Practically Classics Forum

I have just had to replace another headlamp connector on the farms land rover as it has melted. I have to do this about once a year which is a bit boring and repetitive.
Is there anywhere that sells good quality plugs? The reason for replacing the factory ones was they had split and fallen apart after 15 years but the Halfords / ebay replacements seem to not cope with the lights being on for long periods before they melt.

I always buy connectors from whichever's cheaper between VWP and AES. Both sell only good quality parts.

That said; are you sure there's not a dirty or corroded connection further upstream of the lamp terminals, surely only an excessively resistive terminal would make any part of the circuit that hot?

Terry - Try on the link below - never had issues with the stuff that this lot supply - plus it's a good source of most things that we tend to use on the classics / daily etc

Cheers

Chris


http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/

Cheers gents, I will have a look and order from somewhere other than ebay for a change .
Other than the column switch itself the landy was re-wired last year so I am hopeful it is just crappy quality connectors causing a problem. I suppose in another 12 months I will find out

Would it be worth fitting a relay?

These are only the standard headlamp bulbs so the factory switch is OK running them. The issue has been the (cheapo) connectors that you plug the bulb in to melting after about a year of use. I ordered some new ones today. Fingers crossed they arrive fairly promptly so my insulating tape bodge doesn't have to last very long

TerryG wrote:These are only the standard headlamp bulbs so the factory switch is OK running them.....

Sorry but no, the factory switch is at its absolute limit running them, don't forget that production engineers aren't the ones who pay when a customer's car catches ahold!
Like so many (mainly British) wiring looms before them, these are fine when new, but don't forget the impact of a few years natural ageing on the loom, every connection causing an increase in resistance which in turn requires more current to provide the same potential. Relays are cheap, replacing a molten loom isn't. For safety's sake and to prevent your having it all to do again, fit a couple eh? One for the dips and one for the mains.

Point taken. I will add a relay when wiring in the new plugs. I can't be bothered to replace the switch so adding a relay now will be easy enough.

Can I add to this by saying I always add a relay into a headlight upgrade.
Well worth the extra work in my opinion.
Have also found products from VWP, AES or CBS to be good quality.