aircraft landing lights :)

[superj]

i got this from a thread on another forum. its actually a fairly long thread now, 3 or 4 pages but it boils down to this.


remember a year or so ago, i bought those afterburner cheapo fog lights from walmart? they have the black rubber housings? well, that housing is called a par 36 housing and is actually used on tons of different light applications. if you buy the same light kit, and some other bulbs, ge4509, you get 100w fog lights for less then half the price of kc lights and these won;t corrode because the housing is rubber. the bulbs cost 15 bucks each at napa and are on the shelf.

here is the original 35w after burner light


here is how its attached


the old bulb was 4411


here is the two lights next to each other, see how easy this is


here is the new 100w fog light, it puts out a pencil style beam instead of a flood style light


and these suckers are bright, i tried them out, just to see if they would show anything during the day, and htey lit up the tree trunk across the yard at noon so they are bright

 

[superj]

oh ya, i used the factory fog light wiring so the cabin still looks stock

 

[TerryMason]

Very slick. Any chance of melting the housing?

 

[superj]

nope, tons of guys are running them up north. i might have to do some upgrading on my wires but i am checking. if they get hot, i will reroute wiring in a heavier gage through its own fuse. if the wiring stays normal temp, i will stick with the stock wiring.

the lady at hte desk at napa knew what i was talking about, ha ha ha. i asked if hey had ge4509 bulbs and she says "aircraft landing lights? yup. all the off roaders use them for fog lights." i laughed.

i tried them out this evening and they sure are super bright. i can see all the way across the parking lot on base with zero trouble

 

[stumblnyj]

Keep us posted I really like the way they look.

 

[superj]

i do too, they look stock. one of hte guys on wrangler forums said i will have to upgrade the wiring if i plan on using them for more then a few minutes at a time. he said to hook the power wire from the factory light harness to a relay and then run the bigger wire through the relay so the relay controls the hotter higher power and the factory wiring is just to switch the relay on and off. sounds good to me so i will have to figure out how to do that. i usually burn something up a few times before i get it right when messing with wiring, ha ha ha

 

[Ghost Rider]

Jason,
I will be getting me some of them as soon as I get home.... They look great!

 

[SteelHeadz]

Heavy gauge wiring and heavy duty relays would keep you guys from burning up your wirings. All the lamps on my light bar are aircraft landing lamps. They draw a lot of amps, generates a lot of heat and can burn your wirings if it's not the correct gauge..I ran one relay per lamp and its hooked up to another relay pod with air switches on my dash, That's the longest i've kept a switch on that setup.

 

[superj]

Can you make a diagram, please?

Pics of the light they put out
Stock headlights

New aircraft landing lights (ha ha ha, sounds funny)

 

[Trailmaster]

I run something similar, mine are still floods, but the are 55w, they draw 4 amps per bulb. My fog lights are on the stock wiring with an up graded relay, I plan to switch my windshield lights to spots like you have. I also have to for back up lights. Theses are the same lights we run for back up lights on our logging trucks, but I switched my lower ones to the spots.

 

[superj]

i thought about putting the old bulbs in housings on the back but i don't really have a reason, no offroading here

 

[superj]

the housings are at harbor freight (with 55w bulbs in them) for 8 bucks each.

12 Volt Halogen Vehicle Work Light
Chicago Electric - item#93904

 

[stumblnyj]

the housings are at harbor freight (with 55w bulbs in them) for 8 bucks each.

12 Volt Halogen Vehicle Work Light
Chicago Electric - item#93904

Can't beat that price. I know what I will be doing come pay day

 

[superj]

i know, i was thinking of getting another set for the windshield hinges

 

[stumblnyj]

What guage wire did you end up using? I just bought 12 guage wire do you think that is good enough?

 

[duckkillerclyde]

I have 6 of those lights on the front of my duck boat.

 

[superj]

they are multi vehicle lights, ha ha ha. aircraft, automotive, nautical, htey don't care where they light up

 

[Turbogus]

I'v seen several posts regarding mounting up aircraft landing lights, but when they also mention 100w I'm wondering if these are really landing lights or just high wattage H4 bulbs. In my van "Easy Bake" I'm running (properly aimed) 130/100w H4's. Having flown private aircraft (little Grumman's) when I was looking into getting my avaitor ticket, I recall actual landing lights were brighter still than anything available automotivewise.

 

[Dragon5126]

On those relays, remember to install bypass diodes, 1n9001 or similar across the power input to the COIL... For those who are saying "WHAT?" you put the diode across the coil so it will short the relay coil out if it is powered up backwards. Yes there is a reason. This is to suppress the surge the relay creates EVERY TIME it is turned off. When the magnetic field of the relay collapses it throws roughly a 100 volt spike across the power line on your system. On a mechanical switch there is a phenonomena known as switch bounce where the contacts dont make or break a 100% solid contact right away when it is operated and the contacts actually bounce. This can cause a relay to "rattle" before latching. On older vehicles this wasnt too much of an issue. But the PCM and stereos in todays vehicles dont always handle the spikes like they used to, which is why the manufacturers have stopped using mechanical relays and replaced them with solidstate switches, In fact in another thread (electric fan) it even refers to checking the "diode) on the fan... These diodes will only work one direction ( flow current) and block it the other. Without going into a confusing explanation, use a multi meter to check which direction to install it, there should be infinite resistance between the hot and the ground ( with no power applied to the relay)on the diode when it is installed in the correct direction, and very little resistance in the opposite direction. This is simply a DC surge suppressor, and should be on every relay.

 

[Jeepcrz]

On those relays, remember to install bypass diodes, 1n9001 or similar across the power input to the COIL... For those who are saying "WHAT?" you put the diode across the coil so it will short the relay coil out if it is powered up backwards. Yes there is a reason. This is to suppress the surge the relay creates EVERY TIME it is turned off. When the magnetic field of the relay collapses it throws roughly a 100 volt spike across the power line on your system. On a mechanical switch there is a phenonomena known as switch bounce where the contacts dont make or break a 100% solid contact right away when it is operated and the contacts actually bounce. This can cause a relay to "rattle" before latching. On older vehicles this wasnt too much of an issue. But the PCM and stereos in todays vehicles dont always handle the spikes like they used to, which is why the manufacturers have stopped using mechanical relays and replaced them with solidstate switches, In fact in another thread (electric fan) it even refers to checking the "diode) on the fan... These diodes will only work one direction ( flow current) and block it the other. Without going into a confusing explanation, use a multi meter to check which direction to install it, there should be infinite resistance between the hot and the ground ( with no power applied to the relay)on the diode when it is installed in the correct direction, and very little resistance in the opposite direction. This is simply a DC surge suppressor, and should be on every relay.

Can you show us how to do that?
Thanks