Slight Emergency: Car died, and no longer gets power, stranded in Mountain View CA.
- Thread starter abec
- Start date
pyrraxis
True Classic
If I'm following the wires correctly it looks like each one would mount in the area behind the headlight pod up front. What you do is unplug the headlight, take that plug and attach it to where the picture says "Plug to old Headlight Socket" and attach the "Ceramic Lamp Socket" to the headlight. Plug the ground wire into the ground-rose in the pod area, mount the relays somewhere convienent nearby and route a wire directly from the battery to the red wire. Do the same thing on the the other side of the car with the other harness.
Concept of operation: It uses the original wiring to send a low-draw current to the relays while the relays provide the heavy-draw load directly to the headlights. So now instead of ALL the power needed to light up the road going through the ignition switch, then the headlight switch then to the headlights, only the current needed to trip the relays goes through that circuit. The actual power to the headlights goes straight from the battery to the lamps through the relays.
I played with a few ideas (and this was one of them) quite a few years ago. I was never in a position to manufacture them at a decent price for all of us....
Concept of operation: It uses the original wiring to send a low-draw current to the relays while the relays provide the heavy-draw load directly to the headlights. So now instead of ALL the power needed to light up the road going through the ignition switch, then the headlight switch then to the headlights, only the current needed to trip the relays goes through that circuit. The actual power to the headlights goes straight from the battery to the lamps through the relays.
I played with a few ideas (and this was one of them) quite a few years ago. I was never in a position to manufacture them at a decent price for all of us....
Rupunzell
Bernice Loui
Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
Ryan, as Dave says below...
... but its more popularly known as the "BOB BROWN NO-CUT Headlight Relay Mod" (HRM).
Just connect one wire and plug and play!
... but its more popularly known as the "BOB BROWN NO-CUT Headlight Relay Mod" (HRM).
Just connect one wire and plug and play!
ryan
True Classic
ryan
True Classic
Got it! I can't remember, but are mods like the Brown Wire Mod and this headlight relay mod required on the later model X1/9s?
These are the insertable headlight mods,
What they do is allow you to "remove" the high current drain on your headlight circuit (headlight
switch, dimmer, and fuse box) by "inserting" this between your headlamp and the socket that
plugs into it. The only requirement is to run a fused +12V line from your battery to each harness.
The reason I made these is to make it easy for the non-electrical-type person to upgrade their
headlights without having to cut wires and struggle with a relay project. Headlights work at their
brightest levels with these inserts.
This mod also saves your headlight switch from burn-out and lets you install (literally) any headlight
you want.
If you can run a fused wire from your battery to the headlight pods, you can install this headlight upgrade.
What they do is allow you to "remove" the high current drain on your headlight circuit (headlight
switch, dimmer, and fuse box) by "inserting" this between your headlamp and the socket that
plugs into it. The only requirement is to run a fused +12V line from your battery to each harness.
The reason I made these is to make it easy for the non-electrical-type person to upgrade their
headlights without having to cut wires and struggle with a relay project. Headlights work at their
brightest levels with these inserts.
This mod also saves your headlight switch from burn-out and lets you install (literally) any headlight
you want.
If you can run a fused wire from your battery to the headlight pods, you can install this headlight upgrade.
Precisely Dave,
Your explanation covers it.
I had some thought of using only a single set of relays and running a longer wire to the driver's side
pod, but it makes for a harder job to install. The relays I use are good for at least 30 amps per contact
(continuous) and using 4 of them leaves potential for 120 amps of lamps. Ha! But the wire I recommend
(12Ga) is good for only 20 continuous amps, so that limits you to about 240 watts of headlight power.
(or about twice what you really need)
Bases covered.
Your explanation covers it.
I had some thought of using only a single set of relays and running a longer wire to the driver's side
pod, but it makes for a harder job to install. The relays I use are good for at least 30 amps per contact
(continuous) and using 4 of them leaves potential for 120 amps of lamps. Ha! But the wire I recommend
(12Ga) is good for only 20 continuous amps, so that limits you to about 240 watts of headlight power.
(or about twice what you really need)
Bases covered.
Yes..
These types of mods are good (not technically required) for late model Bertones.
The Bertones have a "high beam relay" but the headlight power still goes through the ignition switch (which can cause this damage). This dual-relay system protects both the headlight and ignition switches by removing the high-current load from them and placing it on the relays, the stock wiring is left in place just for switching the relays.
These types of mods are good (not technically required) for late model Bertones.
The Bertones have a "high beam relay" but the headlight power still goes through the ignition switch (which can cause this damage). This dual-relay system protects both the headlight and ignition switches by removing the high-current load from them and placing it on the relays, the stock wiring is left in place just for switching the relays.
Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
Only REQUIRED if ya wanna be on the "A" list...
HA!
Seriously... the later ones as Greg pointed out have made some improvements, but these mods care for more. There is also a WSW relay mod for those that live OUTSIDE sunny Southern California...
HA!
Seriously... the later ones as Greg pointed out have made some improvements, but these mods care for more. There is also a WSW relay mod for those that live OUTSIDE sunny Southern California...