question about relays

[etlsport]

my gf's 95 honda del sol doesnt have a little buzzer reminder to tell when the headlights have been left on, which means i keep a second battery around to go jump her car with once every 2 weeks or so.. very annoying.. so im gonna put a buzzer in to remind her to turn the headlights off.. but im not quite sure how to do it.. so i figured id tap into the knowledge base here...

heres my idea so far...

a relay that draws constant power from headlight switch, switched power from the output wire on the "door" mode of the dome light and the acc out (87?) to a buzzer

my other idea was a relay that draws constant power from fused wire from battery, and outputs to the buzzer, the switched power from the headlight switch and grounds to the pin switch in the door.. so its only grounded when the door opens....

im open to suggestions.. as spike can tell you my relay wiring is a bit sketchy still

[Kenny]

If accessible, you could tie into the headlight switch on the steering column instead of the headlight power - I don't know if robbing that circuit would be good or bad for just a buzzer. My habit is to avoid dedicated circuits like those.

The dome light is a good indicator with the door switch - you could also tie the relay into an ignition wire that's only live with the key turned. That way the logic would sound the buzzer if the lights are on and the car is off and the door is open - instead of just sounding the buzzer if the door is opened when the car is running.


Or a completely different option is to wire the headlights themselves to relays tied into the ignition wire. The logic would only send power to them if they are turned on and the key is turned to ACC or IGN.


oooo, I love relays and all their wires!

Good Luck.

[etlsport]

kenny, youre the man! i didnt even consider making the headlights turn off with the ignition! so i could... tap into an only on with acc mode wire (like our cig lighter) and run that to constant power on the relay, run the switched power to the relay in from the wires going to the headlights then ground with the headlight ground.... sounds simple and very effective!

[Dino]

I drew this up for you... open it in a new window and follow along.



1. The relay is energized from the ignition switch being ON.

2. The relay get's it's switchable power from the headlight circut 12V+.

3. When the ignition switch is OFF, the relay is not energized and allows 12V+ from headlights to flow across the NC (normally closed) terminals of the relay, to one terminal of buzzer, piezo or whatever.

4. When the door is opened, the pin-switch gets grounded and that ground is then supplied to the other terminal of the buzzer and it goes BZZZZZZZZ!

Let me know if your door switch is switched POSITIVE and I'll show you how to put one more relay in the circut to invert the voltage.

[etlsport]

duuuude.. this place effin rules.. dino.. well youre pretty effin awesome too haha ill talk it over with the gf and see which route she would prefer (buzzer or headlights going off)

let me make sure i have your diagram right though... so i would go 87 to the buzzer.. 30 from the headlight switch.. 86 from a circuit only on with ACC mode (ie cig lighter).. and 85 to ground...

and to turn off the headlights with the ignition it would be...

87 to the headlight.. 30 from the headlight wire.. 86 from acc mode circuit.. and 85 to ground

[Y33TREKker]

I didn't read any of the guys' feedback, but apparently someone has come up with a simple remedy.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/92-95-88-91-Honda...QQcmdZViewItem

[etlsport]

hmm thanks for that, i went ahead and bought the buzzer from that guy.. i figure even if it doesnt actually work as easily as he states, its still a buzzer to hook into my own (as diagrammed by dino) circuit...

i was really excited about just wiring the headlights to turn off with the ignition.. then i realized... parking lights and tail lights would still be on.. and i couldnt convince her to switch all that stuff over to LED .. so looks like buzzer it is

[Ldub]

hmm thanks for that, i went ahead and bought the buzzer from that guy.. i figure even if it doesnt actually work as easily as he states, its still a buzzer to hook into my own (as diagrammed by dino) circuit...

i was really excited about just wiring the headlights to turn off with the ignition.. then i realized... parking lights and tail lights would still be on.. and i couldnt convince her to switch all that stuff over to LED .. so looks like buzzer it is

You would also want the headlights/parking lights to be enabled with ign. off for roadside emergencies.

[Dino]

VW and some other German cars are wired so the headlights go off with the key, but the parking lights will still be on if the headlight switch is on. That has saved my arse a few times with some veedubs. Come out the next morning to see parking lights on, and it still started up!

[etlsport]

yeah, my buddy has an audi and i was telling him what i was doing to the del sol and he mentioned that his does that but the rear lights and parking lights stay on... on a car like that it would be ok to leave those lights on... but the battery in the del sol is like a glorified D cell battery haha.. i dont think it would last the night or a work day with parking lights and tail lights on.. guess it couldnt hurt do to both..lol

[Kenny]

VW and some other German cars are wired so the headlights go off with the key, but the parking lights will still be on if the headlight switch is on. That has saved my arse a few times with some veedubs. Come out the next morning to see parking lights on, and it still started up!

I've always wondered if our VX is this way, or just mine with the rewiring they did to get into Canada. My headlights only come on with the ignition key turned.
Only my fogs stay on with the key out and headlights turned to on...

[Dino]

My lights stay on with the key off but it beeps to warn me.

[Techy-D]

my gf's 95 honda del sol doesnt have a little buzzer reminder to tell when the headlights have been left on, which means i keep a second battery around to go jump her car with once every 2 weeks or so.. very annoying.. so im gonna put a buzzer in to remind her to turn the headlights off.. but im not quite sure how to do it.. so i figured id tap into the knowledge base here... ...

How about a new key Fob that says "LIGHTS?"

[etlsport]

hahhaha techy.. she read this post so i got in trouble

but all is forgiven because the deed is done.... they guy on ebay had his #*!@ in gear... it took me longer to walk out the door, to the car and unlock the doors than it did to install the buzzer... which kind of ticks me off because i was unaware that apparently on the fuse panel there is an open port which is activated by the headlights... and another that grounds when the acc mode is off... who knew.. anyway its done but the buzzer sucks.. so im gonna buy a better buzzer and install it sometime soon and itll be all good.. if i had known about the open ports i would have just done that in the first place... live and learn i guess... but now i want to find out what all those other ports are! theres like 12 of them down there!