97Catalunya

Hi people wan't to upgrade standard bulbs on my classic '97 catalunya to 100/80W but after reading this http://www.iwoc.co.uk/catalunya.html I am a bit concerned about melting reflectors and cables? Is the standard loom etc up to the job?


Thanx

Chris...

richiewong

Had 80/100watt bulbs as standard in my old Type R, never any problems with wiring/melting.

97Catalunya

Hey thanx richie will go get a pair

StickyMicky

got 100watt bulbs in my classic, had about 3/4 pairs over the years

mine has been fine
shecks melted his wireing
i think steves were ok>??

sum cars are not happy sum are fine
mine and steves are 97, shecks is a 99/00 with the crystal lamps
not sure if they cut back on the wire quality along the lines?

97Catalunya

Cool thanx Mickey it is quite poss about the cable down grade will have to look into it a little further I think?


Cheers

Chris...

Graz

You can relay the headlights directly off the battery and use uprated wiring. Apparently this gives better light output even from standard bulbs as the voltage drop over the thin wiring is quite significant. No worries about the wiring melting then. There is still however the possibility of melting the plastic reflectors in the headlight.

Fixel

I used some 80/100 Halfords Rally bulbs a while ago (MY98, non-crystal lights). No problems at all for the few months they were in. They came to the end of their service life when I ran into the back of someone...

Tim-H

I don`t melt headlights running permenantly on 130/180`s
but I would recomend you relay them, mainly as if you do not you will see very little gain if not a possable drop in light output,
here`s a thread on it

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=299619

with a link to another earlyer one on the first page (read first)
have a good one
Tim

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Got 90/130watt bulbs on MY97

After 4 years, Nothing melted. reflectors fine, Wiring Fine, Relays fine, never blown a fuse. Also tested the volatge and got very little voltage drop (no more than with the standard bulbs).



Just one of the many scooby old wives tales that seem so common

Tim-H

After 4 years, Nothing melted. reflectors fine, Wiring Fine, Relays fine, never blown a fuse. Also tested the volatge and got very little voltage drop (no more than with the standard bulbs).

What is you voltage @ the bulbs out of interest ? (measured between the 2 opposite connections on m/b )
Have a good one
Tim

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Cant remember exactly...it was 4 years ago!!!

IIRC Somewhere round about 13.7v dipped, 13.8v high and 14v Battery (engine running)

Tim-H

IIRC Somewhere round about 13.7v dipped, 13.8v high and 14v Battery (engine running)[/QUOTE]

Measured between the 2 opposite connections on m/b or between dip/mb and battery ? I would suggest the latter,
some light switches will melt , others not , but in the 25 yr`s I have been doing this conversion, I have never found standard wiring (that hasn`t got relay`s in) that does not benefit from relaying and re-routing the earth,
If you would like to have a look through the original post , there is a link to how voltage drop affects the efficency of bulbs,
If you would like to get your meter out and check accross virtually any high load connnection or switch on a car , you will see a small drop, this applies to every conection in the lighting "run" (from bat to fuse box, out of box to switch, out of switch to connector, etc then to bulb, probaby about 10 connection`s in all ? assumeing they are all clean and 10/10, this still adds up, to approx 1 v on most cars,
I would be very surprised if you car does show those voltages with standard wiring (as I said,Measured between the 2 opposite connections on m/b)
Have a good one
Tim

Chelspeed

Something to bear in mind here is that these bulbs vary in quality and the bull**** factor in their advertising. How confident are you that a cheap ebay no-name rally bulb that's advertised as a 130/100W is really producing this much light and consuming this much power.

Just because three people come on here and say they have had bulbs advertised as 130/100W fitted for 5 years without melting wiring or reflectors doesn't mean you won't. You may be "unlucky" enough to get the one set of bulbs that genuinely do produce this much light, consume this much power and melt the wiring. Food for thought anyway.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Take it or leave it...that is what was roughly measured measured (give or take 0.1or 0.2v). You asked, and I answered, so no need to patronise. The only thing that was done on the car prior was a number of earthing points cleaned and remade due to a bad earth.


Chelspeed: good point about the bulb quality....PIAA and Osram often advertise their bulbs to give to output wattage of a certain amount from a bulb rated at a lower or stock dissaption level. But not many actually quote the exact amount of Lumens do they?

Tim-H

Take it or leave it...that is what was roughly measured measured (give or take 0.1or 0.2v). You asked, and I answered, so no need to patronise. The only thing that was done on the car prior was a number of earthing points cleaned and remade due to a bad earth.[/QUOTE]

sry was not trying to patronise, just trying to establish if you are measuring at the same place as I am, which I think you may not be, please measure as mentioned @ the bulb + and - ), a £ say`s you will not get more than 12.8v :-)
Have a good one
Tim