The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6volt systems are just as bright as……….

And this is for those naysayer’s who are always knocking 6volt systems because their
headlights are to dim or yellow. Just takes good clean connections and a fully charged
battery
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138714066
Three in the morning, good time to align those headlights.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138714064/large

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I like six volt stuff. The only thing I own that's 12v, is my Chinese Army motorcycle.

The only time I notice that my lights aren't as bright as a modern car, is when some body with those super white or blue lights is behind, or worse, coming towards me. That's what the big 6v fog lights are for! I' going to save up, and get dome of those '39 Chev ones for my panel, the big amber ones with the sweet lenses.

Denny,

I just installed my new H6006 (halogen) bulbs, and I must say I agree with you.

What is the drill on adjusting the headlights? Last place I took it to to get them adjusted just looked at me funny....

Kurt

Here's the '54 version of headlamp aiming Kurt:

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm1239.html

This is the same link I opened the thread with Kurt.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/138714064/large
Everybody's got some chunks of cardboard around and all you have to do is lay out a
horizontal line 3" below your headlight center line, then a left and right vertical line
29 1/4" off a vertical center line. Line the center of the truck up on the center line 25 feet
away from the screen and wait till it gets dark. Center up you headlight pattern with the
brights on, the dims take care of themselves.
Denny G

Thanks for the good info guys.

Kurt

I agree, but think you are making a better argument for good preventive maintenance than for the 6 volt system. Due to Ohm's Law, a system working at greater than 12 volts would be better than 6 or 12 volt systems. Ever work on aircraft? Problem is...alot of people working on vehicles are not school or self trained maintenance personnel , or they don't 'give a hoot'. As such, they don't understand that a 6 volt system demands clean/tight connections and such. If they were trained/cared, the 6 volt system might still be the current system found in cars/trucks today. A proper and timely preventive maintenance schedule cannot be understated. We drive down the freeways with our 50+ year old systems running like new and pass 10 year old vehicles sitting by the side of the road waiting for roll backs. Ever wonder why?

All systems regardless of whether they are 6v-12v-24v-36v-120v-240v etc, etc, demand
clean tight connections in order to function up to their design load. And there is no
argument here for 6v vs. 12v. The intention was to dispel the urban legend that going to a
12v system is going to give you brighter lights. Corroded connections and old sealed
beams with many hours on time (the tungsten boils off the filliment and fogs the lens)
result in dim, or yellow head lights, not the voltage of the system.
Both 6v (6006) and 12v (6012) sealed beams consume 40w and put out 560 lumens.
The primary reasons for increasing the voltage from 6v to 12v and for the higher voltages
used in aviation and commercial trucking is to reduce the weight by using smaller gauge
wire.
Will the Halogen bulbs give you a brighter light in a 6v or 12v system? Of course they
will, but at 1500 lumens and consuming 65w of power they require larger wire. Using
them in the older vehicles runs the risk of a burned up wire from over taxing the current
carrying capacity of some of the stock wire looms.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

When are the newer vehicles supposed to go to 48volt systems? Or has that been put on the back burner?

Mr. Graham, I agree and think we are on the same page as they say and Roger, I've not seen anything on a 48 volt system, but don't keep up with new car stuff. I kinda remember that the navy consisdered anything over 36 volts as high voltage because of the skin resistance and salt air thing. Don't know if you want to put that into the hands of the unknowing/uncaring, but I don't design autos. What I'm saying is, whatever a system is designed to operate at, with proper maintenance, it will.

Yeah, same here Roy, haven't heard of the auto industry going to 48v unless of course you're talking about the electric cars which we will be seeing a lot more of in the not to distant future.
I'm just hoping we'll have enough gas to run our old trucks on till I expire, that be another 31 years.

DG

I have a '54 with headlights that seem dim. New battery (full charge), all new wiring and old headlamps. I measure 5.3v at the bright terminal on the left fender terminal block (truck not running). None of the connections drop more than a tenth volt, high/low switch drops 2 tenths volt and main switch drops 2 tenths volt and none of the connections are holt to the touch. Headlamp gnd. wires measure one tenth volt drop to battery neg cable. Does this all seem normal? Do old headlamps lose a lot of brightness? New headlamps are expensive, I don't want to buy them unless I really need them.

Yes, as I mentioned in an earlier reply, (the tungsten boils off the filliment and fogs the lens)same thing that happens to your incandecent bulbs in your house. 5.3volts at the bulb should give you a plenty bright headlamp.
Denny G

Denny, Thanks, I thought I read all of this great post. You've got a really good vacuum pump, I haven't seen one of those in a while. Don

My bad... it was supposed to be 42 volts, not 48.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42-volt_electrical_system

Not sure what "vacuum pump" you're refering to?
Didn't think I posted a link with a vacuum pump in it.
DG

Denny, Please clarify how to set up the cardboard aiming target.

You say, "...all you have to do is lay out a horizontal line 3" below your headlight center line".

How do I find that headlight center line?

Thanks.

Your sealed beam is 7" in diameter, so 3.5" up from the bottom is the denter of the sealed beam. Measure from there to the floor and then subtract 3" from that number. That is the height of the horizontal line.

DG

Denny,

I adjusted my head lights last night, and I have a tip to add to your fine instructions:

Many floors are sloped, and outside there is all manor of grades and shapes. I accommodated this by taking a piece of string, set one end on the ground by the rear tire, put a few bricks on it, and then stretched the string out 25 feet beyond the front head light and moved it up and down so it just touched the floor at the front tire. The string was about 4 inches off the ground 25 feet out because the slope of the floor changed beyond the front tire. so I compensated by drawing my line one inch above the midpoint as measured from the floor.

Worked like a charm.


Kurt

Good tip Kurt beats setting up the theodolite.
Denny G

You might also consider putting a headlight relay in the system if you don't already have one. Will take the electrical load off of the headlight switch making it last longer and also make the lights brighter by reducing the distance the battery current has to travel to the headlights. You can go to fifthaveinternetgarage.com/tech tips to read all of the details....thanks Randy