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1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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pmatejcek
New User
Oct 7, 2009, 4:35 AM
Post #1 of 6
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1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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I have a 1989 custom Chevy Van 20 with 100k miles that I want to get rid of. I went out to start it the other day and the battery was dead. I hooked up the charger for a while but it still wouldn't crank. I put the charger on 200 amps and tried again, and it would barely crank. Thinking that I must have a bad connection, I turned on the headlights to see if I had decent system voltage. Lights came on brightly. I put another battery (of unknown condition) in parallel with the vehicle's battery using jumper cables, and connected the charger to the second battery. Charged them both for a while, primed the carb (I had the doghouse off), cranked it and it started and ran fine.
At some point I noticed that there were no longer any low beams. High beams are fine, as are all other lights. I assume that I burned out both low beams by the excessive voltage from the charger on 200A start mode. Troubleshooting should be pretty straightforward: Is there voltage at the headlamp connector? Is there continuity across all the filaments? ...but this beast is no fun to work on, and I'm old, and so I thought I'd ask here: Is there any sort of fuse, or fusible link, or relay, or other protective device that I might have blown, and that I should check before trying to get to the headlamp connectors?
Thanks in advance for any wisdom you might share!
Paul in East Troy WI
...who has to get rid of a couple more vehicles while his wife is still speaking to him
(This post was edited by pmatejcek on Oct 7, 2009, 4:37 AM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Oct 7, 2009, 5:19 AM
Post #2 of 6
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Re: 1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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The headlamps are fused with a link but that circuit covers both high and low beam so you would likely be looking at either 2 burnt bulbs or a bad dimmer switch.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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pmatejcek
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Oct 7, 2009, 7:07 PM
Post #3 of 6
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Re: 1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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Thanks, Hammer -- I hadn't considered the hi-lo switch. Seems unlikely, but could be. More likely, I fried the filaments with the charger.
I appreciate the help and the info on this fusing!
Paul in East Troy
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Oct 7, 2009, 7:10 PM
Post #4 of 6
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Re: 1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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You can't fry bulbs with a 12v charger. The only way that could have happened is if you somehow pumped more than 12 volts in there.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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pmatejcek
New User
Oct 8, 2009, 4:37 AM
Post #5 of 6
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Re: 1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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It's a big universe, Hammer, and so I try to avoid words like can't, never, always... "12 volt charger" is a relative term, right? Chargers come in various ampacities. Ohm's law dictates that a higher charging current can only be the result of an increase applied voltage. Hang on a sec -- I'm going out to the barn to get some empirical data...
OK, here's the data. The battery used for a load was a somewhat decrepit battery that I took out of my boat early this year because it was not reliable. The initial voltage on the battery was about 12.6. The two chargers tested were a little KingCraft (China?) 2-6 amp charger and my big old Schumacher 2/40/200 amp unit. The voltages measured at the battery were:
Kingcraft @ 2 amps: 13.75
Kingcraft @ 6 amps: 14.5
Schumacher @ 2 amps: 13.5
Schumacher @ 40 amps: 16.2
Schumacher @ 200 amps: 18.3
I was on the 200 amp 'start assist' position when I turned on the lights. I'm going to say that those filaments wouldn't last long at 18+ volts. I should've known better... So I guess I'll buy a couple of 2A1 lamps and look for my torx driver set!
Thanks again for your support.
Paul in East Troy
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
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Oct 8, 2009, 5:06 AM
Post #6 of 6
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Re: 1989 Chevy Van 20 no low beams
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As I stated, voltage burns out lights, not amperage.
I'm a bit surprised at the amount of voltage increase from that charger though.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Oct 8, 2009, 5:35 AM)
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