Re: Sealed beam conversion kits

Posted by Jim On 2008/8/21 0:27:10

I have had good luck with halogen conversions on older motorcycles. My Packard came with halogen conversions (the previous owner mentioned it was fairly pricy), and frankly, I was very excited and figured that would be neat. As I got into working out the gremlins, I noticed that the aftermarket amp gauge drew way down with the headlamps on, yet charged well in the park and off position of the headlight switch.

At about the same time, I wondered, "why was the amp gage not working?" I have seldom seen a bad amp gauge. I disassembled the amp gauge and found it had jumped the discharge stop. Fixed that, and thought, hmm, generator barley breaks even with the headlights on, amp gauge needle yanked over discharge stop.

Changed out to sealed beams, and presto, car charged with headlights on, amp gauge behaved perfectly.

Here's what I don't know: what the wattage of the low and high beams are. Very possibly they were abnormally high, and basically an improper application.

I would strongly suggest finding out what the low and high beam wattage is and compare to what the wattage of the originals were. I have certainly had good luck in other applications (usually where an alternator is utilized)

Best of luck,
Jim