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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Dull lights

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Dull lights     supereal 02-05-2019 @ 11:34 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 There is almost always a high loss between the battery and the lamps due to old switches, such as the main switch, dimmer and stoplight switch, and various connecters such as the infamous "bullets". I traced each leg of the circuits in my '47 and totaled a loss of more than half! This is done by first placing the leads of a voltmeter across each item in the circuit and noting the reading. That is the loss in that area. The time and cost of repairing or replacing switches is considerable. We had already run separate grounds to lamps, which produced a few improvements, but finally devised a relay using 6 volt starter solenoids, which are stronger and cheaper than six volt relays, if you can find them. Now the lighting, including halogen headlights, allows the car to be driven safely after dark. As for the bullet connectors, we place a piece of heat shrink tubing over the wire, solder the wires together, then shrink the tubing. Fo the purists, they look original. The large number were used to facilitate the original assembly line, and have no real purpose after that. TomO 02-05-2019 @ 8:45 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7384 Joined: Oct 2009 When I did my tests, white paint increased the light coming through the lens about 12%, chrome increased it around 10%. The flash light reflectors increased the light output 48%. I haven't testd the LED bulbs, but visually it appears to have doubled the light out put from the lights. I still have the flashlight reflectors installed. Cleaning all of the connections made a big difference, because I was only getting 5.5 volts to the lights with the engine off and my battery was at 6.5 volts. After cleaning the connections, I was getting 6.2 volts at the bulb. Tom Drbrown 02-04-2019 @ 7:58 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 609 Joined: Nov 2013 Charlie mentioned painting the interior white. Definitely helped me. I also repainted the white interior of my speedo and clock. They also made a chrome paint but I think white is somehow brighter. Blue 02-02-2019 @ 2:43 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 5 Joined: Feb 2019 Thanks for the help i will try all ideas and post how i get on Thanks all TomO 02-02-2019 @ 9:30 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7384 Joined: Oct 2009 While the grounding circuit is critical, the most important part is getting the correct voltage to the bulbs. For each 0.1Volt below 5.8 volts you lose 10% of the brightness of the bulb. The way that I check the voltage going to the tail lights is by using a thin paper clip inserted int the bullet connector for the tail light. For the brake light, I use the same method but I bypass the switch by taping the two connectors for the switch together. In my 40 Mercury, I have taken 2 flashlight reflectors and opened up the bulb hole enough to fit in the taillight bulb. I also had to file down the sides to fit it in the housing. That improved the light going through the lens by 48% with 5.8 volts to the light. I have replaced the bulbs with LED bulbs and that was a big improvement visually. Here is a link to a discussion on LED taillight bulbs. https://www.earlyfordv8.org/forum/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=18&Topic=11708&keywords=led Tom 51woodie 02-02-2019 @ 4:06 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 561 Joined: Jan 2017 Blue Welcome to the forum. I have a '46 Super Deluxe Coupe with stock wiring, that had dim lights when I bought it. The help I got on the forum saved me a lot of grief. Tip. The more information you give, the better and more accurate the responses. As Charlie says, grounds are usually the number one problem, followed by poor contact at bullet connectors. In my case, when troubleshooting the headlights I found bad connections where the light harness connected to the main harness at the firewall. When I was checking voltage losses, I had the head/tail lights on, and a battery charger set on LOW to maintain constant voltage in the system. I found one of the poor connections for the headlights when I was touching the connectors, and found one that was warm to the touch. Heat in electrical = resistance = dim lights. There is lots on information on this site regarding dim lights, so use the search tool to access it. Go to SEARCH KEY WORD: Try dim or voltage IN THE PAST: Select 365 days Then select SEARCH CharlieStephens 02-01-2019 @ 11:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 922 Joined: Oct 2009 If still not successful you might also try some of the suppliers the cover your year of car and ask if they have brighter bulbs. Are you sure you have the correct bulbs in there now and not 12 volt bulbs (which won't be bright on 6 volts)? Charlie Stephens Blue 02-01-2019 @ 10:59 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 5 Joined: Feb 2019 I live in New Zealand and my car is a 1948 Mercury saloon will try what you have said as i have trouble getting a warrant of fitness which is needed by law. CharlieStephens 02-01-2019 @ 10:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 922 Joined: Oct 2009 Welcome, but how about your general location, email and type of car? Have you cleaned all of your grounds? Run a temporary wire from the ground side of the battery to the taillight socket and see if that helps. If that helps, start looking for bad grounds. Some people have had success spraying the inside of the housing white. This message was edited by CharlieStephens on 2-1-19 @ 10:48 PM Blue 02-01-2019 @ 10:37 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 5 Joined: Feb 2019 How can i make my tail and brake lights more brighter am on 6 volt system and would like to remain so.

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