head lights??

[Standing Elk]

What is the most effective way to get a little brighter 6V head lights without having to install an alternator or converting to 12V.? Thanks

[Kurt in NJ]

I put in 35 watt direct fit halogen bulbs, -it was a miracle, now lights up signs 1/4 mile away--they use less electric than 50cp regular bulbs
Got 16 years out of optima battery so stock generator is enough, only charged by driving, I do run a high charge rate though, and use headlights in daytime on long drives to prevent overcharging

good focus is important ---if your headlight won't project a concentrated beam about the size of a basketball on a wall 15-20 feet away with the lens removed you won't get good headlights no matter how bright the bulb is

[Kevin in NJ]

Good reflectors, check your grounds and wiring, properly focused bulbs.

[Badpuppy]

If you mean more than 50/32 cp, I'm afraid you're SOL. Check for good ground and switch connections. Also note third brush should be adjusted for ~7.2 volt battery float both with headlights on and off (2 different positions).
Another point, with 50cp heads and 15cp tails total draw is about 20A, which exceeds the design capacity of the A generator. It will work, but the extra internal heat will reduce its life considerably.
As for me, I went with the 30A alternator from Mac's. Built-in regulator means no third brush to fool with.

[Bikerider58]

Great to know. I was thinking the halogens would be a nice upgrade when the time comes.

I typically run with lights on, but got an alternator when the generator had issues. The regulator makes it easy and I was not sure about cooking the batt.

From the old school stuff I have read, are spot on regarding the manual “regulation” to prevent overcharging. It is good to know it works without harming battery life.

[Badpuppy]

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I missed Kurt's earlier post - halogens are an option, but 35 W is the same draw as 50cp incandescent, so what I said about generator stress still stands.

[Kurt in NJ]

I have been testing the limits of my generator for 40 years, the first generator I rebuilt, at one time I would crank it to 18 amps to run the 50cp bulbs to be bright---now it is 12-14 and has been there for over 20 years, the halogen bulbs and 2 tail lights use 14 amps, for cooling I leave the cover band off
I never use a "maintainer", only had a charger on te battery once when I left the ignition on and the battery was totally dead, and then only 10 min till I could hand crank, the generator brought the battery back to starting the car after 20 min driving ---yes it can charge a totally dead optima ---and the belt is over 40 years old too,

[Synchro909]

There is a guy in South Australia who fits a LED globes to Model A lights. They draw about 2 amps at 6 volts (1 amp if 12 v) and as you would expect, they are bright. If you're interested, PM me and I'll see if i can find his contact details. Not sure they are available in the US yet or not.

[GPierce]

No alternator necessary with 6 or 12 volt positive earth LED’s from http://www.dynamoregulatorconversion...bulbs-shop.php
You want the BA15D. Part-number FB2A if you have positive ground 6 or 12 volts.
They draw 1 amp on high beam and are brighter than anything out there. One LED is on dipped (low) beam and both are on on high beam,
About $80 for a pair including shipping from the UK.
They also make the same bulb on negative earth (ground). The bulbs work on 6 or 12 volts.
You just take out incandescent bulb and put LED bulb in.
Also see post #14. https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...Led+headlights

[eagle]

As said above, focus and clean bright reflectors make a world of difference.

[Charlie Stephens]

If your reflectors are chrome plated or the old repros that were the wrong shape get the ones that Bratton's sells: (301) 829-9880. Be sure to report back with your solution.

Charlie Stephens

[Hoogah]

Originally Posted by Synchro909

There is a guy in South Australia who fits a LED globes to Model A lights. They draw about 2 amps at 6 volts (1 amp if 12 v) and as you would expect, they are bright. If you're interested, PM me and I'll see if i can find his contact details. Not sure they are available in the US yet or not.

This is the bloke - Anthony Pearson. http://www.classicandvintagebulbs.com/

He has agents in North America, UK, Europe ... and even NZ!

[DHZIEMAN]

Originally Posted by Standing Elk

What is the most effective way to get a little brighter 6V head lights without having to install an alternator or converting to 12V.? Thanks

I am currently working on this. and I am probably answering your question with overkill but that is me.............

I am currently installing a headlight H6006 sealed beam mod kit on my 1930 Model A Ford. This kit keeps the original Model A Ford lenses so as to look original vintage. I purchased it from Snyder’s!
I spent a lot of time looking around the web at the user pro’s and con’s to these type kits and what I found is mixed.

However my goal is to keep the original look, 6Volts and sealed beams! All I can get is Halogen, and that is fine. Here is the research so far:

The vintage generator on this car is set at about 10 amps charge rate.
There are comments that the generator needs to be replaced for increased current needs.
The vintage generator can be adjusted up to 18 to 20 amps if needed, based on my night/day driving habits.
The original Ford Headlight connectors mounted at the base of the headlight have always been troublesome.
(The plan is to keep the look but to run solid wire in place of that twisty aftermarket connector that is a short or bad connection waiting to happen.

