6 Volt Halogens

[eric wissing]

As anyone here tried these on their car? Are they much brighter and would they draw to many amps? The one company I checked with are asking $85.00 a pair. Thanks, Eric

[Reg Evans]

I tried a set on my 42 6volt coupe and they weren't any brighter than my already dim sealed beams. In fact maybe even dimmer. Maybe with all new wire and switch they would be brighter.

[TodFitch]

I tried a set on my 42 6volt coupe and they weren't any brighter than my already dim sealed beams. In fact maybe even dimmer. Maybe with all new wire and switch they would be brighter.

Good wiring and clean contacts are the key to bright lights on a 6v car. If the current incandescent bulbs are burning yellow then switching to quartz-halogen won't do you any good. The high resistance in your lighting circuit that is keeping your incandescent bulbs from putting out to their full capacity will also keep the quartz-halogen bulbs from performing.

See http://www.ply33.com/Repair/lights for my experience.

In general a quartz-halogen bulb will put out about 40% more light for the same power rating as an incandescent bulb. If you are familiar with camera exposures, that works out to less than 1/2 f-stop. So it is not a lot but it is better than nothing.

[eric wissing]

Tod, Thanks. very informative. I will check all of my connections. Eric

[James_Douglas]

I made up a new set of wire from the firewall forward. Made a HUGE difference.

James

[De Soto Frank]

I ran some #10 stranded ground jumpers from the headlight pig-tails back to battery grounded terminal... MUCH brighter lights...

Ground jumpers are a handy remedy for a crusty car whose "chassis grounds" have been compromised by 50 years of corrosion...

Also, the factory SOLDERED all terminal lugs onto the wiring... DON'T rely on modern crimp terminals - they need to be soldered !!!

Good luck...

De Soto Frank

[Reg Evans]

Amen to SOLDERED connections !

[eric wissing]

I ran some #10 stranded ground jumpers from the headlight pig-tails back to battery grounded terminal... MUCH brighter lights...

Ground jumpers are a handy remedy for a crusty car whose "chassis grounds" have been compromised by 50 years of corrosion...

Also, the factory SOLDERED all terminal lugs onto the wiring... DON'T rely on modern crimp terminals - they need to be soldered !!!

Good luck...

De Soto Frank

The Ground on the headlights you are talking about are the ones going to the bucket behind lamps? Thanks, Eric

[bob_amos]

I have to agree with Tod here. If the wiring contacts and all are good, clean and tight then the head lamps will be bright enough for most uses. Mine are as bright on my 53 Cranbrook as my 63 Belair's are. Although, I did later change the Belair to halogen bulbs to save the original T-3 bulbs for shows.

[eric wissing]

I replaced the aluminum pod that is needed for holding the lamp and adjusting it. The light is very weak so I went to the Auto Parts store, "ADvance", and they don't carry 6 volts lamps anymore. I will have to shop around town. I wanted a spare to see if it is the lamp or connections. I did get the headlight adjusted so it will not be shining into oncoming traffic. Thanks, Eric.

[De Soto Frank]

Eric,

There are three wires going into the plug that goeson the back of the headlight bulb: one for low-beam, one for hi-beam, and one for ground.

The ground lead usually ends in a ring-terminal and is fastened to the headlight bucket or the front sheet-metal somewhere near the headlight bucket. This is what is known as a "chassis ground", and relies on metal-to-metal connection of the various body panels to each other and eventually the frame to complete the circuit back to the "ground" side of the battery.

As the vehicles age, corrode, and body parts loosen-up at fasteners, these "chassis grounds" become poorer and poorer. Then you notice things like dim lights, and fuses that blow after several minutes to hour of operation.

This due to increased resistance in the circuit.

Those "aluminum" dishes that the headlights seat in are (were) actually tin-plated steel. The headlight retaining rings are stainless-steel. It is VERY common for the steel parts of the headlight to rust-out, and for the ground connection to be vrey corroded.

Such is the case with my De Soto; in fact, one of the adjuster legs was comletely rusted-off, and I had to improvise with a long 3/16" machine screw through a hole drilled in the back of the bucket... makes for an awkward reach to aim the headlight, but I had no other way to secure the headlamp !

