quattro Digest, Vol 11, Issue 15 - "new" euros...now what

[Larry C Leung]

Chris,

Be careful if you choose the high wattage route. 
1) make sure that you have metal or glass reflectors if
you intend 80+ watt low beams, or the reflective coating may
delaminate
2) if you choose a harness that runs only 14 ga wire (most of them)
the true power rating of such a circuit is only about 72W (check any
wiring website) if it's contained in a harness with conduit (which you 
may wish to do to keep the wiring neat). Only good for about 80W 
without harness, and that's pushing it. If you have (as you do) single
plus and minus wires running to your Euros (the type 44 turbo lights
are set up like this) remember the ground power lead to the lights are
lighting BOTH the low beam/high beam bulb AND the driving lamp,
so your true wattage with stock rated bulbs (60W high/55W driving)
is 115W. To truely be within the ratings of the wire (most are actually
rated as a temp rating of the insulation, I forgot what the harness I
bought from SUVLights was rated for, 85C ?) your harness really
should be at least 12 ga and more likely 10 ga if you want to run
the 80/100W low/hi, 100W driving that a lot of people on the list 
run. As the harness I bought (too bad, I should've ordered their
SUPER duty, rather than HeavyDuty) has only 14 ga wire, I'm
running stock (55/60W low/hi, 55W driving) bulbs in my 200Q.
They're fine, but no where near as good as they could be. Still
beats DOT, anyday. 

HTH,

LL - NY

> Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 16:23:32 -0600
> From: Zsolt <zsolt1 at telusplanet.net>
> Subject: Re: "new" euros...now what
> To: "Chris Dyer" <chrisdyer at hotmail.com>, quattro at audifans.com
> Message-ID: <6.0.0.22.2.20040903161948.027dc8f8 at pop.telus.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
> 
> I use 100/130 Hellas in my H4 relayed. I just had one burned out, it 
> lasted 
> about a year. My H3-s are just the stock 60 W bulbs, but I hardly 
> use high 
> beams anyway, and when I do the H4-s are on also, so there is plenty 
> of light.
> 
> If you have them set properly higher wattage should not bother 
> oncoming traffic
> 
> Enjoy your lights. It's one of the best investment for these cars.
> 
> Zsolt
> 
> At 02:42 PM 9/3/2004, Chris Dyer wrote:
> >Thanks to all on your advice for getting a wiring harness and bulb 
> monitor.
> >I just got some euros on ebay for the '87 5ktq, and I hope beyond 
> all 
> >hopes they're decent.  On to the next question:
> >
> >What bulbs should I use?  What do y'all use and like? hate?  
> Obviously I 
> >want plenty of light on the road, but I don't want to piss off 
> oncoming 
> >drivers in the process.
> >
> >t.i.a. again
> >
> >from chrisdyer at hotmail.com
> >