The H6006 sealed beam is Halogen and it draws at 6V, 50 watts max on high beam and 40W max on low beam.
That equates to 8.3 amps each for High Beam (total 16.6 amps) and 6.2 amps each for Low Beam (total 12.4 amps)

The original Model A headlight bulbs (#1188) draws 11.35 “total” Amps for High beam, and 8.0 amps “total” for low beam.

The wiring from the light switch to the headlamps at present appears to be #14 Stranded. About 3 ft of that wire before it splits to each headlamp will have increased current drain of 5.25 amps High Beam and 4.4 amps increase for Low Beam and that increased current is running through the light switch also! The headlight Switch has been replaced and has good sized contacts that appear to be able to handle the current increase!

After the wire splits for each headlamp the increase at each headlamp (sealed beam will be 2.65amps High Beam and 2.2 amps Low Beam.
The headlight wire loom, I will test what voltage I get to the High Beam sealed beam pin under load. The wire appears to be #14 Stranded. Along with that, I need to assure good grounding. If I get full voltage, all is well, if not I will rewire. If the low beam wiring seems to need help, I will do the same for the low beam. I also will use the touch approach on wiring to feel for warm spots, if that happens, a headlight relay will get put in use. I have a vintage 6 volt dual headlight relay, and it may get pressed into use to relieve current drain at the headlight switch as well as running new wires to the headlamps.

The kit I purchased from Snyder’s, the modification instruction state to bend over the 3 headlight prongs as they will not clear the headlight housing properly with a standard 3 connector socket, So I did bend them, but was troubled in finding a single slide on connector. So I got our my bits, found a drill bit 5/16’s, drilled a hole in each light pin to this size and used a loop terminal on the wires to screw down to the light terminals with a brass screw and nut, and then taped and covered the terminals with electrical tape and then a sleeve of some ½ inch electrical plastic insulator tubing. Also, there really are no screw ground points in my set of headlight shells so I used the Reflector bulb adjustment hole and a properly sized Brass screw and nut and lock washer to use the adjustment hole as a grounding point! Along with using the headlamp shell as a ground return, with this higher current drain, it is wise to assure the headlights have a good ground to the headlight bar and then the bar to the fender brackets and then the brackets to the frame! No matter how good the wiring, a weak ground is just as bad and can be trouble! The ground return fortunately runs from the headlight bar to both fender supports. So far the one headlamp is installed, and works but I have done no further testing till I get the other side done. One of the headlights had a open low beam. I contacted Snyders and Jeff refunded the cost. I have on order a replacement H6006, it should be here in a few days.

Concerning the generator, I plan on leaving it alone! These old generators could put out up to 20 amps if so adjusted but, for my driving habits and maybe driving less than an hour in the evenings, and some in the day, 10 amps should be OK! A slight possible discharge at night will be overcome with charging during daylight hours. I would prefer to undercharge than overcharge, to not boil away the battery.

I will add my view on how well or poorly this all works when I have completed and used the Headlamp mod at night for a while!

[Charlie Stephens]

Originally Posted by DHZIEMAN

I am currently working on this. and I am probably answering your question with overkill but that is me.............

I am currently installing a headlight H6006 sealed beam mod kit on my 1930 Model A Ford. This kit keeps the original Model A Ford lenses so as to look original vintage. I purchased it from Snyder’s!
I spent a lot of time looking around the web at the user pro’s and con’s to these type kits and what I found is mixed.

However my goal is to keep the original look, 6Volts and sealed beams! All I can get is Halogen, and that is fine. Here is the research so far:

The vintage generator on this car is set at about 10 amps charge rate.
There are comments that the generator needs to be replaced for increased current needs.
The vintage generator can be adjusted up to 18 to 20 amps if needed, based on my night/day driving habits.
The original Ford Headlight connectors mounted at the base of the headlight have always been troublesome.
(The plan is to keep the look but to run solid wire in place of that twisty aftermarket connector that is a short or bad connection waiting to happen.

The H6006 sealed beam is Halogen and it draws at 6V, 50 watts max on high beam and 40W max on low beam.
That equates to 8.3 amps each for High Beam (total 16.6 amps) and 6.2 amps each for Low Beam (total 12.4 amps)

The original Model A headlight bulbs (#1188) draws 11.35 “total” Amps for High beam, and 8.0 amps “total” for low beam.

The wiring from the light switch to the headlamps at present appears to be #14 Stranded. About 3 ft of that wire before it splits to each headlamp will have increased current drain of 5.25 amps High Beam and 4.4 amps increase for Low Beam and that increased current is running through the light switch also! The headlight Switch has been replaced and has good sized contacts that appear to be able to handle the current increase!

