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Hi all, well i replaced my headlights as the old ones werent much brighter than a small flashlight. I put halogens in and they helped abit but compared to other rigs they are real weak. Ideas on where i should start looking?.....of course ill look after I figure out why my igntion and starter to coil wires exploded into flames. again a long walk.
I dont know if this will make a difference or not but I was reading an article in Vw trends on 6v systems and it was describing before and after all the terminals were cleaned up with a file and sandpaper how much brighter all the lights were. Anyhow goodluck and sorry to hear about the exploding wires. Something touched somthing it shouldnt have maybe.
Bill
cleaning the ALL the contacts is where you need to start. This will help dramaticly.
My experience with 6v systems is that if the battery is 100%, then 6v can be as good as 12v. But this assumes that there are zero unneeded resistances anywhere in the system, and no extra loads.
When the lights are low and starting is iffy, the actual losses that you want to address may be distributed over many components, each one just a few percent of a volt, but they all add up. As with any research or investigation exercise, you can only decide what to do on the basis of the information you have. The better the information, the better the chances of a good result. In the quest to chase down the missing volts, the main tool is a volt meter that can give you a reliable reading to better than one tenth of a volt. This sort of meter is really cheap from any electronic hobby shop or chain store. Then, you just start out measuring voltages in a systematic fashion. I suggest you do this by connecting the -ve wire of your volt meter to the ground terminal of the battery with a 8ft length of wire. Then measure and record the reading you get on the positive terminal of the battery. Then turn on the lights and check it again. Should be very little change. Then repeat this process on every access point you can on the electrical circuit between the battery and the lights themselves. Also check the earth connections from the lights and on the body where the earth connections are made (these reading should be dead zero with the lights on). Use the wiring diagram to make sure you are covering everything along the path. From the result of this exercise you will be able to identify where volts are being lost. It may be in terminal connections (you can just clean these up), but it may also be within components (e.g. dip switch) which may need to be replaced. It may be along a length of wire( replace with a heavier grade or duplcate). Suspect everything.
After addressing all the problem areas that you have found, repeat the check at critical points.
A simpler cruder check is to leave the car standing with the engine off and the lights on for a few minutes on a cold day, then feel the main lighting related electrical connections and components. If they are warm... this is probably the biggest part of your problem. But maybe not all of it.
6v halogens can give an excelent light.
Cheers, Brian
Thx bugs and brian, this info will get me started in the right direction. The short I had seems to be a bad one, the key acts as though its weldin in the ignition....the quest for the holy grail continues......
Ahh Hell i dont know just send me more info with a big check ? Nahh im jokin make it a Blank Check ? LMAO welded key ? Dimm Light,s ? exploding parts ? FIRE !!! YIKES ! Ok reason coil melted down is ya got fire goin too the + side of the coil or somebody left key on ??/ <, Word of advice here dont blame leavin the key on , on the wife ? As for the hot wire havin fire? Understand that it burn,s point,s first then coil wires then inside of the coil melts down so your probably gonna need all new s--t here ? now thing that can cause starter shorts is badd solenoid on starter or a starter that hangs up usually due too badd starter shaft bushing << located in bell houseing it,s a one dollar part here but requires motor out too change it thers 2 sizes one for 6 volt starters and one for 12 volt ? But i really need more info on what motor fly wheel etrc etc too what style tranny etc etc on what voltage you intend too runn here as there is at least 11 different way,s too set up a dual 6 volt 12 volt combo just on the fly wheel clutch assembly > As per what it is you wil need ta do per wireing and a voltage drop for a 6 volt system too run on 12 volt etc etc or too figure out what some one else has done too the OEM 6 volt system . Word of advice here is while playing with the wireing if the 6 volt wind sheild wiper motor actually work,s disconnect the hot from the switch and tape it 6 volt wiper motors are quite spendy gettin harder too come by , and doesnt take much ta smoke one ? Then post more info on what the car etc is as ive been out of touch in wilds of west Texas for few months no puter or TV ? OK i lied had TV 3 station,s local new,s lmao post again in fresh info on this car ? Sean
Make sure they are wired correctly. If the wiring is wrong they will be very dim. Ground terminal must be checked as they some times are wired to ground through the high or low beam. Vic
Once again it lives! Short appears to be caused by the electric choke wire, looks like it rubbed on my inventive way to make the fan fit, they forgot to grind the tits off the metal so it rubbed like crazy and new manifold for progressive carb job, I fell prey to the siren song of high mileage and massive hp gains, shoulda figured that out when the salesman giggled all the way to the register, oh ya and it plugged right in like he said, after sawing, filing and grinding, still gotta bunch more grinding to do so I can get the alt strap on. It melted, coil to regulater wire burned away, electrical part of ignition switch melted, wires under rear seat lumpy looking now,...it was heck of a smoke show as I ran away. Anyways replaced all the burnt up stuff and ripped out about 30 feet of xcess wires, used the get it running, snip wires process, only shocked myself once, I did good this time. The headlights are still dim so today Im gonna try workin on it in the headlight area. Got a couple new headlight frame things, I got wedges stuck in to aim the lights now as most of the old frames are broke.....I believe my 73 super spent part of its life as a dirt bike looking at the barbwire scratches over the front and roof...
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