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Brighter headlights
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Nancnharv
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:01 pm    Post subject: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

I have a 66 beetle and need brighter headlights without 6volt/12volt conversion. I was told 8 volt battery will help with that issue. Also was told Optima 6 volt battery will help as well. I need input and ideas on this. I don't need it for cranking or radio etc. just brighter lights. Thanks
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:17 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Do a search on "brighter headlights". This topic has been well covered. Good luck and welcome to The Samba.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Search is well worthwhile.

Also, short answer: Fix all connections (clean, tighten, and perhaps solder and heat-shrink), including grounds (all of them), and check wiring for correctness per the wiring diagrams in the technical section. Check your generator and regulator for proper operation and output. If all that is good, next step is a set of Hella H4 lamps to replace your sealed beams. 6V bulbs are still available.


Last edited by KTPhil on Mon Jul 18, 2016 3:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
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rsthj
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 2:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

An 8 volt battery is just a bandaid. A stock 6 volt system in good condition has bright headlights. If yours are dim, you very likely have a bad connection some where. Best thing to do is to use a meter and start measuring the voltage at the headlight and work your way back from there. Absent a meter, you can turn your lights on, wait a few minutes, and then carefully start feeling connections/wires/switches with your hand. If any are warm/hot, you've found your culprit
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Nancnharv wrote:
I have a 66 beetle and need brighter headlights without 6volt/12volt conversion. I was told 8 volt battery will help with that issue. Also was told Optima 6 volt battery will help as well. I need input and ideas on this. I don't need it for cranking or radio etc. just brighter lights. Thanks


The lights will be brighter if you clean all the connections from the connection at the voltage regulator all the way to the headlight plugs. Every connection in that path needs a good cleaning after 5 decades.

That will help, but your headlights will still be less than powerful for a couple reasons. One is that many 6 volt headlights are incandescent but not halogen. They put out less light per watt and the typical 6006 bulb is 40/50 watts. The 12 volt incandescent bulb (6014) is generally 50/60 watts. Most 12 volt headlights are halogen though, and they will put out more light at less watts than incandescent bulbs. The bottom line is that you can expect about 2/3 the light at best with sealed headlights.

You can buy H4 6 volt bulbs and use a modern headlight with a replaceable bulb. My '57 has Bosch H4 optics and runs 6 volt 55/60 watt bulbs. I'm running those in my mostly stock '57. I'm surprised the little generator hasn't complained at night -- just the headlights draw most of the available output.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Ditto! Clean all the connections in the wiring, starting with both battery cables and the transaxle to body ground cable, clean BOTH ends of all of those!!! Apply dielectric grease to keep oxygen and thusly corrosion away for as long as possible from any connection.

Search out how to solder connections inside the fuse box and if you are using the early bell shaped headlight switch solder the internal connection in that also.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Important tip about using 'dielectric grease' ...it is an 'insulator' ...not a 'conductor' ...so DON'T apply it directly to the electrical connector where the connection is being made ...apply on and closely around the connection once the connection has been tightened down. As it says when you google 'is dielectric grease conductive?': Dielectric grease is a non-conductive, silicone grease designed to seal out moisture and, therefore, prevent corrosion on electrical connectors. Being non-conductive, it does not enhance the flow of electrical current.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 5:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

once you get everything else mentioned done , try these
https://www.amazon.com/Wagner-Lighting-H6006-Sealed-Beam/dp/B00CBZ4HQK
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:33 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Digger89L wrote:
Important tip about using 'dielectric grease' ...it is an 'insulator' ...not a 'conductor' ...so DON'T apply it directly to the electrical connector where the connection is being made ...apply on and closely around the connection once the connection has been tightened down. As it says when you google 'is dielectric grease conductive?': Dielectric grease is a non-conductive, silicone grease designed to seal out moisture and, therefore, prevent corrosion on electrical connectors. Being non-conductive, it does not enhance the flow of electrical current.


Really it does not matter that it is a non-conductor. Having a tightened connection will cut right thru it. Use it on all our VWs and have less than .2 volts of drop thru the electrical system. Even with the longer wiring of the Buses we have.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 8:06 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Eric&Barb wrote:

Really it does not matter that it is a non-conductor. Having a tightened connection will cut right thru it. Use it on all our VWs and have less than .2 volts of drop thru the electrical system. Even with the longer wiring of the Buses we have.


Lots of un-informed debate around this issue, but, when it gets right down to it, dielectric grease was NOT designed to be a conductor, in fact, it was developed to be the exact opposite: an insulator. We'll have to agree to disagree.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 6:47 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

Digger89L wrote:
We'll have to agree to disagree.


