new Dan Master wire harness,
I also installed a non-fused set of small halogen
driving lights beneath the front bumper. These are
emergency driving lights controlled with an on/off toggle.

Given my TR's propensity to have things suddenly quit
functioning, I thought it prudent to install the emergency
set of lights.

And they light up Wendy's orchid room really well.. while
the car sits on jack stands!!

regards,

d

 

[Andrew Mace]

You remember I installed the entire car Dan Masters Power Block wire harness back in October for my TR6.

Yesterday I had to cut a few wires to strip some paint
under them. I was really shocked at how quickly the bright
coppers wires inside the PVC coating had turned black in 6
short months. And Dan's wires are much heavier gage that
the Triumph originals.

I wonder what condition a 40 year wire harness could
possibly be?...

Oddly, in many such "aged" wire harnesses I've dealt with over the years, the wire inside was just fine! Maybe, like so many other things nowadays, wire "ain't what it used to was...." /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

 

[PeterK]

I think the best quality copper core is used in high-quality speaker wires that are 99.99% oxygen free copper wire.

Copper containing oxygen will oxidize more rapidly but wire shouldn't turn black in 6 months unless exposed to chemicals.

Copper hasn't changed over the years but the way it is made has and for the better in most cases.

 

[RonMacPherson]

Did you let Dan Masters know of this?

I think he might like to know so that he can have a chat with his suppliers. Rapid oxidation in the harness, increases resistance, increased resistance leads to all kinds of electrical problems.

May I suggest that if you still have the capability of taking pictures of the oxidized wires, do so and send him the pictures.

It will better all of us.

 

[YankeeTR]

Geez...I recently bought some 40 year old headlights for my TR2...

 

[TR6oldtimer]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]I was really shocked at how quickly the bright
coppers wires inside the PVC coating had turned black in 6
short months. [/QUOTE]

Dale, you live in a humid, salt air environment. I would have expected the copper to turn green, not black. As I recall you soldered the spades and lugs onto your wires. I assume you were using flux solder, if so, this would cause the wire to turn black.

Just a thought.

 

[Andrew Mace]

Geez...I recently bought some 40 year old headlights for my TR2...

OK, I'll bite: what headlights did you buy?

 

[Geo Hahn]

...in many such "aged" wire harnesses I've dealt with over the years, the wire inside was just fine!

Indeed, I have an old TR4 harness that I occasionally cannibalize for wire and connectors (like to use the correct color code for auxiliary lights, etc). Just stripped some the other day and the copper was still clean & coppery.

 

[TR3driver]

FWIW, I wound up with 90/100w H4s on my "late" TR3A. Used the original harness out of the buckets, but ran new wires to the bullet connectors on the inner fender (mostly because a previous mishap had melted the wires inside the harness).

Bought a "headlamp upgrade" relay from JCW, that included two relays and two fuses all inside a single, sealed box. Of course, I had previously converted to an alternator to power those oversize headlights.

The result lit up the road wonderfully. Even at 70 mph, I finally felt I could see far enough down the road to stop before any unforseen obstacle. Reflective signs were visible for over a mile. And several people at VTR commented on how bright my headlights were.

Don't know if JCW still sells that relay box, or if I would go the same way again. But here's a similar one on eBay :
https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180130776769