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Lights on, When unlocking car?

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
When you lock the car they switch off, same as your interior light (on when you unlock until you put the key in, then on when you open the door until you lock the car).

I'm going to rig up my front fogs as I don't want my HID's going on/off for short periods.
 
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Ksalmi

Active Member
Apr 5, 2007
65
3
Finland
Tom167: And yours work perfectly??
I did this to mine, and the relay goes nuts (rattles annoyingly) when the interior lamp dimms down.. I have the W8 passats interiorlight in there so wonder if thats the problem then..
 

tom167

bucksvag.net
Mar 27, 2006
201
0
Milton Keynes
Yeh they come on when you open the doors, but i cant really think of a downside to this lol

They come on when you unlock it, and switch off when you lock it.

I'm going to rig up my front fogs as I don't want my HID's going on/off for short periods.

Thats what i'm going to change mine to when i upgrade to HIDs. easy to swap and change though really.


Tom167: And yours work perfectly??
I did this to mine, and the relay goes nuts (rattles annoyingly) when the interior lamp dimms down.. I have the W8 passats interiorlight in there so wonder if thats the problem then..


Yeh it buzzes, i guess because its a gradual voltage drop as opposed to a straight on/off. A more sensitve relay may not do it. But i cant really see any harm
 
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Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
Yeh it buzzes, i guess because its a gradual voltage drop as opposed to a straight on/off. A more sensitve relay may not do it. But i cant really see any harm


The harm will be that eventually the relay contacts will become burnt from the sparking/chattering and stop making a good contact. worse still the relay contacts could weld together.

Try a better quality relay/solid state relay like me ;)
 
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Mar 16, 2008
692
0
Wiltshire / Bristol
Or you could make a simple 555 monostable timer and have the trigger from the interior light and a LDR. This would mean that it would turn your lights on for a time interval which you could set when you open the door and is dark. This would stop your lights from going off when the you lock the door and would only come on when dark. Very simple circuit to make.
 

tom167

bucksvag.net
Mar 27, 2006
201
0
Milton Keynes
Whats a solid state relay? A transistor lol?

I was thinking about using the timer chip, only problem would be what happens when its still supplying voltage and you turn the lights on manually? Shouldn't do any harm should it?
 
Mar 16, 2008
692
0
Wiltshire / Bristol
Not if the timer chip controlls a relay it shouldnt. The other way of getting round the relay switching on/off quickley when the light dims is to put it through a schmitt and gate, with its inputs tied together. Then take the output, run it through a transistor and in to the relay. OR you could use one input to the internal light, and annother to a LDR, so the lights would only come on when its dark. If you need any help in wireing or circuit design just ask:)
 
Mar 16, 2008
692
0
Wiltshire / Bristol
Ill have a quick scribble tonight. for the timer circuit have a look at;

http://www.doctronics.co.uk/555.htm

Its the Retriggerable monostable that your interested in. It may look a bit daunting if youve never looked at circuit diagrams like this before, but its actualy quite simple. You would just need to change the input slightley and place a transistor on the output with a relay.
 

Nath.

The Gentlemans Express
Jan 1, 2006
8,620
16
EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
Haha, i hope all you people are fusing things lol.

Where you gettin your solid stat relays from nathwarr?

From the parts box in the boot of my company car. My SSR uses 3-30v as the trigger and can switch up to 300v. Its used to pulse a 2.5kw heater lamp. It even has a little green LED to show that it's on :D

No relay rattling as it works right down to 3v so the fogs stay on slightly longer than the interior light does as it fades down.
 
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pow

Active Member
May 26, 2007
84
0
Excuse my ignorance, but, surely, when you open the doors, the "coming home" lights will come on?!?
 

pow

Active Member
May 26, 2007
84
0
Must be a way of doing it without the doors setting something off...

Anyone know what the other pins on the W8 light are for?
 

tom167

bucksvag.net
Mar 27, 2006
201
0
Milton Keynes
I dont know what else you can trigger the relay with, unless you have an aftermarket alarm that can trigger something when you unlock the car perhaps?