Headlights: Dumb Question

Hi yo silver · January 02, 2008, 07:45:25 PM

Nice going, PP! We never had a doubt you could fix it! Gumpy, you got it right; I'm smack in the middle of notorious deer country. I look out the windows every morning to see what they ate next...
Dennis

gumpy · January 02, 2008, 08:23:16 PM

Quote from: Hi yo silver on January 02, 2008, 07:45:25 PM
... I'm smack in the middle of notorious deer country. I look out the windows every morning to see what they ate next...
Dennis

Easy way to fix that. You just stay outside at night and put a few of the varmints in the freezer before morning. If you're freezer is too full,
pack them up in styrofoam and ship them direct to me.

gus · January 03, 2008, 02:00:56 PM

I'm pretty amazed at all the posts about aircraft landing lights because it is well known to all us fly types that these things are VERY fragile in airplanes? Most of the failed ones are from vibrationl Some were mounted on landing gear legs but failed so often most were moved??

They also badly overheat so that when taxiing I always turn them on and off to cool and use only one at a time.

Can it be that you all were talking about 24v lights because mine have all been 12v?

Shame on you guys who spotlight deer!!

Hi yo silver · January 03, 2008, 03:12:33 PM

Gus,
I stand slightly corrected. I found my lights, took both bulbs out, but the numbers are about worn off the back of the sealed beams. Looks like these are Phillilps bulbs. No voltage readable. My previous bulbs with an identical appearance were GE, I think. And I THINK they were rated at either 14 or 16 volts. Of course they were on a vehicle having a 12 volt system. That would account for the longevity, I guess.

I was an aircraft crewchief for a couple of years in the Vietnam era, and don't recall any particular problems with those landing and taxi lights, but they were not 12 volt lights either.

As for spotlighting deer, I didn't say that. I admit to holding them in a less esteemed spot in my heart, since I live among them, but I don't even hunt them, much less spotlight them. I was talking about driving lamps, not hunting lamps. To each his own. Anyhow, all my lights need is a bus to fit 'em!
Dennis

gumpy · January 03, 2008, 03:24:41 PM

Not spotlighting deer. But if they come out in front of the aircraft lights, they get seen a lot sooner than with regular lights. More time to react.

That was just a suggestion to Dennis on how he can cure his loss of landscaping vegetation, no spotlight intended.

The lights we are talking about are sold as Aviation/Marine lights. They are 13V. Can't quite make out the wattage, but the one I have is a Wagner bulb #4509. The ones that come in the rubber housing are tractor/utility lights. The primary difference is that the tractor lights have a diffusion lense which has lines and such in it like an ordinary headlight. The aviation lights have a smooth clear lense.

They will burn out, but they seem to stand up well on pavement. I typically lost more to rocks than to burn out.

They're not cheap, though. Last time I checked they were $15-$18 for one bulb.

Lin · January 03, 2008, 04:17:13 PM

I recently was looking for a 24v high beam. My local parts store came up with a 28v aircraft landing light that would fit, but he said it was a flood. I did not buy it thinking that the beam might be to broad. They were less than $20. Would these actually be good headlights?

gumpy · January 03, 2008, 04:21:46 PM

No, they'd be illegal.

Actually, the aircraft landing lights in the rubber housings are illegal in some states (e.g. CA).

NJT 5573 · January 03, 2008, 10:01:12 PM

Aircraft are the best. It takes a lot of power to run these spots so put each one on its own switch. I burned the wiring harness out of an old KW in the middle of the nite at Ankeny Hill once. It got very dark when the lites all went out and the cab filled with smoke.

Scared hell out of me. Since then I have always powered at least one of my spots from a hot wire directly from a battery to a throw switch close to my left hand.

Lin · January 03, 2008, 10:16:19 PM

Looks to me like the original headlight is 35 watt while the aircraft light is 100 watt. I guess things would look brighter!

gumpy · January 04, 2008, 06:56:24 AM

So, Gus's comments on longevity got me kind or curious and I wanted to see if the 4509 bulbs available at a lower cost online, so I started doing some searches and I found some interesting info. Seems the aircraft people are also complaining that the bulbs burn out quickly, and one site indicates the bulbs are rated for only 25 hours! However, there is another model that seems to last longer. It's a Q4509 bulb, and as near as I can tell, the Q stands for quartz halogen, vs the standard tungsten filament. Seems to run about $25-$60 for it. It seems to be rated for 100 hours.

Now that I see this info, I do recall that some of the bulbs I've used had the quartz type element, and some had the coiled filament. I can't recall if either were more durable, but I know there was a time when it seemed they were burning out more frequently, so maybe that's what was going on. I didn't have internet access then so was less informed

Then I found a Q4631 bulb which is rated at 500 hours, and, get this.... 250W!!! It's about $110 each (though I did see it for about $75). I bet that thing would rearlly light up the countryside

BTW, all these bulbs are PAR36, which is the size (about 4 1/2 inches).

I may have to get me a couple of those Q4631s and try them out on the front of my bus next summer!

Len Silva · January 04, 2008, 09:28:42 AM

Quote from: gumpy on January 04, 2008, 06:56:24 AM

Then I found a Q4631 bulb which is rated at 500 hours, and, get this.... 250W!!! It's about $110 each (though I did see it for about $75). I bet that thing would rearlly light up the countryside BTW, all these bulbs are PAR36, which is the size (about 4 1/2 inches).

I may have to get me a couple of those Q4631s and try them out on the front of my bus next summer!

Those would be a great way to gently suggest to the oncoming driver that they dim their lights

Hi yo silver · January 04, 2008, 09:49:42 AM

The bulbs in mine are probably standard spotlight bulbs. Can't quite make out the old markings, but appear to be 100 watts. The old ones I used previously were marked "aircraft landing". Both have clear lenses, no prisms. Concentrated spots. Relays, overcurrent protection, and adequate wire size is important.
Dennis

gumpy · January 04, 2008, 10:36:16 AM

Yeah, that sounds like the 4509s I used.

I think I'm going to try a couple of the Q4631s this spring, just for kicks. Maybe I'll mount a set of Q4509s next to them for
comparison. Ultimately I'd like to have 4 on the front of the bus.

roadrunnertex · January 04, 2008, 10:41:18 AM

Q4631 lamp 250 watt / 13 volts.

The Q4631 lamps were used on the DC-10-10 series aircraft for wing ice detection lights.
Yes they are very bright.
I had one mounted on a old German made Mercury Capri many years ago.
It was located in the center of the front grill between the left and right head lights.
I installed a 12 volt heavy duty 30 amp relay with #10 wire from the positive side of the battery and it sure would light the road at night and the amp load on the battery would make that little alternator work very hard when the light was on.
jlv

gumpy · January 04, 2008, 11:17:23 AM

Yeah, 250 watts at 14 volts is just under 18 amps. I figure 10 ga wire, with a separate relay for each light. My Vanner equalizer will get a workout with these. I'll have to run the wires all the way back to the batteries, I think. The feed to the front J-box is only 10 ga. The one in the A/C J box might be larger. Or, I could probably wire them up in series on 24v like the headlights on the MC9 are, and then just tie in a 10 ga 12v line for backup in between. Then I could get by with a single relay. Hmmm...