[200q20v] an alternative H4 lamp wattage

[Edward J Kellock]

I've had 80/100w bulbs in my CGT for six years now.
It doens't get much use however, 40k miles in those 6 years.
I bought them from Competition Limited along with the 
harness they sell.

My bulbs have been fine, but the ground wire in the connector
is where the problem manifests itself.  That clip seems to get
very hot and melt the plastic connector around it, then the 
melted plastic interferes with the ground connection.

I have tried many things with varying success, but the most
successful seems to have been the running of the harness 
ground wire for each headlight directly to the negative post on the
battery.  This delayed the inevitable for the longest time so far.

However, just last week I had a weak/out left headlight.  Sure
enough, the ground connector was melting the plastic around
it.  I checked the other side and it too was on its way.  Instead
of replacing the connectors again, I just cut away as much
material around the ground clip as possible for both headlights.
I cleaned up the ground pin in the back of the bulb and the 
clip too.  The headlights are much brighter now; I hadn't notice
them getting dim since it happened so slowly.  Anyway, I'm  hoping
the extra cooling allowed now will stave off any more  troubles. 

We'll see....

On Fri, 29 Dec 2000 Phil Rose <pjrose at frontiernet.net> writes:
> At 11:26 AM -0500 12/29/00, Paul R Luevano wrote:
> >Glen Powell wrote:
> >>
> >> I find the 80/100W H4s typically last for many years, often more
than 5
> >> years.
> >
> >Really?  My experience, albeit limited, has been otherwise.  My
100/80W
> >low beams blew at 4 and 5 months respectively.  These were Sylvania
> >Osram bulbs, not the cheap bulbs.  My buddy has also had similar life
> >with his 100/80W H4's in his Euros on his BMW.
> >
> >I wonder why the difference?
> >
> 
> Well, aside from the obvious (i.e., never drives at night?), other
lifetime
> factors include variability in number (or frequency) of "on/off cycles"
and
> also the matter of amperage supplied by the wiring. A few tenths volt
(more
> or less) from wiring losses will have a pretty significant effect on
> lifetime (along with brightness), although a factor of 5x seems pretty
> great (10 volts?). I wonder if Glenn has been using a relayed wiring
> harness?

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