With that much rust, it eventually occurred to me that the headlights were dim and the fuse kept blowing after 20 minutes or so, because the ground was poor.

So, I ran the jumper wires from each headlamp back to the battery ground terminal.

Brighter headlights and no more fuse-eating.

In the rear of the car, I ran ground jumpers from the socket shell of each taillight and the center stop light to a freshly-sanded area in the trunk under the package shelf, where I secured it with shiny-clean bolt/washers.

Ideally, I'd pull the entire vehicle apart, cut-out and sandblast all the rust, etc, and when I'd put the car back together, the chassis grounds would be "good as new"... but the ground-jumper thing is an effective compromise for now...

Wagner is still making 6-volt sealed-beams... you might have to order them, but they can still be had. Try a local "Mom'n'Pop" auto store... the kiddos at places like Auto-Zone or Advance Auto won't have a clue where to look... if you have the patience to help educate them, more power to you !

Good luck !

De Soto Frank

[eric wissing]

Frank, Thanks for the detailed advice. I swapped the lamps around and I do have a bad (weak) lamp but your advice I am going to follow. Do you need the steel part not the tin that the goes into the car? My ground from the battery go directly to the engine block. Your explanation makes loads of sense. Eric

[De Soto Frank]

Eric,

Not sure I understand which "steel part" is in question...

The standard sealed headlamp bucket consists of the following parts:

1) Outer bucket - this is the outer piece that bolts to the fender.

2) Inner bucket - this is the (sometimes) tin or zinc-plated dish that the glass headlamp bulb actually sits in. It "floats" in the outer bucket, being held in place by a combination of springs ( usually two) and aiming screws

( usually two, each one opposite its respective spring). The aiming screws usually have a slot around the head, which seats in a slotted "ear" of the inner bucket.

3) Retaining ring - this is the stainless-steel or chrome-plated brass ring (fairly thin sheetmetal) that goes over the rim of the glass headlamp and is fastened to the inner bucket by three tabs & screws. Usually the screw holes in the retaining-ring tabs are "key-holed" ( shaped like the number "8"), so that you simply loosen the each screw, then rotate the ring slightly, and the ring slips over the screw-heads, through the larger part of the key-hole.

4) Socket & pig-tail - the wiring that makes the thing work.

5) Headlight bezel or "door" - the outer trim ring that conceals the screws and guts. Some folks still refer to these as headlight "doors" , from the days of the Horseless carriage, when autos had kersosene or acetylene gas headlights, and the lens was held in a hinged door that could be opened to light or clean the unit. To the best of my knowledge, no US cars have had gas lights since the end of WW I, but the term "headlight door" seems to have stuck with us !

All that said; there really aren't any non-essential parts to the MoPar headlight assembly, except the outer trim ring/"door".

The good news is that the same bucket assembly was frequently used over several model years. so if yours are really too far gone to use, you can find better ones in the yards or at swap meets.

Good ground connections are REALLY important in auto electrics... especially six-volt systems.

De Soto Frank

[eric wissing]

Frank, I thought you needed the outside bucket. I only used the inner bucket for my repair. Eric

[martybose]

You might want to consider getting a 6V headlight relay and run some heavier leads to the headlights. When I installed my 6V halogens they were much brighter, but the headlight switch started to smell from overheating, so I installed a relay to take the load off of it.

Marty

[Powerhouse]

where did ya get the relay? I don't know anything about electric stuff. What does it do?

[BobT-47P15]

Eric......should be able to get a 6 volt headlight from either NAPA or

O'Reilly.

[teardrop puller]

I suggest that all headlights use a relay as close to the bulbs as possible. Use big wires on the power through the bulbs and small, or original, wire to control the relay. Any car you have without a headlight relay should have one installed. My 2cents worth.

Powerhouse

The relay lets a small current control a large current. Thus there is little draw through your switch and no problems with voltage loss to the lights since all the current to the lights goes through the relay. Easy to hook up. control voltage from switch, other end of control grounded. Take a large wire from the correct side of the ampmeter (does not necessarily have to be at the amp meter) to the large wire in on relay and the large wire out of the relay to the light. I like one for hi beam and one for low beam, control from the dimmer switch.

kai

[kevinanderson]

Eric-try Bomgaars.