I had a '74 B with halogen lights that burned thru light switches. I
finally put a relay in the circuit and no more burning switches.
Don Scott
tAt 10:50 PM 6/15/98 +0200, you wrote:
>>Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 22:34:21
>>To: "Kurt Schmidt" <schmidt_kurt@hotmail.com>
>>From: Bert Palte <vortex@wxs.nl>
>>Subject: Re: Headlight switch amperage?
>>
>>At 08:46 15-06-1998 PDT, you wrote:
>>>I have a 75B and have noticed that the on/off switch gets quite warm
>>>The wiring allows all of the current (a lot) through the switch so the
>>>fact that the switch gets warm does not surprise me too much...
>>>
>>>How much current do others have going through the _brown_ wire feeding
>>
>>Well.... Let's see!
>>Headlights are rated 45 W each, that's 90 W.
>>Driving lights, rear lights, licence plate lights etc., say, 30 W.
>>Sundry (instrument lamps etc). say 15 W.
>>A total of 105 W (a ball park estimate only).
>>
>>Since you have a 12 V system, this means that you will have about
>>(105 W divided by 12 V) or 9 A, say 10 A through your switch.
>>(generally referred to as 10 Amps or, more accurately, 10 Amperes).
>>This is what you should be able to find...using a suitable instrument..
>>
>>However, it's not the 10 A that makes the switch hot, but rather the same
>10 A multiplied by a certain voltage drop. A new switch will have no
>noticeable voltage drop (and thus will not get very hot), but an old switch
>will have one. Say a 1 V voltage drop will cause a heat generation of 10 W.
>>Or, in other words, the switch will eventually get just as hot as a 10 W bulb.
>>(Did you know that a 10 W light bulb generates about 9.6 W of heat emission
>>and about 0.4 W of light emission? As a light source, it is really very
>inefficient!)
>>
>>In my experience, however, sometimes it is not the switch that has such bad
>contacts but it may also be the wiring connectors on the back of the switch.
>>
>>Cleaning the contacts may sometimes solve the problem. If the switch itself
>is the problem and you don't have access to a new one immediately, you may
>try to open the switch carefully, clean the contacts and reassemble the
>switch again.
>>But, be warned, this does not always provide a lasting remedy.
>>
>>
>>Good luck!
>>Bert
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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