Headlight Modification: Relay Installation interest?
 

Hey guys

Last Spring I installed relays for my headlights and it has really made a hell of a difference. Lights are so much brighter now, I had to re-aim them to stop blinding people. This is because the stock system uses small gauge wiring to feed the power to the headlights. The power actually flows through all this small shit, through the steering column and stalk, through the switch, then finally makes its way to the light itself. This is one hell of a bottleneck for all of those electricals to squeeze through.

So what if you could have a large gauge wire feeding the power directly to the lights, without having to go through the switch and all the other BS? This is exactly what installing relays does, it cuts out the middleman and all of the power available makes it right to the lights.

So who would be interested in a detailed wright-up on this? I used to think that the lights on my Audi were pretty awesome, but after driving my baby all summer I got spoiled and now my lights on the Audi seem pretty lame. Within the next couple of weeks, I intend to install the relays on my Audi and I'll probably go ahead and write up the details and take some good photos. The installation won't be significantly different than it would be for a 7.

I also have access to a high quality light meter, so I will do a before/after check on it and will be able to give true numbers (in candlepower) on what this mod can give you.

Anyway, lemme know if you would be interested in this and I'll do an extra good job of it, eh? :blue:

Yeah, that would be a wicked write up. I've wanted to do this myself, but i have no idea how.

Did you get the kit from VB, or put it together yourself?

im interested

I've been wanting to do this for awhile but have been too lazy, I think a good writeup would give me some motivation. :D

I'm in, I drive a lot at night and my old lamps simply SUCK....lol, count me in.

Sweet dude. That'd be a nice spring project for me LOL

I would like to do that to because my headlights suck and I need brighter ones(plus I don't have low beams at all and they still suck).

Not to hijack, but also found THIS site had many useful tips and drawings of wiring relays into headlights for hi-output bulbs:
http://www.rallylights.com/useful_in...amp_wiring.htm
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

A writeup would be great. How much work was it?

i dont get how the relay works and still functions with the stock switch?

sounds like a nice upgrade tho. which bulbs/housing you using?

heavy gauge wire would bring current to the relay, which switches such current right onto the bulbs. The stock wiring to the lights is used to drive the relay coil.. the relay is like a remote switch, with an electronic bat.
using your own wire for the powerful stuff and the stock wire for the few milliamperes the relay coil draws allows the lights to be tons brighter (no more power loss across the stock wiring) while still retaining the stock switch, which i kinda like.

the system should need two relays, and at least two fuses, right?

thats a really good idea.. ive never thought of that.. lol.. Sparkien is right though.. it shouldnt be all that hard to do it.. Relays are very easy to understand once you look at a diagram of one

ive yet to fully understand relays, are they a universal sort of thing?

I have relays for the lights and power windows on my todo list. A write up would be great!

I did this to my Ford Explorer and it made world of difference and solve a problem it was having because the old wiring and the headlamp switch would overheat causing the lights to blink off. Was easy to do and worked great. I followed the instructions at this page . Its generic though and a step by step for doing this thats 1st gen specific would be great. I haven't done this on my 7 yet but was planning to do it soon. I say go for it.

I would love a detailed write up (pis if possible)

When you do the relays, is there any good upgrade for the lights themselves for better output of light? The OEM look is great, and I don't want any stupid blue lights. Just a nice bright spray of light.

http://www.20v.org/relays.gif Has a nice headlamp relay layout.

I recently wired the mini van to run "daytime running lights" via a fused wire from the battery to the relay then to the headlamp connector. I sourced the relay control from a curcuit that is part of the load shedding relay (wipers) so the headlamps don't draw power when the starter is engaged.

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/...pics.asp?FID=5 has lots of nifty suggestions for relays!

Regards

CalG

Has anyone seen the wiring kit offered by Victoria British? I'm just worried that the wire, plugs and relays are "the cheapest" insted of "the best. I hate cheap connectors!

CalG

The relay Mini-FAQ
 

Because my fellow canadian doesn't know, i grace you all with my paint drawings once again...

Attached is a picture of the electrical schematic of a relay... its layout is very close to the mechanical layout of a real relay (which im too lazy to take a picture of and attach). Look at it in awe.

A relay consists of two basic elements, an electromagnet, and a switch.
what is a switch? ask google.
what is an electromagnet? its wire, wrapped many, many times around an iron/steel core. when current flows through the wire, a magnetic field is created out the ends of the core, just like a bar magnet.

what do magnets do? they attact metal! how useful!

then comes the switch. inside a relay, a metalized, lightly tensioned arm rests above an electro magnet. normally, the spring against the arm holds it in a position away from the coil, but when the coil is energized, the magnetic field overcomes the force of the spring and moves the arm to the closer position.

refer to the glorious picture again.
our coil (already grounded) has an input labelled "C", for Coil. when voltage is applied to this input, current begins to flow through the coil, energizing it, and creating a magnetic field.
This magnetic field (which acts on anything connected to the coil by the dotted grey line) pulls the green arm (also known as the "Armature") down so current can flow from terminal "A" to Terminal "NO"
when the power to the coil is switched off, the spring returns the green line (armature) to the "NC" terminal, so current can flow from A to NC.
as you may have guessed, NO stands for normally open, NC for normally closed. this is conventional switch nomenclature, and yes, you can quote me on that.

The incredible advantage to these little beasties is as follows:
-small currents (from transistors and tiny switches) can be used to switch LARGE currents (like starters and headlights)
-low voltage devices can control high voltage equipment because they need not share common electrodes (no relevant examples in a car)
-using a car battery, ignition coil and a relay, you can make a taser, and its really freakin cool. (schematics to follow someday :)

any questions?

Once you do relays the lights will be much brighter. You'll be able to see the difference, especially on cars as old as ours. I'd do the relay and then see if you need more output from the lights.

Right on.

Okay guys, I'll take the time to do it right. Its really not hard, once you understand how it is supposed to work. But when I did this on my 7 I went about it the hard way, so I'd like to make it idiot proof so somebody like me doesn't end up wasting too much time. The results are simply awesome! I'm using stock type bulbs called "xtrabrite" or something like that (definitely not blue, stay away from that). I especially want to do the before/after light readings to show how much improvement it really makes. These bulbs are all rated by the DOT with the assumption that they are getting 100% of available power, but when you try to feed them through the dinky switch wiring its a real bottleneck, and the loss in output is exponential in relation to the loss in voltage (a little voltage drop makes a big difference in light output, whereas a small increase in voltage makes a huge difference in light output). Read up at www.danielsternlighting for all of the details and reasons that you should do this. They also sell complete kits for the lazy ones...:) However, you can do the same thing for about 15 bucks using parts available at your local store, and that is how the directions will be written up (including relay part #s, etc.)... I'll try to get this done soon.

Kentetsu,
Best idea I've heard for an upgrade! What guage wire , and what were the specs on the relay? Watts, amps or volts (12, I know that). Radioshack (ugghh!) might have a better price than an auto parts store.

Last night, this chevy caprice guy had his sub woofer turned up way up high. So high that I could barely hear the squeeling on his worn brakes. Right on!!

Wow Kentetsu; 2000+ Post!
What took you so long.
Just kidding of course.
I think this would be a great UpGrade Write Up.
I did this with my Fog Lights=(50% Brighter) and was wondering how to Wire a Relay to the Head Lights.
I'm sure once you get this done, every one will follow.
Thanks
sgieldon
steve