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I recently purchased some 6V halogen headlights that fit my 46 Super Clipper from Octane Lighting on Amazon.com. They look great, but are VERY dim, maybe even dimmer than my sealed beams.

The car has a new wiring harness, so I'm pretty sure the electrical connections aren't the issue. I also have 6V LED lights in the tail lights only (was warned not to put too many LED's in without resistors).

I noticed when I did my first test drive last night that everything was very dim, even brights. Blinkers were VERY slow, like flip every 2-3 seconds, and the right front never would blink.

Is the generator not producing enough electricity to run the headlights at full strength? Would the same cause the blinker issue?

Thanks for the advice, guys!

Scott

and just to make sure nothing changed.....put the old lights back in just to see if it still acts up.

another test....put the halogens in with normal brake bulbs and see if the problem persists.

just some tests is all.

Break out a volt meter to see what your voltage at the headlight looks like. Running you should be close to 7.2 volts. If not, you have a problem somewhere.

The slow blinking is from not having enough load on the taillights to trigger the relays. This is usually because the LEDs don't match the resistance of the original lights.

What should it be putting out at the generator?

As Kev says, at fast idle the voltage should be 7.2-7.4 volts and that will be measured thruout the system. You should be able to measure close to that at the headlight junction block on the L fender. Engine off and voltage should revert to battery level of 6.3v give or take.

No matter which headlights are used - original or halogen - I am a believer in using relays to take the stress of the high current the headlights pull out of the old headlight and dimmer switches. If a switch is dirty or perhaps making marginal contact, in addition to reducing voltage available to lights, the high current causes the switches to heat and before long there are other issues.

I make a small assy and place a couple of relays near the junction block. A couple of minor wire changes at the terminal strip lets the original wiring operate the relays and current for the headlights is delivered thru a new 10 ga wire and circuit breaker directly from the battery connection at solenoid. That eliminates the current having to go thru switches and several feet of smaller gauge wire. The only original wiring still carrying much current is that in the rubber cables between junction block and headlights. With a change of relays the same circuit works on 12v cars too although there are other considerations with the dual terminal strips and wiring on 55-6 cars.

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Before everything get complicated here, are you sure that they sent you 6 volt units?
Next, what does your ammeter say? Does it still swing over to the charge side when you give a little gas?

good point...maybe they sent 12v units?

Quote:

If u have a 6v battery charger then test the lites on the battery charger.