Drl's

[tarquin]

Is the maintenance charger in the circuit all the time? Could it not be that the charger is keeping the Battery topped up all the time so the auto switching DRL circuit doesn't see a dip across the Battery to activate it. would be glad to test it for you if you get stuck. Also if you don't connect the orange wire, the circuit could be seeing it as a "floating" level and not switch properly. The necessity to remove the fuse each time lends itself to the circuit not knowing what "state" it is switched into and what to do until you reset it by resetting the fuse.

David

[tonyishuk]

When I carried out the last tests the charger has been disconnected for 24 hrs and the engine started several times so the Battery voltage level should be normal. (12.6 V)

I tried earthing the orange lead to the chassis but this had no effect on the DRLS. Connecting the orange lead to live terminal, does make the DRLs go out. Reconnecting to earth makes no effect.

Seems strange that on the IQ, the a similar (identical) unit works without the orange lead being connected.

The seller has agreed to change the unit, so I will return it and try again

Rgds

[tarquin]

So on the iQ installation, How do the DRL's know when to go off when the lights are on? and visa versa

David

[tonyishuk]

Hi

I think we are talking at cross purposes ;-)

What i was trying to say was that the unit in the IQ will work with the orange lead disconnected but the DRLs light on and off as the engine is running or not.

The unit will sense the rise in voltage when the engine starts and switches the DRLs on and when the engine stops, the DRLs go out.

When the orange lead is connected then the unit will work as expected. Side lights on, DRLs go off and back on when the side lights are off.

My reasoning is that the unit only needs the orange wire to sense 12v to switch the DRLs off and zero volts to switch the DRLs on, by sensing a voltage from side light.

Rgds

[tarquin]

The orange wire derives residule current and makes the switching more stable. Do you have a multi meter

David

[tonyishuk]

Hi

I do have a multimeter and understand what you are saying.

I read over the thread again and got to thinking and trying again. I have some sort of success although the outcome does have a sort of logic, but not what I expected.

The orange wire is connected to the sidelight live feed and does have continuity.

What now happens is:

Everything switched off, ignition, DRLs, sidelights etc

Switch on ignition, DRLs come on !! (Although they are connected directly to Battery and earth and not an ignition on curcuit)

Switch on engine and tick over DRLs go out ! ( I would expect them to have been off, then come on on tickover)

Switch on sidelights DRLs remain off.

Switch off sidelights and DRLs now come on.

Now the DRL switching works as expected. i.e driving lights on = DRLs off, Lights off = DRLs on.

So start up procedure to get the DRLs to work;seems to be;

Fire up engine, switch sidelights on and off you are ready to go !

It seems now that I have to "switch on" the DRLs by using the sidelights as a switch.

Downside is that after 20 minutes running, one lDRL goes out !!

Rgds

[tarquin]

nightmare!!!!! There seems to be a problem with the circuit detecting voltage drop on switch on. The circuit has a Zener diode as a reference.If its faulty then the reference is lost and the circuit is 'floating'. It could well be a faulty unit. As for one of the DRL's going off, they are both fed from the same source so has to be a bad connection, maybe on the bullet connectors. put your multi meter across the Battery and switch the ignition on, see how much it dips. when the ignition is off, the unit sits waiting for a voltage dip across the Battery and off the lights are off, will put the DRL's on then it stops looking for voltage dips and monitors the orange wire. If it detects a a longer dip or a lower voltage, it assumes the car is off and extinguishes the DRL's. after 5sec. Return the unit or disconnect it and remove the one on the iQ and tac the motorhome one on the iQ. i know its a lot of messing about but at least you will know.

David

[tarquin]

nightmare!!!!! There seems to be a problem with the circuit detecting voltage drop on switch on. The circuit has a Zener diode as a reference.If its faulty then the reference is lost and the circuit is 'floating'. It could well be a faulty unit. As for one of the DRL's going off, they are both fed from the same source so has to be a bad connection, maybe on the bullet connectors. put your multi meter across the Battery and switch the ignition on, see how much it dips. when the ignition is off, the unit sits waiting for a voltage dip across the Battery and off the lights are off, will put the DRL's on then it stops looking for voltage dips and monitors the orange wire. If it detects a a longer dip or a lower voltage, it assumes the car is off and extinguishes the DRL's. after 5sec. Return the unit or disconnect it and remove the one on the iQ and tac the motorhome one on the iQ. i know its a lot of messing about but at least you will know.

