Headlight Advice

[kkh120]

Put simply a fatter or better quality wire will allow more electrons down it. That is more amps, simple as that. When a lot of power is asked for, as headlights do, the wide wire will allow them to flow through maintaining full pressure (voltage), rather than causing a bit of "congestion" (resistance) meaning the amps you want don't get through at the desired voltage.

For reference:
Volts X Amps = Watts.
Amps = Quantity of electricity
Volts = Pressure of that electricity
Watts = Total amount of "work" it will do per second.

A Watt is one amp at one volt, consumed over 1 second. Or... Enough "power" to lift a 100 grams of weight 1 metre high in 1 second.

Oh and a Joule is a watt without the time constraints.

Ali
 

Love it

I'm going to save this for when my kid asks me about this one day

[rubjonny]

The other thing to remember, is that all the power for the headlamps has to first pass through the light switch, and then the fusebox before finally getting to the lamps.  This is a long length of cable, though perfectly fine when brand new now the wires have aged the power output isn't what it once was.

The headlights themselves make a big difference too, a pair of nice shiny new lenses will work much better than a pair of old yellow ones with peeling reflector housings

[frog]

basically what everyone is saying is carry out the upgrade anyway due to the age of the car/wiring.
Have checked the bulbs and they look nearly new 55/60w halogens. Maybe its just the alignment thats out how easy is it to adjust?

[rubjonny]

yup basically
easy to adjust, theres a scew at the bottom of the lamp which does up/down and one on the side which does left/right.  Haynes has a quick n dirty guide on how to adjust them properly.

[Devon Joe]

Yep i did the wiring upgrade, made a heck of a difference to mine, and thats on standard bulbs!
Also keep the grill spotlights too- my high beam is now blinding..
Wiring upgrade is easy to fit, just unplug stuff and then plug it in so its easy to convert back if you flog it etc!

[frog]

Carried out this mod from scratch today.
Bought a 30 Amp relay and Blade fuse holder from local Automotive supplier(£5.49), got the cable and crimps from work and the diagram from http://www.matey-matey.com/uprated_headlight_wiring.shtml.
Took about an hour to do including making up the loom.
Alot cheaper than buying loom off Ebay
Everything seems to work just need to try the lights at night to see what the difference is but any body with any knowledge could carry out this Mod