New lamps for old

["Graham&Joan Hilder" <graham.joan@domain.elided>]

Howdy everybody,

In Digest no.151, in discussion regarding replacement headlamps, Louis wrote
"I believe if you use anything less than 65w/55w, you don't need relays. I
didn't have to use relays on mine. Just plug and play (first time for after
market products) for me."

Ah, Louis, you may have a slight problem here, in that you may not know for
several years whether or not you should have used relays!  The thing is
that, without relays, the headlights may work fine for some considerable
time, but if relays had in fact been advisable, then after some period your
light switch will fail and you won't know anything about the developing
damage until it causes a noticeable problem. And by then the damage will
have already been done (although sometimes it's minor and the situation can
be recovered). As another writer suggested (was it Brian, perhaps?), it's
always a good idea to fit relays to any Alfa's headlight switch circuit
which doesn't already have them, regardless of the headlamp wattage, as a
simple piece of low-cost insurance to preserve the switchgear.

Best regards,
Graham,
NZ
(GTV, Alfetta, Sud TIs & Sprints).

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