David

[tonyishuk]

Amazon & supplier have agreed a refund, I am not sure if I want to go down the same route again ;-)) with a replacement.

I will keep the unit and see how I get on, at least I have found a way to get it to work !

It may be a cunning redesign where the user can leave the DRLs off, but can switch them on just by turning the sidelights on and off and no-one has been told !

Maybe not !

Thanks for all your advice.

Rgds

[tarquin]

Are you having to send it back for the refund ? If not you can send it to me to check it out for you

David

[tonyishuk]

Hi,

I am sitting on the unit at the moment, The supplier said send it back and they would change it, at the same time Amazon said they had arranged a refund ! and have credited to me. The Supplier then said a refund was on its way but did not ask specially for the unit to be returned.

So I will wait and see if the Supplier does want it back. The price they probably pay for a unit is less than the postage.

As I have it working (sort of) I will stick with it. If it gets any weirder I let you take a peek !

Thanks for the offer

Reading the (not many) Amazon reviews on the DRL unit it does seem to have the occasional; dark side (every pun intended ;-))

Rgds

[tonyishuk]

Just an update as the DRLs have been in place for six months or so.

++ IQ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

All working as they should, sort of. One unit occasionaly does not light up, but turning the side light switch on then off turns it on. Just got into the habit of flicking the side lights on and off, after starting the IQ and all is fine until next startup.

++ M/Home +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The identical units and relay on the m/home are more probmatical. (I did not return the unit, but thought I would test it out See previous replies to thread)

The DRLs do /will not auto light when the engine starts, but will light when the side lights are turned on and off. Similar to the IQ, just a matter of getting into the habit of flicking the lights after starting.

When the M/home is not in use, the vehicle Battery is connected to a Ctek maintence charger. When the voltage is high the DRLs will light up until the voltage falls back to normal standing. What is strange is that the engine on tickover is the same voltage as the charger but the DRLs do not light, unless sidelights are turned on/off.

I am re-wiring the supply for the DRLs to a circuit which is live when the engine is running, so the problem of neighbours knocking on the door at night telling me my lights are on will cease. (Hopefully)

Rgds

[tarquin]

That sounds like the best solution for you Tony

David

[Sensha]

A late thought on this, and from a source that is very, very old.

I used to be a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) as part of my work life with our Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Way, way back in time (around 1977 or so) there was discussion on the topic of daylight running lights, and one of the issues involved was the presence of rear lighting as part of a DRL setup.

The long and short of the discussion was that DRL should be provided with NO rear lighting. The reasoning for this was the instant slowdown that is seen when rainy weather occurs and vehicle lights are turned on in daylight conditions. The average driver did not discriminate well between rear red lights and the brighter (but otherwise identical) brake lighting on the same vehicles - thus, the default approach was to assume that red light = brake light in situations (during daylight hours) where you would not normally see a red light. As a result, follow distances increased and traffic (for a given vehicle volume) slowed as a result.

There was some kind of testing to support this, although I don't remember the details. (My membership was solely to monitor vehicular developments that applied to workplace safety, not normal road travel, so I only noted this in passing when reviewing the rest of the stuff from SAE.) Nonetheless, the conclusion was firmly in favor of not including rear lights with DRLs.

[tonyishuk]

Hi Sensha

Thanks for your reply. DRLs seem to fall into two camps. hate or love them !

I do ask myself if they need to be as bright and ornate as some are becoming. From fancy Landrover headlights to Pegueot vertical strips.

Something sensible to show up a vehicle when the driver has not put the lights on either through ignorance, stupidity or forgetfulness would be quite adequate.

That said, the DRLs on my m/home seem to have more of an effect than on the IQ. Its maybe that other drivers see a m/home and think it is slower moving than a car, but with DRLs on the m/home they tend to look twice and wait.

Rgds

[Sensha]

One of the issues mentioned during the discussion back in the day was the limited number of options for light colors. White was taken by the headlamps, red by the rear marker and stop lamps, and amber by the then-relatively new "parking lights". Green was off limits due to the association with "Go" on stop lights. All that was left were blue lights (poor visibility) and purple (which had been used for stop lamps in the 1950s by some vehicle brands.

In the end, there was no good way to go other than the current system.