After the wire splits for each headlamp the increase at each headlamp (sealed beam will be 2.65amps High Beam and 2.2 amps Low Beam.
The headlight wire loom, I will test what voltage I get to the High Beam sealed beam pin under load. The wire appears to be #14 Stranded. Along with that, I need to assure good grounding. If I get full voltage, all is well, if not I will rewire. If the low beam wiring seems to need help, I will do the same for the low beam. I also will use the touch approach on wiring to feel for warm spots, if that happens, a headlight relay will get put in use. I have a vintage 6 volt dual headlight relay, and it may get pressed into use to relieve current drain at the headlight switch as well as running new wires to the headlamps.

The kit I purchased from Snyder’s, the modification instruction state to bend over the 3 headlight prongs as they will not clear the headlight housing properly with a standard 3 connector socket, So I did bend them, but was troubled in finding a single slide on connector. So I got our my bits, found a drill bit 5/16’s, drilled a hole in each light pin to this size and used a loop terminal on the wires to screw down to the light terminals with a brass screw and nut, and then taped and covered the terminals with electrical tape and then a sleeve of some ½ inch electrical plastic insulator tubing. Also, there really are no screw ground points in my set of headlight shells so I used the Reflector bulb adjustment hole and a properly sized Brass screw and nut and lock washer to use the adjustment hole as a grounding point! Along with using the headlamp shell as a ground return, with this higher current drain, it is wise to assure the headlights have a good ground to the headlight bar and then the bar to the fender brackets and then the brackets to the frame! No matter how good the wiring, a weak ground is just as bad and can be trouble! The ground return fortunately runs from the headlight bar to both fender supports. So far the one headlamp is installed, and works but I have done no further testing till I get the other side done. One of the headlights had a open low beam. I contacted Snyders and Jeff refunded the cost. I have on order a replacement H6006, it should be here in a few days.

Concerning the generator, I plan on leaving it alone! These old generators could put out up to 20 amps if so adjusted but, for my driving habits and maybe driving less than an hour in the evenings, and some in the day, 10 amps should be OK! A slight possible discharge at night will be overcome with charging during daylight hours. I would prefer to undercharge than overcharge, to not boil away the battery.

I will add my view on how well or poorly this all works when I have completed and used the Headlamp mod at night for a while!

The original lens will defocus the light from the sealed beam. They will look bright but there will not be a good focused beam lighting up the road in front of you.

Charlie Stephens

[GPierce]

My 6.0 volt positive ground LED’s plug into the original socket, no modification, and draw 1.1 amps each on high beam. Much greater light output using the original lens than the sealed beams I removed .

[Bob Johnson]

I just received a set of LED headlight "bulbs" from CLASSIC DYNAMO & REGULATOR CONVERSIONS LTD
http://www.dynamoregulatorconversion...bulbs-shop.php

I was using the 35W plug-in Halogen bulbs. I removed the right side Halogen and put in one of the LED bulbs. I have not done any adjustments (focusing) yet. Below are the results. I took the low beam pictures using manual camera setting so the exposure was the same for all three pictures. I did the same for the high beam pictures. I did not take pictures of the light from a regular bulb.
The LED bulb has two LED elements. One on the top and the other on the bottom of the "bulb". The top LED is on for low beam. Both LEDs are on for high beam. The top (low beam) LED is located further from the reflector than the bottom (high beam) LED. I am not sure why they are located differently. When I adjust the focus I should be able to tell what effect different positions have on the beam.

Bob

[1927Tudor]

Very illustrative, thank you for posting the pictures.

[Bob Johnson]

Here are the ammeter readings for the LED and Halogen bulbs. Note the ammeter is not zeroed correctly. The LED is around 1.2 A for low beam and 1.9 A for high beam. The halogen is around 11 A.

Bob

[SeaSlugs]

It looks like the LED just makes one big bright rectangle since the light is only coming out of half the bulb to be used by half the reflector. Can you get pics of them out on a road (back down a dead end street for safety kinda thing) Im curious as to how well the light up ditches and when going around curves - you need light to be scattered in those areas to see deer, coons, opossus, etc and around corners.

[DHZIEMAN]

Originally Posted by GPierce

My 6.0 volt positive ground LED’s plug into the original socket, no modification, and draw 1.1 amps each on high beam. Much greater light output using the original lens than the sealed beams I removed .

My original silver coated reflector shells are in bad shape! Someone cleaned them the wrong way! And Bob Johnson's photos of the Amp meter and the difference between the British LED mod and the Halogen Mod demonstrates "Exactly" your point. The British LED fix, currently will cost me about $128.00 US for 3 LED's. Gotta have a spare! Since I have the lesser brightness method half done, I will follow through, and save up my bucks for a set of good quality reflectors and the LED's. Again, thank you for responding, ya got me looking around more for BETTER STUFF!