160w bulbs

[combine]

Spoke to a wedge owner at the northants meet who has put these in his headlights , question is will the wiring melt as he hasn't upgraded it , lights are very bright !

[shpub]

Has been known..... Certainly happened on a couple of Griffs. All depends on what current it takes.

[jvaughan]

Wow .. 160Watts and wedge wiring is surely an advert for fire extinguishers

[chedder]

Tried some 100w in my headlamps....melted the damn switch, drove home 10 miles in the dark, with just one sidelight on the front!
So what will 160w do????

[rev-erend]

Sounds like too much of a current draw .. if you want that much light then if why not just go the xenon route - more light for less wattage.. OK - it costs more but how much time will it take to rewire in thicker wire.. and the price of xenons has tumbled in recent months.

[leorest]

At over 13 Amps it's most likely to destroy switches unless there's a beefy relay in the circuit! Automotive wiring is normally quite similar in gauge to normal household mains flex so if the insulation on the wires is going to give up it wont be immediately but after at least a few hours of running. Vehicles of this vintage often have a relay on the main beam cct and the dip beam and side lights are directly switched. If this is the case with the Wedge wiring scheme then the problem will show up first with the dip beam. Question is.. if it's 160W main beam then what rating is the dip beam filament? 55, 90, 120

My recommendation would be to use standard wattage bulbs unless you are going to make a special loom with uprated cabling, relays etc. If you do this then run power from a spare fuse in the fuse box or fit a new auxiliary fuse box then simply use the original main beam/dip beam supplies as signals to switch the new relay/s.