| louganser | -- 08-06-2010 @ 7:43 PM |
|
Just discovered that the headlights on my '47 Ford are as bright as candles. The car has been restored and has a new wiring harness. I suspect that the generator isn't working properly, since my almost new battery also runs down quickly. How do I check the output of the gen? Lou G
|
|
| supereal | -- 08-07-2010 @ 12:50 PM |
|
Place the leads of a voltmeter across the battery posts with the headlights turned on and operate the engine at a fast idle. If you see more than about 7 1/2 volts, the system is overcharging, and will cause damage to the battery and other sections of the system. If the reading is below 6 1/2 volts, either the generator or the voltage regulator is suspect. Most of the time, the last thing you do to a car is the cause of a problem. Double check your wiring and connections. Many new wiring harnesses are made up to fit several different years and models, and may have a wrong or missing circuit. If the charging rate seems OK, the problem is in the lighting circuit. itself.
|
|
| louganser | -- 08-07-2010 @ 7:24 PM |
|
Thanks! I'll give it a try. Lou G
|
|
| proxie35 | -- 08-10-2010 @ 6:03 PM |
|
I had this same problem after I completed restoration of my 50. Everyone said it had to be the Grd. All the Grd checked good, even to the last point, to the headlight bucket. I could disconnect one headlight & the other was BRIGHT. After days of checking, I found the Grd. wire was plugged into the wrong slot, of the plug to the Headlight Bulb. All wireing was new. 12v system.
|
|
| louganser | -- 08-19-2010 @ 6:41 PM |
|
I took the car to a generator shop. The gen and volt. reg both tested VG, the gen putting out just over 6 volts. The wiring harness is new (car was totally restored in 2003) and all connections have been checked. I pulled the headlights and checked the connections...clean. I removed the groung wires, sanded the sh*ll to bare metal for a better ground and reconnected the grd. wires. The lights are s little brighter, but still not great. Maybe it's just that they're 6 violts? By the way, none of the dash lights work either. Lou G
|
|
| trjford8 | -- 08-19-2010 @ 8:02 PM |
|
Lou, there is a dimmer for the dash lights. It's on the bottom left side of the dash. Rotate the knob to see if the dash lights come on. It may be turned to the point of shutting off the dash lights. If your headlamps are grounded inside the buckets they may not be getting a good ground. Run an extra wire from the bucket to a clean spot on the frame to see if this helps.
|
|
| sturgis 39 | -- 08-20-2010 @ 5:07 AM |
|
I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY TAIL LIGHTS.I HAD 12 VOLT BULBS INSTEAD OF 6 VOLT.
|
|
| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 08-20-2010 @ 6:43 AM |
|
ALSO TRY.!!! if everything else fails try some NEW HEADLIGHT BULBS, AMERICAN MADE, you never said that you changed them, they might have a problem inside due to AGE. you can try a test wire 14 gauge, from the ground battery to the headlight bucket or the ground connection on the headlight bulb connection, and see if they get brighter,try both beams high and low hope this helps, 37RAGTOPMAN,an KEEP ON TRUCKIN,,!!!! hope this helps
|
|
| TomO | -- 08-20-2010 @ 7:47 AM |
|
Your voltage regulator should be adjusted to put out 7.2 to 7.4 volts. Anything less than this will not charge your battery. Check the ground connections on the regulator and the generator. Check the voltage at the headlights when they are on and the car is running at a fast idle (about 1500 rpm). You should have at least 6.5 volts at the headlights. Use a voltage drop test to isolate the source of low voltage. A voltage drop test is performed by connecting the COM or - meter lead to the battery and the POS meter lead to the headlight wire at the bulb. The meter should read less than .2 volts with the lights on. If it is more than that, move the POS lead to the dimmer switch and then to the headlight switch to determine where the resistance is. The dimmer switch, headlight switch and bullet connectors are all causes of excessive resistance causing a voltage drop at the head lights. If the voltage drop is within specs and the lights are still dim, use the same procedure to check out the grounding circuit, by changing the meter lead connections to the POS lead should be connected to the POS battery terminal and probe with the COM or - lead. Tom
|
|
| supereal | -- 08-20-2010 @ 12:10 PM |
|
The root of the perennial dim headlight problem is that the wiring and controls were initially designed for the old bulb and reflector system, and were never upgraded to handle the load of the sealed beams. Two of those drawing about 50 watts each require a minimum current of about 18 amps at six volts for proper illumination. If you replace the lamps with halogens, the power requirement doubles. Couple this with undersized conductors (wiring) and the number of switches and connections between the battery and the lamp, and the result is dim lights, in most, if not all cases. Converting to 12 volts in the 50's decreased current requirements by about half, allowing brighter lights with the same gauge wiring. If the connections are clean and tight, and you have enough headlight brightness to get home at night, that is about as good as it will get without substantial revision of the system.
