Bongo Fury

i would be interested to hear from anyone using 100/90 or 100/80 headlight bulbs, did you have to change anything electrics wise like wiring or relays?
i will of course only be using these offroad or or where they are legal

"He also showed me another pointless 'safety feature' - if you pull the headlight stick on a BMW toward you and then release it, it makes the lights go less bright! I mean - what the heck - why would I want to be able to see LESS of where I'm going?"

From here

i have the 100/90 headlight bilbs in my estima,as do a lot of other owners,due to the yellowing of head lights,no modifications at all.
the lights on my bongo seem quite good compared to estima and i haven't found a need to upgrade bulbs yet

parawaiting wrote:i would be interested to hear from anyone using 100/90 or 100/80 headlight bulbs, did you have to change anything electrics wise like wiring or relays?
i will of course only be using these offroad or or where they are legal

They also have another pointless device a little stick that lets other drivers know which way they are going. They know where they are going, why would they want to let anybody else know?

Anyway back on topic:
Car electrics are designed to handle the designed current loading and 100/?? bulbs virtually double it.
I used to have an Avenger Estate with extra driving lights wired into the main beam circuit after (quite) a while main beams became very intermittent in operation. When I checked the switch out the main beam contacts had been overheating and had melted into the plastic body of the switch.

However I have used 100w H1 main beams on my Fiat for a couple of years now whenever I drive offroad and they are still working OK. The Avenger was a 1970's "direct wired" system without a relay.
I guess the Bongo, like the Fiat has a relay system so it's just a matter of checking what current the relay can handle.
200w @ 12v = <20 amps.

thanks for the replies, guess i'll give it a go then [/quote]

How nice to see another paragliding bongonaut at last!

Welcome!

scanner wrote: 200w @ 12v = <20 amps.

200W = 16.6 amps so a 20amp relay is suffice.

Our Bongo has 100/80s, came from Japan with them. No problems. Remember ours is a new shape, with the 'Crystal' headlamps.

They are, quite literally, brilliant

roosteruk wrote:

scanner wrote: 200w @ 12v = <20 amps.

200W = 16.6 amps so a 20amp relay is suffice.

<20 amps = "less than" 20 amps

I don't know what rating the relay is, so don't know if it capable of handling up to 20amps, if there is one?

I think the wiring will handle it but the lenses may not. Keep any eye on them to make sure it's not too much heat for the plastic.

HID kits are getting pretty cheap and not much heat/current.

A very good point. If the bulbs generate too much heat it can beggar-up your plastic lenses.

smartmonkey wrote:I think the wiring will handle it but the lenses may not. Keep any eye on them to make sure it's not too much heat for the plastic.

HID kits are getting pretty cheap and not much heat/current.

Retrofit HID kits are more illegal than 100w bulbs, as they require lens washing and self levelling to be legal and that is very difficult (if not impossible) to achieve.

Without self levelling they are a bl**dy dangerous nuisance and deserve to be permanently dipped with a crow bar.

I am not a fan of HID myself but I know a few mature friends have them and they can see better. Quite possibly at the expense of passing motorists.

I am curious as to why self levelling and cleaning lights are required for HID lights though. I know you are obliged to have them level and clean but I cant see why those functions would require mechanisation.

I've been blinded by a few HID equiped cars when the vehicle's full of bodies (not a hearse ) Different if the car/SUV has self levelling suspension but the cheaper cars haven't and the bloaters in the back allow the lamps to aim too high.

i doubt i will be going down the hid route, can anyone tell me where the headlamp relay is and/or whats its rating is

cheers

paul