Halogen Headlights and relays

[Les Singh <Les.Singh@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have been using 100 watt H1 lights for near 20 years in my GTV and would
not ever change. Incidentally these are illegal in New Zealand for road
use, I presume because they are safer than the "glowing cigarettes" most of
the older cars have, and if they are safer ... well our lawmaking Nazis
won't want to know about them. 

Just 3 weeks ago the headlight switch - the column mounted stalk switch -
gave up. I'm not using relays, but right now I don't know if the contacts
burned out or there was a mechanical failure in the switch

In use, there is no perceptible dimming of lights or any other noticeable
interference between electrical devices. The use of relays was suggested by
a friend - an electrical geek, a veritable genius with all those funny
coloured smoke-filled tubes and little metal boxes - but the installations
I have seen were not very tidy, and i guess my main reason for not wanting
them was pure aesthetics - I hate electrical stuff hanging around all over
the place!

O.K. so the switch may have lasted another 20 years if I had relays. Maybe,
maybe not, but to whoever is contemplating using halogen lights, I would
say go for it. Your switch shouldn't  burn out overnight but there's always
Murphy......

Les -  Number 8 wire - the ultimate tool?

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