|
|
| Norm | -- 08-20-2010 @ 6:22 PM |
|
Super - He's got a '47, so the wiring should be heavy enough to handle sealed beams. I vote for a grounding problem. He should be able to get perfectly good headlight performance with a stock rig. Lou - are your sealed beams 6 volt? Norm
|
|
| louganser | -- 08-20-2010 @ 7:26 PM |
|
They are 6 volt sealed beams...look new. The car was restored in 2003 (all new wiring harness)and has only been driven 1,400 miles since. I removed the grd wire in each bucket, sanded the area to bare metal and reattached the grd wires...no difference. The dash light reostat looks new...turns, but no dash lights...bulbs are OK. I'll try replacing the sealed beams and running another ground. The taillights and the license light...also not real bright. Lou G
|
|
| TomO | -- 08-21-2010 @ 5:52 AM |
|
Save your money and try the voltage drop test in my previous post. Most cases of dim lights are due to low voltage at the lights. The light switch can drop as much as .5 volts and I have seen dimmer switches that drop enough voltage to keep the lights from showing any light. Tom
|
|
| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 08-21-2010 @ 6:22 AM |
|
On the DIM HEADLIGHT Seal Beams, FIRST THING MAKE SURE THEY ARE 6 VOLTS and NOT 12 VOLTS, why not run a wire directly to the bulbs from the battery and see what it looks like, use a few jumper wires.this way you can rule out the car, you can do this ,by taking the bulbs out and bench testing them , will rule out the wiring and switches in the car, if bright out of the car , the problem is in the car, Now you can move on to that,check all the wiring connections, loose screws etc, etc. and also who made the wiring? USA or CHINA, TAIWAN ? see if you can see what gauge the wiring is.does it get warm,??? if somebody used cheap wiring, this leads to MAJOR PROBLEMS, including fires,by using to light of gauge wiring, which cause overheating. NEVER LEAVE THE BATTERY HOOKED UP, when car Unattended in STORAGE. hope this helps,37 RAGTOPMAN,, KEEP ON TRUCKIN,,,,
|
|
| supereal | -- 08-21-2010 @ 10:31 AM |
|
Norm: The wiring in my '47 just wasn't heavy enough, even with a new dimmer switch and firmly soldered "bullet" connectors. We ran separate grounds to the sockets, as well. The headlights were still insufficient for safe night driving in today's traffic. As with most old car lights, they suffered from comparison to today's very bright lights, which made them seem more dim. Halogens made them even dimmer, due to current lower than required. We made up a simple relay board that is operated by the existing wires to the headlights, with the power supplied by a #10 gauge link to the battery side of the solenoid. Now, I have lights almost as bright as newer vehicles. I understand that there is a commercially available relay for the purpose. We used a pair of 6 volt starter solenoids for our unit.
|
|
| louganser | -- 08-23-2010 @ 8:43 PM |
|
Wagners..test OK Lou G
|
|
| EFV-8 Club Forum : | https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum |
| Topic: | https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=18&Topic=1659 |