The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 12 volt Truck - 6 volt Fog Lights?

Hello to Everyone

I hope your all doing well...

I was wondering if my truck is setup for 12 volts, can I use 6 volt fog lights and maybe use some kind of resister inline to the lights to lower the amps/volts so they don't burn out?

Any replies would be greatly appreciated!

Tom (49 Panel)

Tom,

Do the fog lights use bulbs....would it be possible to find 12 volt bulbs that would fit the sockets.

Stuart

Atomarc is correct. A 12 volt bulb is the way to go. You may find the the 6v bulb locater pins are not offset like a 12v bulb I had this problem when the PO put 12v bulbin a 6v socket. I just trimedthe offset pin off and the bulb would seat and worked ok. Later I got my Drimmel tool out and cut an offset in the socke so the 12v bulb would fit.

Thanks guys!

So I need to not get fog lights that have a "sealed" beam - right? Go with the bulb type...

Tom,

Whatever combination you end up with, I think it must be 12 volts. Lights will burn out prematurely running on twice the voltage. The only time I would spend energy on some type of voltage reducer is if the fog lights you wanted to use were some very rare or vintage item that couldn't readily be changed to the correct voltage.

Stuart

Could u not wire them in series?

If you are buying the lites get 12v lites if you have them on hand and they are 6v price your restistor aginst new lites 12v then do what you want...doc

Hi Beaver 53

I don't know anything about wiring or electrical matters, so I don't know if I could wire them in series? What do you mean by wiring them in series?

Hi doc41

Thanks for trying to answer my querry, but I don't understand your English (sentences)...

Tom

I think Atomarc and I were hoping you have the old fog lamps that had bubs which would be an easy change out. I guess you could run them in series if you had seal beams, but the socket for the lights couldn't be grounded on one of them. I think that would be your problem on the series setup. The resistor in line will work but it is going to be a big one wattage wise. Let see...6 volt system, say a 60 watt bulb, and P=IxE, so the bulb is a 60 watter in this case. Plug in 12 volts and leaving the wattage at 60 for the light you will need a .6 ohm resistor rated at 60 watts. That as the old saying goes, "Is a wopper!" What I really think what you need is a 6v zener diode capable of handling the current.

Thanks for replying beltfed
You certainly sound like you know what you're talking about!

A 6v zener diode capable of handling the current. I REALLY don't know what THAT is - I've never heard of it, but I'm not experience with electronics in any stretch of the imagination...

Basically, I'm shopping (on eBay) and I'm looking for "period correct" 1949 Chevy *Guide* fog lights - and I need to know if I see a really nice pair , but they're 6 volt , can I still buy them and somehow use them on my 12 volt truck?

To answer the series question, Tom, the only practical way to wire them in series would be if the lights had two wires, one for power and one for ground. If there is only one wire, and the case is the ground return, wiring in series would require isolating one of the lamps from ground and that is a recipe for failure. With two wires to each light, making sure the case is not part of the ground circuit, wire twelve volts to one light, wire the second wire of that light to one of the wires of the other light and wire the second wire of that light to ground. Thus the current goes through one light to the other and through that light to ground. This would work well enough for fog lights, but you wouldn't want to wire your headlights this way, because if either light fails, the other will not not light. Remember old Christmas light series strings?

Tom, I guess it's brass tack time. If you find the fog lights and they have replaceable bulbs then you or a buddy can get them working on 12 volts with a little modification. Post here for help as these guys have "been there, done that." On the other hand, if you find these lights with seal beams, that's another pickle as the posts above prove. But have faith, we will figure it out together and get you down the trail with your fog lights. But first, find those doggone lights. Bob

Thanks Baldy - I DO remember those Christmas lights Your explanation was perfect & I fully understand! The problem is, all of the fog lights I've seen pictures of ALWAYS have just the one wire from each light But that's good, because you don't really recommend the two wire "string along" method - and neither would I.

Thanks beltfed - I really like the bulb method of changing the bulb with a little modification. I will concentrate my fog light search to "no sealed beams" as your post above described the hassles of the sealed beam. Getting the lights is proving to be very hard because I have literally searched ebay, the web, I've googled, everything - and there just isn't any thing good out there right now

I haven't seen any 6 volt bulb that doesn't have a 12 volt match-up.

Hi Chester
Thanks for replying

Do you mean that the sockets that hold the different bulbs (6 & 12) would be the same!?

I did not know that spots were any thing but sealed beam, but I could be mistaken. My wife says that a lot to me, that I'm mistaken.

You could be mistaken there Beaver 53 because we are talking about fog lights - not spots (spotlights)...

Yes. The base of the bulbs are the same. The only difference is one pin or 2 pin, available in 12 or 6 volt. Sealed bulbs are the same deal, standard pins.

Oh - Ok Chester - Thanks for the tip!

So...If my truck was 12 volts and I bought a pair of 6 volt fog lights - I could change the bulbs in the 6 volt fog lights to 12 volt bulbs - - but don't the pins matter?

Someone earlier said they grinded down the pins!??

ttt

Tom,

Don't obsess over these lights. Wait until you have them in hand, then we can make them work, but until you have them, we have no idea what we are working with. Look at the 6/12 volt conversion thread of a few days ago.

"Look at the 6/12 volt conversion thread of a few days ago."

I'm not sure I know what your talking about????
Where??

Tom

Stay in the Electical Bay Forum and scroll down to 11 May to the thread titled "6V to 12V lamp (bulb) conversion" and open it.

found it - that was a great little thread!

But how did he know Napa had it wrong?

Here's another link from early May.


http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=002571

I'm the guy who started the thread. I searched the web for the orginial bulb #1105s. I found a site for Buicks that gave the converion number and it's use. Went to NAPA, they didn't have the bulb with the "S" on the end. They looked up the Buick and said their books has a dual element bulb as a replacement. The counter guy even said it was wrong. Anyway, I found the bulb and the rest is history.

Let me breath a little more air into my post. The driving lights I scored are called "Trippe lights". You can see examples of them on Ebay. They were six volt single element bulbs with the pins exactly opposed. Changing to 12 volts was as easy as a bulb exchange. They mount up to the bumper braces. Thanks

Thanks beltfed -
Now it makes sense

Tom (49 Panel)