archer39

I have a Meyers e-60 plow pump on my truck and I have been doing a lot more plowing (out 15-24 hrs at a time)this winter. I have my headlights are on relays with bigger wiring. After a few hours of plowing I blow my high beams then a few hours later my lows go. When using the plow my voltage gauge drops down to the first line and my lights dim bad.

Could this large current draw be causing my headlights to blow? If so what is my best option to fix this? Should i Upgrade my alt to battery wiring and grounds?

ColinP

Have you considered excessive vibration as a possible cause?

ColinP

I also forgot to mention that halogens are quite sensitive to voltage fluctuations and will overheat. Are your ground cables adequate?

Alec

Do they blow out just randomly, or when the voltage spikes after the plow pump motor shuts off?

JimmieD

Sounds like something's wrong with the electrical for plow motor. Voltmeter should drop for a second when first engaging pump but then recover and show a normal reading. Otherwise you don't have adequate alternator output, or too small wiring, or bad switch or connections, or poor ground or something else faulty in circuit.

Best if wired with a relay, not direct.

Grounds are every bit as important as power leads and in snow country with all the corrosion and salt etc. they get bad pretty quick. Clean bare metal to bare metal with a little dab of grease.

Seems to me the pump motor should only run when you raise or lower plow, not continuously? May be a problem in how it's wired or switched.

archer39

I have but I can't think of a way to eliminate that.

archer39

It's just after the voltage spikes I believe.

archer39

The plow pump only runs for a few secs at a time so I don't know if it is recovering or not. It's not running continuously. All the power Leeds and grounds are clean and to spec size per Meyers. This is why I am thing the truck's system is not adequate. It has always dimmed my lights bad in the past but did not blow them. I have however plowed more this year than than all of the past years combined.

Alec

Well, I think that's your answer. Excessive voltage will burn the bulbs out.

To reduce the spikes you can try running new heavier cables from the alternator to the battery & to ground -- that can help the regulator perform better. I would do that, see if it helps the spikes, then try replacing the regulator with an OEM stand alone unit (I believe your regulator is in the ECM). The aftermarket regulators I bought have all been crap.

I ended up putting a Leece-Neville alternator on my truck. It still won't support full voltage running the plow motor, and it still spikes when the motor goes off, but its much better than the stock alternator & regulator.

archer39

Ok sounds like a plan. Thanks for the help. What gauge wire should I run?

Alec

If you can get 2 guage, that would be best. 4 guage would be better than stock, and quite a bit better than corroded stock wiring. If you are lucky, you'll be able to find some pre-made cables at the local auto parts store, even if they have battery clamps at one end, it might save some time & money just assembling one end.

Check out the Leece Neville install in the sticky & look at how Jim did his wiring. Leece-Neville Sticky

And a couple points to emphasize: You have to do both the positive to the battery & the ground. You also have to add a fuse at the battery end of the new cable. A 6 guage wire might burn through without lighting something else on fire, or blowing up the battery, but if that 2 guage wire ends up as part of a dead short, it will be ugly without a fuse.

I hope that this helps solve the problem -- things breaking while you're in the middle of a job just sucks.

archer39

Yes it does. The last storm I had to slept in the truck until the sun came up again.

Thanks for the help. I have the Battery manufacture Deka/east penn right in my neighborhood and they carry all types of pre made battery cables.