dippped beam, full beam....

[tdafforn]

hi guys,
On full beam should both the full beam element in the bulk and the dipped beam element be on together?
Tim

[handi_andi]

No they are on two seperate circuits. Mine certainly only lights one at a time.
Andy

[reb53]

No, they're separate, as stated.
A good trick to get a bit of extra light is to put a diode across the relays so when full beam comes on it also turns on dip. Because it's a diode the reverse doesn't happen. i.e. you don't get full beam when all you want is dip.
Did this on my first Elan because the lights were so crap but once I converted to halogen I didn't bother any more.

Ralph.

[bcmc33]

In the 60?s it was normal to use dip and main beam filaments separately ? but modern cars use both filaments on main beam.

When I converted to electric lifters I did a complete job and changed to halogens. Doubting the integrity of the old wiring loom, I rewired using heavier cables all round and simply linked the relays to make both halogen filaments work on main beam.

A major improvement, obviously, but not recommended if you?re still using the old dynamo as a power source.


Brian Clarke
(1972 Sprint)

[rgh0]

While you can run both high and low beam at the same time this will lead to the globe running much hotter than it was designed for. I suspect this will seriously shorten its life. Propably not much of an issue given the limited mileage most Elans do at night but could be embarrassing if both globes blow out both filaments at the same time on a dark night.

cheers
Rohan

[tdafforn]

My guess is that in an effort to make the wiring safer by adding relays to the lamp circuit (out of a bit of necessity as the thermal cutouts would cutout after 5 mins of main beam!) I have wired the sidelight circuit to trigger the dipped beams. Having the effect that they are on all the time that the headlamp switch is turned!
Will have a look over it and alter!
Tim

[handi_andi]

Hiya
I have done something similar but kinda opposite to get the sidelights to come on when the vacum pods go up. Essentially I have made use of the fact that the microswitch is a switch to ground and piggy backed a relay onto it whose contacts are wired in parallel to the side light switch. Hence when the pods go up and the dipped or main beams come on, so do all the sidelights.

As for the headlights cutting out at night, I can assure any readers that this is a scary experience having had it happen to me on the first day I owned my plus 2. I was at the end of along journey from Bedford to Fife to stay at a mates, was suffering from hypothermia due to the grommet at the bottom of the steering column being missing and it being a very very cold day. I was driving up a twisty road with a sheer drop on my left with no rash barrier, when all of a sudden all the lighting circuits cut out including the dashboard lights!!!! All I can say is that my reaction time to the brake pedal would have impressed any drag car driver!!!

Cheers

Andy

[RotoFlexible]

While we're on the subject... I am replacing the floor-mounted dip switch (US model) with a column switch. It has three positions, in order from bottom to top: low beams, hi beams, no beams (lights off). What's the purpose of this third position, given that the headlight switch controls whether the lights are on or off? If it were meant to be the primary headlight control I'd think the progression would be: off, low, high.

[bcmc33]

Rohan's thoughts about the globe running hot and failing had never crossed my mind.
The globes are glass and should withstand any heat from the H4 bulbs. My wife's shopping trolley has plastic globes with the same H4's - so I don't expect any problems.

Brian Clarke
(1972 Sprint)

[rgh0]

Its not the globe itself thats the problem but the life of the metal filiaments in the globe. The hotter they run the shorter the life. Running both filiaments at the same time doubles the heat release in a very small area and must lead the them running hotter. I dont have any data to quantify the change in life, may be a question to the globe making companies engineersmay clarify if the recommend it or not.

cheers
Rohan

[denicholls2]

While the bulb will probably only fail a single filament, the wiring that supports this current load is almost certainly not up to the task of supplying both circuits at the same time (Pre-switch, not post-switch, plus grounds.) Electrical circuits are systems and need to be considered that way.

Do this at your peril if you have not done the relay conversion, plus updated the ground side to ensure sufficient capacity. Don't let the smoke out of your Elan!

[tdafforn]

I have the lights setup with a relay..
When you say improving the earth, I have them earthed directly to th chassis using the bolt below the coil..
Is that suitable?
Tim

[bcmc33]

While I did my conversion some time ago and cannot remember exactly what cables I used in making a new front end loom. What I do remember is that the cables to the headlights were one gauge up from the harness supplied with the headlamp kit and the cables to the fuse box and solenoid were increased from standard fit. All OTT, I know, but the additional cost was minimal.

By the way, the relays were rated 35A.

[4cliff]

My column mounted dip switch works the same i.e. with the top position off, but looking at the wiring diagram with the switch in this position, the main beams are supposed to to be flashing continuously. There is a flasher relay in the circuit akin to the indicator relay to control this. Mine is dud.

To be of any use, you would have to drive around all the time in daylight with the lamps up but switched off, then move the switch up when you want them to flash. I assume that this must have been a requirement for some export market, but it seems so useless to me that I've not bothered to replace my dud flasher unit.