IR headlight only has two wire inside instead of 3??? seale bulb blew and is cracking

[V8Merc124]

IR headlight only has two wire inside instead of 3?? sealed bulb blew and is cracking

Hi I have this IR light that I am trying to install. I opened the lamp up and followed the back of the plug (which has only two wires even though bulb has three prongs). The plug has both wires noted as "ground" and "drive". The two wires from the plug go right into the rear housing rubber connections. I made my connection and the lamp got warm then cold. I opened it up and tried the light again but nothing. The sealed beam was not clear anymore and a crack began to form on the face. The crack has gone around to the back of the bulb too now.
Doing some research shows the plug is mislabeling the ground as the left prong when it should be the middle one? When I tried to power the bulb using the middle as ground and one of the side prongs as + it didnt work on one and on the other it lit up for maybe 5 seconds and then stopped. At the same time I saw smoke making its way through the crack.

This leads me to believe either the bulb is wrong or the plug is wrong. Inside the housing the mounting stud has a rubber isolator. According to my search the stud should have been ground. But I also dont know if the plug is wired correctly or did I mess up in understanding how it needs to be wired? Can someone let me know how the plug is supposed to be wired? (is ground the middle or the side one?)
I am using this on a HMMWV in place of the blackout hood light, so it has only two connections one was a ground stud which I clipped to work with the IR housing plugs. All my other blackouts work fine. And when I test a 24v bulb using the IR housings 3 prong plug, it lights up fine.

Oh and headlight NSN is 6220-00-984-5180

 

[gimpyrobb]

If its an armored one, they are junk. I have swapped all mine out.

 

[juanprado]

those sealed beam bulbs are high and low. That is the 2 contacts on the bulb normally. The ground is through the frame/case of the housing. I would recommend low as the original blackout is low amp. The high beam could be too much for the b/o circuit.

Post pic of bulb or number to confirm. Possible that someone swapped a 12v but I think you fried the bulb with power and ground at bulb.

I have spare bulbs for sale if needed. send pm.

 

[V8Merc124]

^pictures added
Bulb is 24v GE 4811

 

[gimpyrobb]

Yup, thats the one I thought. They are junk imho.

 

[V8Merc124]

Yup, thats the one I thought. They are junk imho.

What do you mean by that? What makes the junk for you?
And what would be the replacement.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I had 6 of those housings(mine used the clear lens) and each one of them would let water in and crack the bulb. The correct bulbs are expensive, I had issues with the screws rusting in place(I forgot anti-sieze one dang time), and the fact that led draw so much less current, I took mine off.

 

[sigo]

After repeated trouble with the stock sealed beam lights in those housings I replaced them with Grote 63821-5 LEDs. They fit perfectly and and don't have hi/low settings. One wire for hot, and ground through the stud. I made sure the ground was good, sealed the extra hot contact hole with a siliconed rubber shell, and sealed the housing seams really well. I haven't had any trouble since early 2014.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I don't know if it's somethingnwith the 4811 bulbs or the housings but I went through a bunch of bulbs on my old deuce. They would fry and crack after every install. Drove me crazy thinking it was a wiring issue. Ended up just being crappy bulbs.

 

[Storm 51]

I only had problems with one bulb on the two I bought (I use them with the clear lens). I hooked them up with high and low beams and I'm happy with mine for now. However, in fairness, I haven't used them very much either (I've had them for about 2 years). If they start to give me trouble I'll just use aviation lights instead (they are the same size and much more rugged).

 

[V8Merc124]

So can anyone help me with what the plug to the bulb should be wired as? or if it is correct in my pic? I have not altered them in anyway. According to my research, mid should be ground and the left and right are to powered by positive for hi and lo. As you can see, I dont have a third grounding wire to the housing and note the rubber isolator. And the plug is showing left as ground.



Below is a pic of someone elses with same nsn. Note the three wires, no rubber isolator. It is difficult to see which is the ground but for some reason it appears it may be the left wire??? Can anyone confirm or better yet take a better pic of the inside of their light showing the plug, like I did above? Oh and please confirm that your light powers up and works, not just in a box.


link to larger image CLICK for more detail
http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/4/4/2/9/5/4/webimg/874304789_o.jpg?nc=636373652058754409


Ok I broke open the cracked bulb and this is what it looks like inside a GE 4811 24 volt bulb. The markings of R, L, M are in respect to looking at the back of the bulb.

 

[Cape Coastie]

Hey Storm, Nice M37. Wish I still had mine. Love the light switch panel.

 

[CARNAC]

I did a thread about 2007-09 timeframe about this. On the IR both leads were run hot. You can see this if you look up the M113 armored per carrier technical manual. That's what these lights are for. I'm on my cell or I'd write more and find the link to my old thread.

 

[Storm 51]

Thank you, Cape Coastie!

I've had it a long time and enjoy working on it as much as I enjoy driving it.

They are fun trucks.