# 28v bulb into 12v system is that possible?



## Neptuno (Jul 16, 2003)

Ok a little background I have a pair vintage fog lights that use yellow (which most vendors call amber) bulbs. The correct bulbs for the application are
GE 35w 12.8v 4415A PAR36 Incandescent Bulb
they look like these:








https://www.mustangsunlimited.com/i...ghting&subCategory=Fog+Lights&CatKey=EMUSTANG
and like these on my application:

























Anyhow, I got trigger happy in Ebay and bought a pair of 50 watt 1.79 AMP 28 volt PAR36 Screw Terminals Base Amber Sealed 4402A GE on the fly. These turn out to be amber (the orange type) have signal at the bottom of the bulb and are 28v










So the question is can I run the 28v bulbs on the 12 v system without burning something up?

Thanks,
Tony


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

Hi Tony! :wave:

Yeah, you can put them on, and you won't hurt the van. But, they'll be dim as hell....
Running the lamps at 50% of their rated voltage (assuming the van maintains 14v) will actually reduce their output by significantly more than that. 

I'll use this as the example:


Daniel Stern Lighting said:


> Headlamp bulb light output is severely compromised with decreased voltage. The drop in light output is not linear, it is exponential with the power 3.4. For example, let's consider a 9006 low beam bulb rated 1000 lumens at 12.8 Volts and plug in different voltages:
> 
> 10.5V : 510 lumens
> 11.0V : 597 lumens
> ...


 (from http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html )


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## Neptuno (Jul 16, 2003)

Wow come all the way out here to have a fellow scirocco friend answer my question :laugh:
So what if the fogs are relayed would that mater?


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## Neptuno (Jul 16, 2003)

Neptuno said:


> Wow come all the way out here to have a fellow scirocco friend answer my question :laugh:
> So what if the fogs are relayed would that mater?


Never mind. I think that the answer is pretty much the same even with the relays. The relays would only manage to give me whatever the alternator could possibly squeeze out. In amps that would be 90. And these lamps are obviously much higher, never mind the watts or even the lumens. I may just plug them in to see output then turn around and sell them. 

There was a guy ( at cincy)that some years ago used landing lights for fogs. I wonder how that output was managed?


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

Sounds like you want this: 4415ST-AMBER USA.


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## Neptuno (Jul 16, 2003)

dennisgli said:


> Sounds like you want this: 4415ST-AMBER USA.


Thanks for the list. Now I have more lamps to cross reference. The one at the top is in that list too :thumbup:


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## bazzle (Sep 17, 2008)

Its not the Amps ie. 90amp but the Volts ~ 14v
You could use a 24v alternator in addition just to feed your lamps


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## Neptuno (Jul 16, 2003)

bazzle said:


> Its not the Amps ie. 90amp but the Volts ~ 14v
> You could use a 24v alternator in addition just to feed your lamps


hehehe:laugh:


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## dennisgli (May 17, 2003)

Just noticed that RallyLights.com has these.


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