High Beams WITH Low Beams? Possible?
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 467
Likes: 1
From: Fort Worth, TX
High Beams WITH Low Beams? Possible?
I know that the F150 as a whole has a 9007 bulb, so this isn't normally necessary, but I have an aftermarket HID system that doesn't allow for brights. As a work around I got a set of nice KC Long Range lights for the push bar. I have them wired in on the high beam switch (relayed of course).
Problem - when you push the switch to leave them on continuously it automatically shuts of the driving lamps (or low beams). I want them (low beams & off road) all to be on at the same time instead of shutting them (low beams) off.
Obviously I can't just connect the wire from one set to the others b/c I don't want the off road lights turned on every time that I use the low beams. I thought that the "switch" for the high beams was really clever and would prevent me from wiring in a whole new switch for these lights, but now I'm thinking that I won't be able to get around it if this doesn't work.
Problem - when you push the switch to leave them on continuously it automatically shuts of the driving lamps (or low beams). I want them (low beams & off road) all to be on at the same time instead of shutting them (low beams) off.
Obviously I can't just connect the wire from one set to the others b/c I don't want the off road lights turned on every time that I use the low beams. I thought that the "switch" for the high beams was really clever and would prevent me from wiring in a whole new switch for these lights, but now I'm thinking that I won't be able to get around it if this doesn't work.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 10,511
Likes: 10
From: Under the flightpath of old ORD 22R
The down and dirty way of makign thsi work is to get a large Diode and place it between the output of the high beams, and the input to the low beams. This allows the voltage to flow one direction, but not the other.
This would be sized by the wattage to run the ballast for the HIDs. What ever the Amps needed to run the ballast, times 12 volts, and this is 80% of the wattage of the Diode.
The thing that would concern me, and maybe it shouldn't, is what happens to the HID ballast life or bulb life when the lamps are re-striked when hot ?
I know in high pressure lighting ( High pressure Sodium, or Mercury Hallide ) that there are specific bulbs & ballast pairs that are have re-strike capability, but the bulb cost vs a standard 15 min re-strike interval is way higher and the bulb life is less.
When you are switching from low beam to high beam, it looks as if there is a split second that the low beam goes off, before the high beam goes on ( not a case of the high beam lights before the low is turned off ) .
This would mean that you are removing the power from the HID ballast, and then a split second later re-applying it, hence the question on hot re-strike on the HID.
You might want to check with the mfgr of the HID system you have, to see if this is a problem.
The diode would do the trick of having the low on, when the high beam is on. Painless wiring makes a system for the 4 light Chevy market that does this exact thing, if you don't want to go diode shopping. It would give you everything you need to do the cut and splice to makeit work.
Good luck, let us kow what you come up with, or if you have any other questions.
This would be sized by the wattage to run the ballast for the HIDs. What ever the Amps needed to run the ballast, times 12 volts, and this is 80% of the wattage of the Diode.
The thing that would concern me, and maybe it shouldn't, is what happens to the HID ballast life or bulb life when the lamps are re-striked when hot ?
I know in high pressure lighting ( High pressure Sodium, or Mercury Hallide ) that there are specific bulbs & ballast pairs that are have re-strike capability, but the bulb cost vs a standard 15 min re-strike interval is way higher and the bulb life is less.
When you are switching from low beam to high beam, it looks as if there is a split second that the low beam goes off, before the high beam goes on ( not a case of the high beam lights before the low is turned off ) .
This would mean that you are removing the power from the HID ballast, and then a split second later re-applying it, hence the question on hot re-strike on the HID.
You might want to check with the mfgr of the HID system you have, to see if this is a problem.
The diode would do the trick of having the low on, when the high beam is on. Painless wiring makes a system for the 4 light Chevy market that does this exact thing, if you don't want to go diode shopping. It would give you everything you need to do the cut and splice to makeit work.
Good luck, let us kow what you come up with, or if you have any other questions.
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 467
Likes: 1
From: Fort Worth, TX
I think that you may have a strong arguement against doing this the way I had planned. You are right - it does shut the low beams off for a split second and it does re-strike while hot. I haven't necessarily heard anything overly harmful about doing this, but I did have the same concern as you at one time. I think I'll just run a normal switch and be done with it. The diode is still very good information that I will hold on to for future projects though.
Thank you very much for sharing your concerns and helping to give a solution! This forum rocks!!
Thank you very much for sharing your concerns and helping to give a solution! This forum rocks!!