Head light wire

[Chris Hollands]

What wire are people using to power there headlight on your engine .
I have the standard Superscale 12V front headlight .
Note - the wire will have to be a quite high temp rating as the wire /handrail conduit in places is very close to the smokebox surface .

Also has any one done a LED replacement for the standard bulbs .

[Bill Shields]

I would use asbestos insulation, but since that is no longer available .. you can use thermocouple wire. .you do not care about the wire, but the insulation is very hi temp.

[Gary Armitstead]

I used ordinary teflon (high temp) wire for my ten-wheeler headlight.

[Charles T. McCullough]

Teflon insulated wire should do.

[KarlKobel]

I use Teflon or Polyolefin.

Karl

[Chris Hollands]

Thanks for the advise - is there a preferred gauge the thinner the better I did see 24G but I think that might be on the small size maybe 20G is good .

[Greg_Lewis]

Here’s what I’m doing:

My headlights use a 12 volt, 20 watt halogen peanut bulb (I don’t care for the look of LEDs. Even those that are warm color just don’t look right to me.)

I’m running 22 gauge wire inside 1/8 brass tube attached to the boiler handrails to simulate the conduit of my prototype. A larger size would fit inside the tubing. The closest it will get to the boiler jacket is about 3/16 inch. I don’t know what the wire insulation is but if it gets hot enough to melt then I’ve got a problem more serious than the headlight wiring.

The total run is about 4 feet. Checking with the calculator linked to below, the voltage drop would be .2 volt and the wire resistance would be .12 ohms. I think that’s negligible.

https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/wire/v ... lator.html

[Howard Gorin]

The headlight I supply made originally by Frances Moesley, later by Barry Hauge and then by Robert Johnson is supplied with 28 gauge Teflon insulated wire. I still have the wire spools that Barry purchased.
30 gauge wire would work but it is very difficult to remove the insulation without special tools.
Polyolefin insulation will not take much heat. Asbestos insulated wire if it is available would have so much asbestos thickness
over the conductors as to be impractical.

[Chris Hollands]

Howard can I buy some wire off you probably 50ft to keep some for future .
please email your contact info and cost to chrishollands@shaw.ca if that's ok .

Greg can you please advise what halogen bulb you are using .

Thanks

[Greg_Lewis]

Chris: My headlight is an early one from the first iteration of Mercer, about 25 years ago or so. I put a 20 watt peanut halogen bulb (photo below) and socket in it in place of the original flashlight type bulb and socket. If I was doing this today I'd use an MR16 or perhaps an MR11. Those include the reflector and are available in various wattage and spot to flood configurations.

IMG_0706.JPG (164.18 KiB) Viewed 1761 times

[NP5002]

Hey Chris, I used 28g PTFE High temperature wire all through my Pacific. I have a switch for each light. Head light, head light number board, class lights, top number boards and cab lights. Here is were I purchased the wire.
http://powerwerx.com
Part # wire-TF-28-02-25 for red at 25'
They have a very large assortment of Teflon wire in all colors and sizes. Go to the web page and copy and paste the part number I put here in the search and you will be able to change the gauge of the wire and also the feet you need. I think it goes from 25' to 100' etc.
I hope this helps you out.
Dave Workman

[Bill Shields]

Or you could use PTFE....

Good grief I am showing my age...