Driving light relay

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Greynomad
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by Greynomad »

'Cos we spent 10 months touring from Darwin down the west coast to Margaret River... nary a drop of rain blemished our vehicle!
So there! :P
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Kappy
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by Kappy »

Original issue returns intermittently.
Sourced a brand new relay and all was good.
Then one day driving around on a wet day with headlights on, had to flash an errant NSW driver.
Shortly after that I'm getting flashed by all and sundry.
On further inspection discover driving light are still on after being dipped.
Turned off at toggle, checked later still the driving light staying on.
Several days later tried again and all good.
Several days later tried again and driving lights staying on, no rain.
Several days later tried again and all good.
Any ideas on issue most welcome.
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by BruceS »

When it happens again what happens if you give the relay a sharp tap with handle of screwdriver?
I wouldn't muck around too much. Wire the relay yourself rather than using the existing wiring.
That way you'll know where your getting the feed from to activate the relay plus where you're getting the strong feed from to the driving lights.
Are the driving lights LED or the older H4's or something?
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by jon_d »

The relay is to small.

The contacts are welding. Try installing a higher rated relay.
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by Newcastle George »

Forget the driving lights, just use high beam and drive a little slower. :)

George
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by supersparky »

If the relay is ok then you have a short in your wiring somewhere between where it gets the hi beam feed from and the relay. Didn't you have a few wiring issues before you set off on tour?
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by T1 Terry »

jon_d wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:55 am The relay is to small.

The contacts are welding. Try installing a higher rated relay.
Sounds like the most common cause, although the high beam flash also turning the driving lights on does add the problem of arcing across the contacts as the relay opens and closes rapidly while still under high current load. The arc welds the contacts together, a bit of vibration will seperate them again but the contact faces are now primed ready for another welding event, each time the weld gets stronger or an ash build up finally stops the contacts from transferring the current.
Better to turn the driving lights off and just use the high beam until you are actually out on the highway at night and you need them.
LED's don't suffer the big current draw as much, but they don't like to be used as a high beam flash either, the circuit boards fail after a while. You often see the truck LED driving lights still have a much duller inner circle light up, that is to provide a current path for the current to dissipate as well as keeping the circuit board live ready for a quick power up ..... halogen bulbs don't have that sort of sophistication, they are basically a short circuit across a halogen filament so the inrush current is big ...

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Kappy
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by Kappy »

T1 Terry wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 3:25 pm
jon_d wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:55 am The relay is to small.

The contacts are welding. Try installing a higher rated relay.
Sounds like the most common cause, although the high beam flash also turning the driving lights on does add the problem of arcing across the contacts as the relay opens and closes rapidly while still under high current load. The arc welds the contacts together, a bit of vibration will seperate them again but the contact faces are now primed ready for another welding event, each time the weld gets stronger or an ash build up finally stops the contacts from transferring the current.
Better to turn the driving lights off and just use the high beam until you are actually out on the highway at night and you need them.
LED's don't suffer the big current draw as much, but they don't like to be used as a high beam flash either, the circuit boards fail after a while. You often see the truck LED driving lights still have a much duller inner circle light up, that is to provide a current path for the current to dissipate as well as keeping the circuit board live ready for a quick power up ..... halogen bulbs don't have that sort of sophistication, they are basically a short circuit across a halogen filament so the inrush current is big ...

T1 Terry

T1 Terry
Currently running LED driving lights, considering going to HID, the LED light up close to Van, but not a lot of depth.
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Re: Driving light relay

Post by T1 Terry »

Kappy wrote: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:22 am
T1 Terry wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 3:25 pm
jon_d wrote: Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:55 am The relay is to small.

The contacts are welding. Try installing a higher rated relay.
Sounds like the most common cause, although the high beam flash also turning the driving lights on does add the problem of arcing across the contacts as the relay opens and closes rapidly while still under high current load. The arc welds the contacts together, a bit of vibration will seperate them again but the contact faces are now primed ready for another welding event, each time the weld gets stronger or an ash build up finally stops the contacts from transferring the current.
Better to turn the driving lights off and just use the high beam until you are actually out on the highway at night and you need them.
LED's don't suffer the big current draw as much, but they don't like to be used as a high beam flash either, the circuit boards fail after a while. You often see the truck LED driving lights still have a much duller inner circle light up, that is to provide a current path for the current to dissipate as well as keeping the circuit board live ready for a quick power up ..... halogen bulbs don't have that sort of sophistication, they are basically a short circuit across a halogen filament so the inrush current is big ...

T1 Terry

T1 Terry
Currently running LED driving lights, considering going to HID, the LED light up close to Van, but not a lot of depth.
HID is even worse and an absolute nightmare for any on coming drivers. They are actually illegal to fit as an after market product because they don't have the auto tilt down when the rear of the vehicle drops lower than the front, blinding oncoming drivers. I have no idea why they ever let the things in the country in the first place ....
Spend the $$ and buy decent LED driving lights, the rubbish on Evil Bay are just work lights, area lighting not distance lighting. You could buy a light bar, but a proper one, not a toy look a-like, the lumens and distance penetration must be the same or better than quality H4 driving lights

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Re: Driving light relay

Post by Newcastle George »

Most LED lights are bright to look AT but not to look WITH.

George
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DIY 11.5M 1979 Bedford, Nissan/UD FE6T motor

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