Afraid not, we agree it is an insulator, but what we are saying is it is not an armor plating. Metal easily cuts right thru it and makes plenty of good electrical contact.

Still not convinced??? Then test your theory. Take apart the connection between the battery ground cable and the body. Polish the bolt, washer cable end, and body point and then apply plenty of grease to all of those parts, bolt back together and then try to start the engine or turn on headlights, or wipers, horn, etc.. If they worked before, they will work just fine with dielectric grease.
Go ahead, we double dog dare you. Laughing

Air is a good insulator also to low voltage DC, but we allow air around connections all the time, and still have electrical flow. Problem with air is is does cause corrosion of the metal surfaces so adding the dielectric grease acts as a barrier to oxygen getting to the cleaned metal surfaces and connections stay much better for longer.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 7:04 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

An 8v battery is an unnecessary band-aid. Fixing the symptom but not the problem.

Take a Saturday and go through the whole electrical system cleaning up connections and terminals, removing oxidation and corrosion. Pay special attention to the big battery terminals and both ends of the battery ground strap as well as the ground strap between the transaxle and the body.

Pull the fuse box, clean all that mess up. Pull the headlight switch, clean all that mess up too.

Pull all your light bulbs out, clean the terminals in the sockets. Clean up the ground points for all your lights. If you find your light housings don't have separate ground wires (brown) then that means they ground through the screws that hold them to the fenders which in turn ground through the bolts that hold the fenders to the body. Clean up those screw mounting points to bare metal.

Pull your headlights. What connector do you have, the old kind with spring terminals that clamp the bare wire ends? Or the more modern push-on spade terminal type? If the former, you'll want to upgrade those.

Originally your parking light/taillight bulbs were 4 watt and the brake/turn signal bulbs were 18 watt.

On a 12v car the standard is 5w for the running/tail lights and 21w for the brake/turn signal lights. You can get 21w 6v bulbs from places like Wolfsburg West.

A 21W bulb in a 6v car is just as bright as a 21W bulb in a 12v car, it just draws twice the current in a 6v car. But it's only as bright if the connections are clean and the grounds are good.

While you have the lenses off check the condition of your reflectors. They make a big difference to the perceived brightness of the bulb. If they are cloudy you may wish to polish them up or you can line them with HVAC foil tape and polish that up.

This way toward brighter lights is not the fast way but it is the right way.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:25 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

I bought a couple of halogen 6 volts bulbs by internet and results are excelent. My car has european light, no sealed beams so may be not a solution for everybody
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:12 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

For what it's worth. '65 Beetle, 12V, Alternator.
Was getting 12.2 volts at the headlamps with car idling.
Cleaned all fuses and fuse holders and all spade connections on fuse block and installed a new foot switch I had sitting around. Voltage was now 12.75.
Installed a new light switch from WW. Now getting 13.9 volts at the headlamps.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:49 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

^ this.

Keep in mind that a 6v system is more sensitive to poor connections/increased resistance because the current is doubled for a device of equivalent power (for example a 21 watt bulb draws 1.6 amps on a 12V system but 3.3 amps on a 6V system).

Poor connections leads to voltage drop which leads to dim lights.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:07 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

I actually bought my 6 volt bulb replacements for my '61 from NAPA and are made by Phillips. They are as bright as my 12 volt bulbs in my '65, but...as said...you have to have clean connections and grounds.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 7:44 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

sjbartnik wrote:
Poor connections leads to voltage drop which leads to dim lights.

...which leads to the dark side.

onetuza wrote:
installed a new foot switch I had sitting around.

Yes, don't forget to check out this switch too.
The one in my '61 was getting hot it had so much build-up.
I replaced it with a good used one that had close to zero resistance once the terminals were cleaned.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:22 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

EverettB wrote:
sjbartnik wrote:
Poor connections leads to voltage drop which leads to dim lights.

...which leads to the dark side.



Literally!
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:44 am    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

EverettB wrote:
onetuza wrote:
installed a new foot switch I had sitting around.

Yes, don't forget to check out this switch too.
The one in my '61 was getting hot it had so much build-up.
I replaced it with a good used one that had close to zero resistance once the terminals were cleaned.


The '66 uses a relay, not a foot switch. But just the same, check those relay connections for the same issue.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Brighter headlights Reply with quote

More of the same, yes clean all electrical connection, all of them. Clean them thoroughly with a wire wheel on a rotary tool or fine sandpaper. Repair poor wire connections. If you're repairing/replacing connections, I recommend soldering these repaired connections as well crimping them. Then, cover all those in dielectric grease. While you're at it, clean up the pan to transaxle ground strap and inspect the battery to starter connections.

Cheers!
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