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Reply to "Headlight switch ?"

Jim Gilbert - Madison, Mississippi posted:
Safety Jim Buffalo NY. posted:

You may want to add a relay to the circuit. (Especially the headlight/brights circuit). Corroded / burned contacts indicate the switch can't handle the draw on the circuit.  

There is a lighting relay.

 

Jim (Gilbert), all of our cars have at least one dimmer (or 'dipping') relay, which switches the output of the headlight switch between high and low beams.

But, if that's the only relay in your headlight circuit, the heavy current for those lights is still being handled by the switch itself, which is what burns out the contacts. At least two additional relays are needed to route that current around the switch (one relay each for high and low beams).

Basically, the output of the dimmer relay is used to control those two other relays instead of going straight to the lights.

Also, a '6-volt' switch is, in theory, preferable to a '12-volt' switch, as it will (in the best of all possible worlds) have more robust contacts than the 12-volt switch. (Insert long, tedious explanation of voltage, current, and power here.)

If this is Greek to you, do some research here or shout out for some help.

 

- Mitch

 

Last edited by Sacto Mitch
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