2000 km into an uneventful 3000 km trip I hope ...

85 Westfalia. Installed headlight relay last year but only installed the new bulbs and lamps this year before we left. Also hooked up a four pin motorcycle trailer before we left. 

Tonight we drove in the dark for the first time this trip. I have the lights on for daytime highway driving but can't tell how they perform obviously. Headlight switch isn't getting warm (if it ever does before it blows). 

I have also been running a 12v Coleman cooler through the lighter. 

Funny things happening tonight. When I switched on the high beams the lights went out completely for a moment. Decided to leave on low beams. Then had to turn left so signalled and braked. This time the lights dimmed but did not go out completely. I unplugged the cooler when we arrived and tried the high beams and everything worked normally. 

Is the cooler drawing so much power it is causing these issues? Am I close to blowing a fuse or what?

Thanks
Jeff

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 16, 2015, at 6:51 PM, John Rodgers <jrodgers113@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> I had an '88 GL on which installed a SA Grille and upgraded lights and
> relays. For the lights, per the instructions that came with them, I cut the
> ground wires and grounded to the frame a short distance from the lights.
> 
> Worked great.
> 
> John
>> On Jul 16, 2015 5:30 PM, "Dennis Jowell" <dennisjowell@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> The original headlight grounds wires do go to the front towards the main
>> panel. I just can't locate the correct ones. To simplify the install I will
>> cut the ground wires at the headlight assembly and ground them there on
>> bare metal. Then I can go forward with the installation of the upgrade.
>> I just needed some time to think on it. Dennis, Your suggestion set me
>> thinking. Thank you again for that.
>> Laters,
>> 
>> 
>> Dennis Jowell
>> Scotch Hollow Farm
>> Newbury, Vermont
>> 
>> 
>>>> On Jul 16, 2015, at 9:14 AM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> All these instructions assume the van's wiring is original. If someone
>>> changed the headlight grounding in anyway all bets are off. It is very
>>> common for the headlights to be re-grounded near the lights which is a
>> great
>>> idea. Reduce the length of the wire run and the resulting voltage drop.
>>> 
>>> Denis
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>>> Dennis Jowell
>>> Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 6:16 AM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Bus depot headlight upgrade "Vision Kit" for 1988 vanagon GL
>>> 
>>> Jim
>>> The basic problem on the headlight install is step one of the
>> instructions.
>>> " unplug the double ground wire from ground star and cut them into 2
>> singles
>>> wires. Check to make sure you have the correct ground connection by
>> noticing
>>> with the ground wire unplugged that the existing Headlights go out"
>> sounds
>>> good- I disconnected all the ground wire one at a time from both stars
>> and
>>> the headlights don't go out. I will try again this afternoon.
>>> 
>>> Dennis Jowell
>>> Scotch Hollow Farm
>>> Newbury, Vermont
>>