TC

I need some help.
I've fitted and wired according to the accompanied diagram HELLA driving lamps.
PROBLEM:the light emitted is very dim.
i've checked the wiring diagram,and followed it religiously at first i thought it was the 130watt bulbs,but even when i changed them back to the 60watt jobbies they were still dim.
Could it be a bad earth connection or too much wire used(although i can't see where i could use less)?.
The lights are scotchlok'd into the mainbeam.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO CAN HELP?.

Ian Cook

sounds very much like a poor earth point. Are both lamps earthed seperately ?

Also where si the power from the lamps coming from ? Most other lamps take the power direct from the battery through a relay.

Hope this is of some help

TC

The power is taken directly from the battery,but i have earthed both lamps to the same point.I didn't realise that both lamps have to be earthed separately,hope this solves the problem.

Ian Cook

It may not be the problem, as long as they are earthed, but if the single earth point is not a good one, that would cause the problem.

boltona

This is probably a stupid question, but they are wired in parallel and not in series aren't they? Ie there is a separate wire that feeds the second lamp from the battery. I once wired a loft light in series with another light accidentally and you do just get a much dimmer light.
Probably a silly question if you've followed the wiring diagram.

Andrew

TC

I've made sure all the earth wires are on bare metal,power to the relay is directly from the battery,the relay is earthed also,the diagram has both lamps feed coming from one pin on the relay(as per instructions)and still have no reasonable lighting,IT IS NOW GETTING ON MY WICK!.

howardb

Sorry for the length of this post guys!

Is your cable capable of handling the currents? If you're not running the lights for a long period, the wire might not burn out, but just get warm/hot and drop the voltage that the bulb gets. 60W are going to draw 5Amps whilst 130W are going to need 11'ish Amps, that sort of current requires decent wire. Connections have to be good and clean.
Can you try wiring one of the bulbs directly to the battery and see how good the light is? Use the same cable you used to wire them in the car. Dont use a relay. BE CAREFUL. If this is alright you know the cable is upto it.
Next use the wire that you have loomed into the car. Connect the bulb but bypass the relay, directly to the battery. This should prove the wiring in the car okay. AGAIN BE CAREFUL.
The next step would be to introduce the relay to the circuit. And repeat.
Another point, when you feed the bulbs from the relay are you going from two different switches on the relay - A relay has a coil and a number of mechanical switch contacts. Your light switch wants to supply the coil to de/energise the switches. Feed the battery supply to two switches and then onto the lights. Each switch (whilst operated at the same time) supplies individual lights. I wouldnt use one switch to feed both bulbs as the current requirement would be huge circa 22Amps.
Lastly, depending on what has been done before I would guess you might have caused an arc between relay contacts resulting in a deposit on the contacts. This will almost certainly cause problems in supplying the bulbs. Can you try a different relay?
Let me know if any of this helps.

Ian Cook

Couple of suggestions, the Scoobysport Cibies have one cable coming from the relay to the first lamp, then another wire coming from this lamp to the second one. I am just wondering if your instructions show the relay having the 2 cables connected to the pin instead of doing it this way. The only other thing i can think of would be to try the setup with only 1 lamp attached and see how that looks. I am sorry if none of this works, I can understand how painfull this must be

howardb

Just to take Ian's post further. I take it that the relay supplies +12v to one lamp, the other side of the lamp goes to chassis. The +12v from the lamp then carries on to the next bulb, again its other terminal goes to chassis. (the cheap and cheerful method - but hey it works!) The lamps are wired in parallel.

TC

Got so miffed that i had to take it to an auto electrician.

BINGO???-problem solved,a faulty relay-I NOW HAVE DAYLIGHT and it's sooooo much better seeing in the dark.The wiring diagram wasn't too clever according to the leccy boffin very misleading,but that probably serves me right for not buying Pete's Cibie's.

Thanks for all the input though.