mod of the day

[Al]

I updated my reverse lights from the 21W standard to 50W Halogen globes. Pretty much sure to be illegal, but i can't see shit out of the back at night reversing through the tinted glass of the canopy. I can't see it melting the plastic in the short time you use your reverse lights.

 

[Jon]

Mate I would be more worried about the extra current the wires are carrying instead of worrying about the plastic. The fuse should blow and most probably will but the wires going to tail lights are flimsy and not designed to handle that much current. You are way better off setting up a seperate small driving light to the rear and use a relay as you would setting up driving lights. Just my 2c. Melting harnesses are not fun to repair.

 

[Old.Tony]

I'm with Jon there. 50W is about 4A each. Over that distance, the voltage drop on the smaller wire is going to be considerable, therefore the current draw will increase further.

That could spell disaster. If you're going to use those globes, at least run a separate line (4mm auto is ok for this as long as nothing else goes on it) and toss a relay in. This way, your vehicle wiring (the really expensive stuff) is protected from melting/fire.

Neat idea though. Whodathunkit?

 

[ozpacman]

Perfectly legal mate as long as there is no white light emanating from the rear of the vehicle whilst travelling forward. As the other guys have alluded to though, I would have concerns re the ability of the existing wiring to handle it.

Cheers,

Russ

 

[Al]

I've looked at the wire, yeah its pretty thin though how long do you have it in reverse anyway? max 10-15 seconds.. it really shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[SOLID D22]

Reversing and using the lights are 2 different things, i usually have the car off but leave the ignition on so i can power the reverse lights by leaving the car in reverse, and it might happen sometimes for over 10mins at a time, if its just plainly for reversing still be careful as iv had to reverse out of some pretty tuff tracks which took more than 20mins to do, bloody neck and shoulders were killing me by the end of it.

 

[Aido]

I've looked at the wire, yeah its pretty thin though how long do you have it in reverse anyway? max 10-15 seconds.. it really shouldn't cause any problems.

Enough to melt the wiring - but should blow the fuse before that anyway. I found that the reverse lights also share the same fuse as the dash display. That could be annoying.
Run a separate power feed to a relay connected to your reverse lights - Max cost $20. As they say at visa "Not melting your loom - Priceless"

 

[justdrinkbeer]

LED work lights paralleled with normal reverse lights would be the go, i'm looking for some but seem to be a bit pricey