Can Hella 450/550 handle 100 watt bulbs?

[Pyral]

For the most part I am using the wiring kit that came with the driving lights. The only wiring that didn't come with the kit was the low voltage trigger wire sent directly to the switch and relay. I also individually grounded the lights using 14 AWG, that is good for 15 amps (but that is being conservative).

Everything is protected by either a 15 amp fuse or a 2 amp fuse on the switch side. Anyone know if I'll melt the wires using 100 watt bulbs?

 

[19963.4lsr5]

100w bulbs will pull around 10 amps. 100w divided by 14v equals 7.14a per bulb.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pyral]

My mistake, I mean 130 watt

 

[gamefreakgc]

I'm not familiar with the Hella kit. Is it to replace the bulbs in the headlamps or are they external? I run 100W Hella bulbs in the headlamps using a relay that feeds off the battery and is activated by the stalk switch. I would not run 130W bulbs as the 100W get very hot if on for a long time at low speeds. If they are external, 130W won't hurt anything that's permanent but just make sure your fuse is smaller than the failing point of the wires. If there's no fuse... you should remove the kit and add one.

 

[Pyral]

The lights wiring is external from the wiring harness, and I added them to supplement the weak halogens.

They are mounted on the front bumper. The wiring I added isn't the weak link so the fuse will blow before it does. The housing of the lamps are a lot like sealed beams in size and shape, and they have glass lens.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

130w/14v=9.28a per bulb. If your only using 1 feed circuit to feed power you need wiring and switches and relays that at minimum can handle 30a.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[gamefreakgc]

The lights wiring is external from the wiring harness, and I added them to supplement the weak halogens.

They are mounted on the front bumper. The wiring I added isn't the weak link so the fuse will blow before it does. The housing of the lamps are a lot like sealed beams in size and shape, and they have glass lens.

Gotcha, that helps. Have you tried running it with 100W bulbs first? I didn't jump from 60W to 100W all at once, I stepped it up incrementally until there was enough light output that I felt was safe for my driving. You might find that 100W is more than enough when combined with the stock lights. Getting a fresh set of TYC 99-02 headlight housings goes a long way as well.

I can't comment on whether the 130W will cause the wiring to fail or not, that's outside of my knowledge. If you know 100W will work just fine within safe limits, that's where I would start.

 

[Pyral]

I might leave in the bulbs that came with the lights. I'm still trying to figure out a way to keep them from moving around on my janky brackets. They seem plenty bright when they are properly aimed. If I end up using those bulbs I'll share my results