What watts for spotties

[Heath]

Hey guys,

I've fitted some Cibie Oscar spots (thats what they were called I think) and they had 55watt lamps fitted. What size should they be because these are shithouse. Barely make any difference except out the sides.

Should they have bigger lamps or is this it?

Heath

[turoa]

yea my spotlights are like that, but they are alot better than the standard LR ones. BTW they were $25 super cheap auto ones

[wjw]

I would check the cables and connections.

Assuming they are 12v, then they will draw 4.5A each. So the cable specs should be:

Single - 0.3mm
Double - 0.4mm

I have a pair of Hella spreads in the garage that have 55W bulbs in and they are really bright..

Have you tried them straight off a 12v battery?

[wopass]

are they broad beam or pencil beam ?

the broad beam ones wont give you much more lighting distance but will make your driving range much clearer. you can try getting some xenon bulbs for them, 55w bulbs that give the same power as 100w bulbs but only draw 55w worth of current.

if you want distance you cant beat pencil beams with xenon bulbs. possums sit watching you from 2kms away so you can line them up

"check it out...two moons !"

[wopass]

ohh and hook up a relay so your giving them full voltage from the battery

[simono]

Heath, I see you are in Glenfield......thats just up the road.
If you need some ideas / diagrams / help with spotties or any wiring for that matter give me a shout here and we'll sort something out.
My Surf is extensivly rewired. and I can throw near 1kW of light out the front.
Cheers
Simon.

[Heath]

Thanks Simon,

I may just do that. The spots have a relay fitted and I'm not sure if they are flood or spot. I fitted some new 55w lamps that were supposed to give 50% more light (gimicky perhaps). Not too worried if they are floods instaed of pencil as I prefer to see that closer to me than way up the road.

I used to have a mitsi lancer (old model with 4 lights across the front) and had two aircraft landing lights where the full beams were a hi/ lo in the low beam, another set of round spots between the mains and a set of rectangle spots under the front bumper and man were thay bright. could read a book at about 400yards easy with the aircraft lights. But I digress.

I have some work lights on the roll bar to wire up yet and these will give me a real wide loom as I intend to have them pointing off to the siedes slightly.

Be great for slow offroad stuff and good for in the forests for spotlighting (opps did I say that out loud).

Heath

[FUBAR]

Make sure they arnt fog lights

[albundy]

I run 2 sets of spotties. One 55watt for the broad beam effect so I can see wider at the sides but also alot clearer in front of me on what would be my normal high beam. I also run a set of 100watt pencil beams off the roof rack to give me that penetrating power, it lets me see probably 100mtrs infront of the truck. This setup works for me.
Now need to set up a rear work light off the rope holder.
Al