Uprated headlamp bulbs

[cooperman]

guru_1071 said:

www.autopal.com loads of choice!!

Thanks for that.
Do we know who the UK agents are?

[RickApple]

I got my autopal lamps from huddersfield mini spares. It'll pop up on google; id tell you the url but my guess would probably be wrong. can i fit 100/80 W bulbs without rewiring into relays?

[guru_1071]

rick

i would always advise that if you are fitting any sort of uprated bulbs to a mini (or spot lights) to fit a relay kit. i sell loads of light switchs and stalks (very expensive) to customers who havent bothered - its a expensive and potentially hazardous shortcut!!!

[RickApple]

Fair enough. Does it entail a complete rewiring of the circuit then? I'm guessing you basically rewire the switches into the circuit with a relay, and leave alone the positive and negative feeds to the actual lamps? Do you intercept the switch wires at the back of the switch, or does something have to be done with the column and main beam stalk?

[guru_1071]

rick

the way i do it is to fit a relay that has a fused live that goes to the main beam. when main beam is operated the relay turns the power on. nothing more than the standard current is drawn through the original electrical circuit.

jobs a good 'un

[love machine]

I'm going to need some big copper contacts for my suckers when they are done

[RickApple]

Right - so the relay intercepts the power supply for main beam? Which wires do you connect to which pins?

Thanks very much!

[guru_1071]

dont know the numbers on the relay terminals off the top of my head. but the main beam wire is blue white. so from memory you would need a earth. a trip (the blue white from the stalk), a new fused feed to go to the relay and finally a wire to go to the lights. (use the original blue white).

in effect you are using the relay to direct power from a new source that doesnt involve the switch or the stalk down the original wire.

i guess if you are using high output bulbs the wire from the power source to the relay and from the relay to the lights would need to be far thicker (actually come to think of it, if your car is a 88 on you will need to do it with new wire - the standard wire is like cotton thread!)

hopr this helps.

[cooperman]

You really need two relays, one the main-beam relay and the other the dip relay, as you are up-rating both main and dip to a much higher wattage.
Guru is quite right when he advocates new and thicker wiring.
Best to do yourself a little circuit diagram first. If I knew how to post a little drawing I would do one myself and put it on here, but computer graphics is not my forte. I could do one and fax it to you if you pesonally email me with your fax number.

[guru_1071]

cooperman is correct

two is better. i was thinking along the lines of spotlight wiring with the one relay.

i always slum it with quadoptics and standard bulbs!!!