This one's not strictly limited to stovebolts, but it bears mentioning, as a lot of vehicles can benefit, including our old trucks. Ever notice how a lot of our rides have a problem with yellow-looking headlights that just don't project enough light for safe night driving? Quite often there's a very good reason the lights don't do the job they're intended to do- - - - -series resistance in the circuit. The average headlight circuit has to make it through a BUNCH of connections- - - -from the battery cable connection at the starter, through the ammeter, to the headlight switch, to the dimmer switch, to the junction block at the core support, and finally to the headlight connector. Then it has to make it back through a convoluted ground circuit to find its way back to the battery. Just a tiny bit of resistance at each connection steals a little voltage from what gets applied to the headlight filaments. Series resistance adds up, like putting pebbles in a long distance runner's pockets a few at a time and expecting him to carry all that extra weight for miles. He's going to get tired, eventually.
My Gold Wing motorcycle is a good example- - - -sometimes I think I need to use a flashlight to see if the headlight is on. I even bought a new halogen sealed beam bulb and installed it, with no noticeable improvement in the illumination it provides. Next step- - - - -relays! I'm going to run heavy wires from the battery posts, (hot and ground) to the fairing, and into the headlight nacelle, and install one relay for high beam and another for low, triggered by the wires from the dimmer switch that used to power the filaments. Since the bike has no on/off switch for the headlight other than the ignition circuit, I don't have to worry about turning the light on and off- - - -engine running- - - -headlight on- - - -sort of idiot-proof!
This setup should allow the headlight to receive full charging system voltage and the lowest-resistance ground possible, without having to worry about sneaky parasitic losses along the way. It's an easy circuit to wire, and the difference is usually very noticeable- - - -particularly on a 6 volt system where even small voltage drops make a huge difference. There are dozens of small Bosch-style relays available on Ebay- - - -with connectors, dirt cheap!
Jerry
