Time Delay headlight switch -- Vol II

Atta boy Frank! Way to stick with it.

 

I have the relays ready to upgrade my headlight circuit once I find a correct headlight switch. I upgraded to h4s a while back and they really benefit from a relay upgrade.

 

Ted

Who's "Frank"? 

Who's 'Ted'? 

       
       

Haha haha! It was like 6:30am and I was on my phone. I may have read frazerk1as Frank... Or auto correct mayhave got me.

Larry,   I'll let you decide...

Ted

Kelly (or is it "Frank"?)

 

Why in heaven's name haven't you added relays to drive your headlights, headlight flasher and Aux lights??   That would take a ton of stress off of the switch and it'll last (almost) forever, even if it's Chinese.  Well, maybe not the Chinese ones, but surely the Brazilian ones......

But who's Larry?  As a matter of fact, if you are Number 2, who is Number 1?

Number 1's name is Frazer, but his friends call him Frank! 

Larry and Jack - you two are silly.

 

Frank - congratulations on the fixing those lights.

 

 

I think that's really why the makers load these cars up with so much Chinese junk.

 

They're concerned that we learn about all the wonderful history and heritage behind the originals. If they'd installed a decent headlight switch in the first place, you never would have had this opportunity.

 

And PS, I'm sure you're frank, no matter what your name is.

 

 

Frankly, the name is Kelly, and you dasn't call me Bob, or Frank either . . .

 

Gordon: I am not too sure how much current actually goes through the switch, per se.  ANd I think the replacement switch is a gen-U-ine German VW dealie, so maybe gonna be OK w/ some amps running through it.  As I look at it (lying on my back looking upside down, ass on the side rail, feet propped up on the bag of grass seed next to the rake and ladder), seems as if the current is carried by the dip/dimmer relay, whose relay coil I must have burned out.  And the driving lights are already on a relay, w/ a wire right off the battery.  The switch may carry the small running lights, front and rear.  Or so it seems.

 

And this was the second Chinese headlight switch for the car.  First one went out really quick, and JPS sent me a replacement, just like the first one.  Probably lucky that #2 lasted a few years.  And how much money did he save using this PoS?  Maybe $5.  Don't get me started on the paper mache' (?) parts that come out of China for these cars . . . 

incremental update: The e-bay dip/dimmer switch arrived and works like it should.  Curious about this, as it does not say where it was made, but does carry the official VW part number stenciled on there.  It looks for all the world to be a dead match for the one I burned out, except that that one said it was made in Brazil.  Still fussing w/ the wiring between the headlight switch and the dimmer/dip switch.  The HL switch has two positions: 1/2 out and full out.  I get the headlights on in both positions, and would rather have them come on only in the full out position.  Minor point, I guess.

Maybe that's the tab for the "tail lights" ?

No, the tail light are activated on a separate pin #58 I think.  Tail lights come on as they are supposed to.  I think the confusion is that the wiring under the dash was set up to deal with the aforementioned crappy-ass Chinese switch, and the VW replacement I have now is set up differently.  For one thing, it has several more terminals, and they are marked with the "std" numbering convention.  I'll just have to play with it until I get it right.  Before installing, I rang-out the switch in its various positions, and so sort-of understand what it does.  Now, I have to modify the wiring to suit.  I have a few months to get to this . . .

 

Possibly not such a minor point if you haven't yet installed relays to handle the heavy current to the lights.

 

Sounds like you've got both 'running lights' (taillights and front 'parking' lights) AND headlights hooked up to the tab on the HL switch that was designed to handle just the running lights.

 

But the headlights draw about three times the current as the running lights (assuming old school sealed beam headlights - even more if you've upgraded the headlight bulbs). So, the running light contacts in the headlight switch are now handling four times the current they were designed for. Not good.

 

If you're running the power wire from the fuse block to the right tab on the headlight switch, then only one tab should be cold when the switch is in the first position and hot when it's in the second position. That's the tab for the headlights.

 

Another complication is that one tab on the switch was designed to handle the instrument lights. Make sure you don't have any of the running lights or headlights hooked up to that. You can tell which tab that is if a bulb connected to it dims when you rotate the headlight switch knob. On most of the repop switches, that's the weakest point in the design. On my switch, the dimmer circuit went up in smoke and took out the whole switch.

 

 

I had a brand new Chinese switch do that Kelly. They are junk. Even wired correctly, the headlights would come on when the parking lights were on.

 

My solution: get an old VW 6v switch from a Bug. I had to wire up a relay with a diode to get flash to pass to work, but that switch has been in use for four years now and no more light problems. I got my switch from the swap meet at Carlisle, when you used to be able to get VW parts there. Try your local foreign salvage.

All points well made and taken.  My new switch is a VW one, obtained at the Carlisle flea market, as you say.  So it is fundamentally different in design and internal circuitry than the Chinese version it replaces.  It definitely has more terminals on it.  I think I will have to make up and run one new wire, to get it all to go like it should.  [There are two terminals on the switch that are marked "X" and "56".  These do not connect to any other terminal on the switch.  When the knob is pulled all the way out, these two terminals are connected to each other.  Ergo, they could be hooked in series w/ the low beam circuit to fire that.  The dimmer/dip switch flashes between brights/driving lights, and so handles that function and current.]  I did ring out the headlight switch to see what it does, and think I have it doped out.  The dash lights do dim and naught else is on that circuit.  Seems my dimmer/dip relay handles the current for the headlights, and I have a totally separate relay for the driving lights, which, as Gordon mentioned a few years ago, will peel paint at 10 ft.  So I think I am good on current loads.  I also have an in-line fuse to the 12V supply (#30 pin) for the whole headlight switch, in addition to the block fuses for the various components. 

 

Fun stuff.  Can mke you dizzy.  And this hand-built, custom car has no wiring color codes, just a massive tangle of red and white wires under the dash.

 

Oh, and I am adding courtesy lights to come on when the doors are opened.  Really do miss that on those dark, moonless nights.  And a switch to turn them on when the doors are closed.