Sealed Beam to Halogen conversion

[g32turbo]

When changing from 7" sealed beams to halogens is it OK to just chnage the lamp units or does it require a relay fitting. My sons 1978 Clubman has had this conversion done before he bought it and, as with the original wiring, there is no relay fitted between the switch and the lights. The plug on the back of the light switch is very hot and the plug wiring is showing signs of burning.

[camelotr]

If You use normal halogens, it should be ok. Although You should pay attention to clean all the connections (lamp, fuses, switch), and check the switch if it gets hot or not.

[g32turbo]

Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty sure it will be a bad connections on the switch. He's back home tomorrow so I guess I know what I'm doing at the weekend.

[cpas]

As far as I know, the standard halogen conversions are 55W which is not much more than the standard sealed beam units - therefore you won't need a relay. Halogen bulbs are brighter but don't use any more power. However, it is possible to buy 100W bulbs (or brighter) and there would need relays - however this wouldn't reduce the power at the bulb so these connectors would still get hot!!

[cpas]

Sorry, misread that a bit - the relay would reduce considerably the power going through the switch with higher powered bulbs.

[Cooperman]

It's always good to have relays on lighting circuits. Make sure there are fuses for both the signal current and the main feed current of suitable and correct amperage.
If you go to 10/80W headlamp bulbs you should up-grade the wire size to both dip & main beam to and from the relay. I have used 100 w head bulbs and when first I did that I burned out the 3-way plug onto the halogen bulb, so despite having used larger wire size, I had to wire each wire directly into the bulb terminal. No problems since doing that.
Best headlights are the Cibie or the Hella units. The wipac Quadoptics are not a patch on either of those two, but then, as always, you get what you pay for