Fitting the Boomslang Headlight Harness

terr said:

was a thread on here a few years ago.
a man run spotlight relay of his alternator and had nothing but burnt out relays.
as a battery is a steady voltage but a alternator changes its output.
just saying

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Well, I might have made a lucky move then.

terr said:

was a thread on here a few years ago.
a man run spotlight relay of his alternator and had nothing but burnt out relays.
as a battery is a steady voltage but a alternator changes its output.
just saying

Click to expand...

Wouldn't the relay coil feed come from the light switch on the steering colum which would be more steady, and the power to the bulbs come from the alternator so the variable voltage feed would only be through the contacts of the relay.
They would be closed when the light draws power so it should not bother the relay too much.

terr said:

was a thread on here a few years ago.
a man run spotlight relay of his alternator and had nothing but burnt out relays.
as a battery is a steady voltage but a alternator changes its output.
just saying

Click to expand...

Wouldn't make a blind bit of difference.
I suspect his alternator was knackered or he was using cheap relays or incorrect fuses.

I had exactly the same issues on the spots on a 110, took it into a vehicle wireing specialist, nothing wrong there mate, you just need a bigger relay to handle the current.
So I bought and fitted a heated screen relay, did exactly the same thing on a ferry crossing (8 hours) to France. Fortunately I had switched the battery off when parked up on the car deck, otherwise I would have been trying to start with a flat battery.
Never got to the bottom of it.

frog hopper said:

I had exactly the same issues on the spots on a 110, took it into a vehicle wireing specialist, nothing wrong there mate, you just need a bigger relay to handle the current.
So I bought and fitted a heated screen relay, did exactly the same thing on a ferry crossing (8 hours) to France. Fortunately I had switched the battery off when parked up on the car deck, otherwise I would have been trying to start with a flat battery.
Never got to the bottom of it.

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How big were the lights?

2 x 100 watt. Not a lot really.

If you measure the voltage of the positive battery terminal with the engine running, it varies with the alternator output - if it stayed at 12v the battery wouldn't charge. Not sure If I was being asked about a performance improvement - but I had already remade the joints in the light wiring (soldered if you must know) and fitted new terminals and connectors, along with uprated bulbs and crystal lenses. There was a very slight improvement in the (already pretty good) lights. I mostly fitted the harness to reduce the current flowing through the light switch - there have been plenty of threads on them failing last year.

The Mrs has now driven the Landy in the dark. I was still at work, but got a whatsapp message. Lights are AWESOME! She reckons she can definitely see a difference. That'll do me.

Somebody's getting his reward tonight

Discokids said:

Somebody's getting his reward tonight

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Doubt it! Not tonight. Certainly earned some brownie points though. And you know what point mean eventually.............

Al2O3 said:

And you know what point mean eventually.............

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Nothing....because the next time you mess up in even the slightest way, all those earned points go down the toilet............Swoosh.

Cheers

Al2O3 said:

The Mrs has now driven the Landy in the dark. I was still at work, but got a whatsapp message. Lights are AWESOME! She reckons she can definitely see a difference. That'll do me.

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Oh dear looks like something else I won't be able to live without.

raywin said:

Oh dear looks like something else I won't be able to live without.

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Not very expensive and a doddle to fit.

Al2O3 said:

Doubt it! Not tonight. Certainly earned some brownie points though. And you know what point mean eventually.............

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i suppose your a lights on person now

mick the builder said:

i suppose your a lights on person now

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Was before. I like to see what I'm getting

We've gone off topic a bit here, but I thought I'd add a bit more feed back from the Mrs, just in case anyone does a search on here cos they are contemplating fitting the harness.
The Mrs reckons the lights, on dipped beam, are lighting up the road much better. But! Lighting the left verge a lot more. She's noticed this is helping a lot, when another vehicle comes the other way, because she can continue to see the verge as a point of reference to drive by in the glare. This is on the country A roads around here, where it can be tight for passing vehicles. On main beam it's much brighter, whiter with a hint of blue. This might be a feature of the Osram Night Breaker bulbs I've got in - no idea though. Also, they are illuminating road signs much further down the road when on main beam.
I think it's important for someone reading this to know that my Landy is 21+ years old on the original harness. I know the earths are good, but other joints and connections are obviously aged.
Having said that, the Landy lights were not too bad beforehand really. The Mrs preferring the Landy lights against the 12 plate Mondeo, especially comparing dipped beam. The elevated lights and driving position probably skews this perception. Anyway, I think that's a fair assessment of the situation.

If you use crimps I have to say the type that you heat and seal after crimping and then they ooze glue really are very good.
We use them all the time at work and they operate in pretty harsh conditions and last well, fast and so long as the glue oozes out nicely are totally waterproof.

The truck maker I used to work for preferred them for repairs as many people cant solder well enough, but pretty much everybody can crimp.
Many of the wires that are repaired are for can-bus systems and you know pretty quickly if they fail as the truck stops

Just been on an interesting course and learnt what a nomogram was, something I didnt know existed until today!

lynall said:

If you use crimps I have to say the type that you heat and seal after crimping and then they ooze glue really are very good.
We use them all the time at work and they operate in pretty harsh conditions and last well, fast and so long as the glue oozes out nicely are totally waterproof.

The truck maker I used to work for preferred them for repairs as many people cant solder well enough, but pretty much everybody can crimp.
Many of the wires that are repaired are for can-bus systems and you know pretty quickly if they fail as the truck stops

Just been on an interesting course and learnt what a nomogram was, something I didnt know existed until today!

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I've got no crimping gear whatsoever, lynall. Canny at soldering though You've taught me something there with the nomogram Knew about graphs with scales to show a number of variables, but just called them graphs Never heard the term nomogram

Tbh if you can solder it will be fine but like gas welding/brazing its a dying art a bit like stick welding.
But even if you can solder I can still highly recommend the heat shrink tubing with glue inside as not only does it seal the joint it also supports it.

Ive always been of the opinion its only a car so who really cares? it doesnt do serious work, but just changed my battery after 7 yrs and was a little shocked to see the corrosion on the battery terminals and some of my crimp terminals, but you have to bear in mine this car sometimes doesnt move for months at a time.

lynall said:

Tbh if you can solder it will be fine but like gas welding/brazing its a dying art a bit like stick welding.
But even if you can solder I can still highly recommend the heat shrink tubing with glue inside as not only does it seal the joint it also supports it.

Ive always been of the opinion its only a car so who really cares? it doesnt do serious work, but just changed my battery after 7 yrs and was a little shocked to see the corrosion on the battery terminals and some of my crimp terminals, but you have to bear in mine this car sometimes doesnt move for months at a time.

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I'm giving you 1/10 for reading this thread, cos I did use adhesive lined heat shrink Put it over all of the soldered joints including the two battery terminals.