6 volt headlights

F

F.M.G.

Junior Member
Anyone found any 6 volt sealbeam that are bright. I am not ready to change to 12 volts yet,my truck starts great. The tail lamps are bright enough,but i have are hard time driving at night with the dim headlamps. Thanks Mike
 
Consider running a heavy gauge wire to the lights via a relay; old fords run the electricity through the switch so there is a large voltage drop.
 
I have 6V sealed beams in mine and they put out PLENTY OF LIGHT. Almost as much as halogen bulbs. Check your grounds.
 
Also run a seperate ground all the way back to the frame, and make sure the body is also grounded to the frame.
 
I have all new cloth repro wiring in my 52 and the 6 volt headlights are plenty bright. I'm guessing corrosion of the wiring at headlight and ground connections would be a good place to start.
 
Be sure the voltage regulator is set high enough so the lights get enough voltage. As has been said already, verify the wiring too.
 
Maybe a dumb question but if voltage check at the bulb socket indicates close to 6 volts does that mean they should get enough amps to keep the headlamps bright??
thanks John
 
Nope, measure the voltage with the bulbs in place and see what you get. With engine running should be well over 6V without the bulbs, a little lower with.

My 6V high beams are bright enough that people flash lights at me to dim 'em if I forget.
 
How old are our bulbs? I've noticed that incandescent headlights grow dim with time. If yours are old (like over 5 years old) it could be just that. Might be an easy fix to put some new ones in. If they're no better take them back. No loss but might fix your problem.
 
I will get some fresh bulbs and check my grounds this week. I think it may be the grounds that need cleaning. Thanks guys and i will report back. Thanks Mike
 
What is a good source for 6 volt sealed beams? And, would incorporating a 6 volt relay be helpful as well?
Thanks, Joe
 
Joe AZ said:
What is a good source for 6 volt sealed beams? And, would incorporating a 6 volt relay be helpful as well?
Thanks, Joe
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I bought mine at AutoZone.

A relay shouldn't be necessary. The original wiring (which I still have) is quite adequate. Mine is so old and original that most of the old cloth insulation has fallen off. I just keep adding tape as the insulation falls off. Yet, it still carries enough juice to light my headlights to full brightness.
 
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oldford2 said:
Maybe a dumb question but if voltage check at the bulb socket indicates close to 6 volts does that mean they should get enough amps to keep the headlamps bright??
thanks John
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No. Volts and Amps are quite different. You would get the same voltage through a wire the size of a hair as one 1/2 inch in diameter. But, the hair size wire (or a 1/2 inch wire with a poor connection) would not carry enough amps to light the headlights. So, what you have to check is amps, as well as voltage. Of course, if your battery and generator are not producing 6 volts, the biggest wire in the world won't light the bulbs to full brightness. You need both the electrical pressure (volts) and the capacity of the wire/connections (amps) to adequately light the bulbs. Check both. The stock wire is quite adequate if all connections are strong.

A real life illustration that's happened twice with me just this winter and many of you have probably experienced. (With my "modern" cars, not Old Henry.) You get in the car and turn the ignition on. All of the dashboard lights come on just fine until you turn the key to start. Then, suddenly, everything is dead. Engine doesn't even try to turn over. No more lights anywhere of any kind, no wipers, no horn. Well, after a few times of this you pretty quickly diagnose the problem. It's the white "pus" that has grown under the postive battery clamp that has blocked the juice from flowing from the battery post to the clamp. Whatever feeble connection there was would light all of the lights, wipers, and horn. But, as soon as you really tried to get some juice through there to start the engine, that little tenuous connection was destroyed, so, then, nothing would flow. You know that you can get things going by just tapping the battery clamp, or, better, if it's a little loose, twisting it on the post while pushing down to break through some of the "pus." But, you know that will be just a temporary fix until you take the time to take the battery clamp off, dissolve all of the "pus" with soda, wire brush the post and inside of clamp, and put it back on tight. (Then apply some grease all over it to retard future "pus" growth. I've done it twice this year. It illustrates the difference between volts and amps.
 
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Your headlights will get brighter as you speed up the engine. This is normal for a generator; they don't charge at idle so voltage will drop to just over 6 volts right away and keep dropping as the lights drain the battery. Voltage increases with RPM so the lights get brighter. Charging (or normal running) voltage setting is 6.9 to 7.2 volts which you should see at the battery with the engine at approx. 2,000 RPM. I'm guessing max. voltage drop should not be over .5 volts so at the headlight connector (either high or low beam) with the lights on and the engine speeded up, you need close to 6.5 volts plus good grounds and wiring as noted in prior posts. Don't forget 6 volt wiring needs to be twice as heavy as 12 volt wiring because it carries twice the amperage. Some people mistakenly re-wire with 12 volt sized wires.
 
Here is a Caveat...if you have a Stock 6V charging system, no matter WHAT you do, you won't be able to run 6V Halogen headlights. The generator won't be able to keep up with the current requirements for them...
 
345 DeSoto said:
Here is a Caveat...if you have a Stock 6V charging system, no matter WHAT you do, you won't be able to run 6V Halogen headlights. The generator won't be able to keep up with the current requirements for them...
Click to expand...


I have been running 6V halogen bulbs in my A for the last 10 years, with a stock generator ---no voltage regulator, with 3rd brush set for 15 amps I can run at night with a +2 amps, when I changed to the halogen bulbs I REDUCED my charging rate from what I had to have with the 50cp regular bulbs.

i do not need to use a makeup charger (battery tender)---never have used one, and have very good battery life --regular batterys 7-9 years---the Optima in it now is 14 years -and still strong

These halogen bulbs are made by a car guy, fit and focus properly-

http://classicandvintagebulbs.com/page2.html
and work well with generators


On long drives I use the halogen headlights as daytime running lights to prevent overcharging the battery.
 
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