Best aftermarket DRL

[Bandit]

oh wow, ok that is a good idea... I need sotmhing like that to test something I am trying to do on my other car at the moment. I have installed reverse sensors but there is a problem with something in the system and I can't work out if it is power supply or the unit itself. Using a guanateed power supply like yours would remove half the doubt from the equation.

[billyboy]

Yep, way to go.. I also used it when testing my reverse sensors as well.

This is a pretty good site if you want to hack an old unit up:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert ... r-DC-Powe/

Or if you don't have one spare, all you need to do is short the green wire on mobo plug with any gnd (black) & will switch on without PC.

[draevon]

Just finished installing my DRLs. They were small enough so I put them in next to the fog lights which keepsthe centre grills clear ... one of my fav things about the look of my car so I wanted to keep it. I wired them up to come on whenever the car is on but the lights are not. I used cigarette lighter to power the DRLS through a NC relay, opened but a wire spliced to the parkers (off of the blue wire to the drivers side parker for anyone doing this later).

Here's some dodgy pictures. More later, but I just finished the wiring and I'm tired and it's dark now anyways.

[billyboy]

Look good mate, get some day shots

I'm still 50/50 on mine in terms of brightness... I'm looking about possibly getting these http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-LED-Daytime-Ru ... 5d2667442e

Looks like they have SMD's & should have the proper brightness.

[draevon]

Yeah I'd have a guess that mine aren't going to be quite as bright as i'd like in the daytime. They are E-marked though. But yeah at least the wiring is all in place now, so I can swap out for better lights at some stage if I want.

[Bandit]

Look good mate, get some day shots

I'm still 50/50 on mine in terms of brightness... I'm looking about possibly getting these http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-LED-Daytime-Ru ... 5d2667442e

Looks like they have SMD's & should have the proper brightness.

I'd be a bit skeptical of proper brightness if the only photo they show of them in operation is taken at dusk/night....

[draevon]

The photo was taken at night because I finished the wiring at night.

But yeah I'm not reall happy with the brightness, so will start looking for SMD options soon. Happy to have the wiring setup though.

[Bandit]

I was more talking about the ebay ad that billy boy copied - I don't know if the SMD are bright enough - dpends on their size. You'll find though for proper DRL it is all about the focus of the light at the rar of the assembly and the diffusr used on the light's surface.

None of those SMD strips do that.

[draevon]

New plans: After realising I have fog lights I never use, I've decided to incorporate them into my DRL plans. I now have my wiring done up as follows:

Ignition on - Lights off: DRLs and Fog lights on
Ignition on - Lights on: DRLs and Fogs off
Ignition on - Lights on - Fog switch: DRLs and Fogs on with lights.

The wiring is done, but at the moment it's a fairly unattractive combination of yellow and white light. I'll post some pics when my white LED Fog lamp replacements come, but I'm pretty happy with how it's all set up so far

[billyboy]

Funny you mention that draevon, was looking at this setup just the other day.

Came across this forum where the GTI fogs replaced with the Hella kit.
http://www.tyresmoke.net/forum/vw-golf- ... gti-9.html



Think the diameter on the Hella is too big to fit in the CJ fog housing.
Will definitely want an E marked set as will be prime candidate for cops thinking they're normal fogs.

So you replacing the complete fitting or just the bulbs?

[Bandit]

Those Golf lights look very similar to the Hella Part No. 5607 - which is ADR approved. It has 3 LEDs in a polycarbonate circular enclosure. 5607 width is 90mm (smaller than what the Golf specialised part would be in the picture). I must admit I never tkhought of removing the fog lights and using the cirular part instead. I was going to put them next to each other.

[draevon]

Final results for me ... very happy with it all up:

[Bandit]

I have just bought these - http://www.ringautomotive.co.uk/product ... ?prod=2060

I have received them from the UK - they are E marked and comply with ADRs 76/00 and 13/00.

They come with a 'black box' which automagically ensures that the DRL come on with ignition and turn off when headlights are activated. There is a wire coming out that is connected to the headlights relay.

I will not get to install them for about 3 weeks, but once I do I will post pictures here (note: they are being installed on a Commodore, not Lancer). I am still looking to install Hella DRL in the Lancer in the place where the fog lights are, similar to the Golf above.

[clem]

Well I just figure you could use a NC relay. Have power drawn from ignition, headlight current to relay circuit so that when headlights are on, relay opens to break DRL circuit. Print out a copy of legislation and keep it in my glovebox in case of unwanted attention.

Hey dude, How would you make this NC relay? I'm looking at dick smith for an NC relay but can't find. Can you please explain how we could do this for the people with minimal electronics experience. Cheers.

I found this item on jaycar would this be suitable for our DRL wiring?
http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID ... rm=KEYWORD

[draevon]

I used a 5 pin relay, which has one Normally Open and one Normally Closed circuit with a switching signal to switch between the two:



There are two types of 5 pin, one that activates two pins when the circuit is thrown, and one that switche between two pins. The differencve is that th first kind will have two 87 pins, the second will have an 87 and an 87A. You want the second type, I got it from supercheap. The way I have it wired up is this:

(30) 12v main: Accessory wire (spliced into cigarette lighter)
(85) Earth: Car Chassis
(87A) Load on NC circuit: Wired down to DRLs positive
(87) Load on NO Circuit: Not used
(86) Switch Wire: For this I spliced into the blue wire leading to the driver side park lamp.

With this setup, whenever the ACC power is on, the DRLs operate. When the headlights/parkers come on, the circuit gets broken, so the DRLs turn off.

I actually also incorporated my foglights by slicing the DRL positive wire into the positive wire on the Driver side fog light. This means that my DRLS + Fogs run whenever ACC is turned on, they both turn off when the headlights come on, but if I hit the foglight switch, the fogs and DRLs come on and headlights remain on. If you're not incorporating your fogs though, just do the relay part and the fogs will just function independently.

If this still doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll find time to draw up a full wiring diagram.