relaying headlights

[vwwvgolf]

i know the bulbs will have bit of tolorance but wont running them above 12 shorten their life and such?

also if the battery is 12 volt how would you increase it to 14??

and would taking the earth from the headlights and run it striaght to the battery negative work for making new earth?

[javalin]

car off = ~12v, car on (alternator running) = ~14v

>and would taking the earth from the headlights and run it striaght to the battery negative work for making new earth?
it would.

[vwwvgolf]

nice one.  been looking into it some more and a 1 volt drops appers to make huge diiferance. will be doing this when i get the bits!

[ttelracs]

I did the 'matey-matey' co0nversion myself and yes it made a difference.

I then bought some Halfords +90% brilliance bulbs and lo and behold I could see in the dark sooo much better.
I will be cleaning up the earthing mounts, but getting to the one underneath the battery is a pain in the arse.  May simply make another !

[vwwvgolf]

was just about to go out and get the bits i need to make up the relay but thought i would check the voltages again. i properly disconnected them at the block connector this time just behind the lamps and got reading of 13 to 14 volts on dipped and main beam.
 i duno if my battery was a bit down last time i checked or what but was looking forward to improving my lights. 

passengers side had intermittent voltage and the connector is pretty soaked in oil so will clean the connections up with some electrical connection cleaner to see if that helps.

is it possible that my alternator is not as efficient as it needs to be when the heaters are on with the wipers, stereo and headlights? (if stereo is on 2 amps will also be running)

if my bulbs are getting the voltage is there anything else i can try or look into?

[javalin]

I've not checked this, but as I said I don't think the mk3 suffers from the same voltage drop issue as the mk2.

>if my bulbs are getting the voltage is there anything else i can try or look into?
worth checking that that the headlight levels are adjusted correctly, if they are pointing down then no amount of voltage or better bulbs will help.

>is it possible that my alternator is not as efficient as it needs to be when the heaters are on with the wipers, stereo and headlights? (if stereo is on 2 amps will also be running)
Start the car, turn everything on, headlights, stereo, heated windscreen's etc, and measure the battery voltage.  Should still be ~14v.  Also worth checking voltage between the battery neg terminal and the engine block - should be < 0.5v.

James

[vwwvgolf]

mine had a mot not too long ago so they should have been checked then and adjusted if needed then.

thanks for the info javalin. i will check the voltage with all on later on