Headlamp Modifications

[kiwi]

AS luck would have is Oscar the one I have in my spare parts bin is the N/S so I am saved from scavenging parts off the TRS again. I am reluctant to actually replace this ligh, along with the indicator that got holed by a magpie impact until the next WOF (MOT).
The amount of grit they have put on the roads up where I work this winter is most likely the cause of the hole.

Then again once summer starts they will start resurfacing and the stones get bigger

Anyone know of where I can find a source for headlamp protectors?

[mat_fenwick]

Finally, it's all wired up and working! I've used the ignition switched wire on the relay socket for the dim dip relay as the trigger for relay 3, and it all worked perfectly apart from when dipped beam was on and ignition off. I then got the glow plug and ABS warning lights on, which was alarming. Solved by putting an extra diode in the feed from the ignition, although I really can't see why any current would flow the opposite way when dipped beam is on...

[electrokid]

Ahh - you didn't wire it exactly to my master plan then as long as it's working that's the bottom line

A brief update on the WW variable delay I waffled on about a while ago - fine weather - or even showers as we had today means I'm still working on the workshop extension (not long to go now thank goodness) so little electronics gets done. But I have breadboarded the main part of the cct and it's working fine (except that it's probably the most untidy breadboard I've done for a long time and I keep shorting things out and setting it on fire ). There are going to be 3 versions - basic, metered, and... another one I'm keeping under wraps for the moment I'll post when the project is complete this time rather than announcing a mark 2 after the event

'Basic' and 'metered' are working - metered has a meter (unsurprisingly) which shows how much delay you've selected with the control knob the theory being that it saves fiddling around with the control knob to get an ideal setting - by which time it's raining more anyway. Another way is to stick numbers around the control knob of course - but then with a meter you can stick that where you can see it - and the control where you can reach it.

We have 2 days of rain forecast here so... maybe more progress

[mat_fenwick]

Puzzling really, as I thought I had - and it would be an amazing fluke if I had made a working circuit by mistake! Now mounted with a (temporary?) oak bracket holding the relays in place...

Re the intermittent wipe; have you previously mentioned the functionality of the basic model? I assume just a simple pot mounted within reach? At the moment I see little use for an intermittent wipe at all - full on is all that's required round here! Although the suspense is killing me for the 'surprise'

[electrokid]

and it would be an amazing fluke if I had made a working circuit by mistake!

It's amazing ! I can't quite see from your earlier description...

I've used the ignition switched wire on the relay socket for the dim dip relay as the trigger for relay 3

but that's where it's not to drawing and why you had to add the diode - switching dip on was powering the ignition. I had something similar in my 1950 Morris Minor - I'd added a mod but didn't have thick enough wire but it seemed to survive - unknown to me the wire had melted and laid across another wire and shorted out - pressing the brake pedal turned the ignition on without the key

I assume just a simple pot mounted within reach?

Yes. The Granada has an edgewise control like the dash lighting control on the BX - even if you did put the number of seconds on the edge of the knob your finger would cover them until your finger was off again - it's a useful control but since it's not used often you don't have a chance to get used to the time settings so it's easy to 'overcorrect' when trying to get a time that's appropriate for the rate of drizzle. Hence the meter - I might design a second function for the meter such as battery voltage to make the fitting of an extra meter a more useful thing to do - just switching to 'time' when WW delay is used.

And it's an engineering compromise - if a wide range of delay times is provided (Granada is up to 30 seconds) it's harder to adjust the delay to your liking so the delay time range I've chosen is 3 to 20 seconds.

full on is all that's required round here!

With relations in Porthcawl I know what you mean I once parked my Granada near the seafront - it had a very tiny piece of rubber missing at the top of a door frame. We had 5 minutes of the famous Welsh 'horizontal' rain and there was a pool of water in a rear footwell

oak bracket holding the relays in place

Mahogany stained and button polished I trust

[mat_fenwick]

I've used the ignition switched wire on the relay socket for the dim dip relay as the trigger for relay 3

but that's where it's not to drawing and why you had to add the diode - switching dip on was powering the ignition.

I may be being dense here (sorry!) but I can't understand why it's different from the drawing?

The feed to the coil of relay 3 needs to be from an ignition switched supply doesn't it? So as I unplugged the dim dip relay I took the ignition supply that would have gone to its coil and used it to close relay 3. (With hindsight I could have left that original relay in position and just taken its output from where it connects to the dim dip resistor). I can't see where dipped beam is linked to the ignition circuit...am I missing a trick here?

[electrokid]

I've used the ignition switched wire on the relay socket for the dim dip relay

I didn't realise you meant the original dim-dip relay on the car which is why I didn't understand

Now I understand that - what you've done is entirely logical of course so why the Blackpool illuminations on the dash I wonder !

I eventually found the cct in Haynes and it's as straightforward as one would imagine and should give you a direct ignition feed. After much searching I also found cct in the BX manuals - a version for Sweden that is implemented in a very strange way indeed - very easy to get Blackpool illuminations on the dash if you use or load any of those connections - what seems to be an ignition connection simply isn't - it's direct from the battery !

Just to be on the safe side check (if you haven't already done so) that RL3 clicks when ignition is turned on - I might be safer to take an ignition feed from the rad fan 'live' or the stop solenoid.

Sorry - I still don't know why things went strange.

Despite the weather not doing what the BBC told it to do I still managed to get half a day on the workshop extension so no electronics today (so far anyway) - there is one other version of the WW delay I failed to mention - 'switched' where the knob operates a 12 way switch - each clockwise click giving an extra second or so of delay - easy to rotate it fully A/clock for min delay then clockwise for the delay you want without taking eyes off the road.

[mat_fenwick]

No worries. I did try and remove relay 3 from the circuit and just use the original dim dip relay in its place. Worked perfectly until I came to switch from main to dipped with the ignition on. I then found out I had a latching main beam(!), which I could only cancel by turning the ignition off, I think due to the original relay coil earthing though the main beam filaments. Fortunately discovered before I took it out on the road...
Re the wiper mods, would it really spoil your day if I told you Maplins do kits for £8? I guessing you'd still enjoy the project though.

[electrokid]

would it really spoil your day if I told you Maplins do kits for £8

Plus postage don't forget that extra cost

As a basic unit I'm sure it's fine but 5 10 and 15 seconds choices is not going to be particularly useful on the road - if I was chosing just 3 settings I think it would be something like 4 7 and 10.

I think the project is enjoyable for the electronics design and for it's eventual usefulness on the road. There is one major chunk of the design process which is somewhat hidden from view but probably more fascinating and more useful as a mental exercise - what to include - and what to leave out.

There are at least 3 ways to monitor rainfall on the windscreen - using light to monitor the diffraction caused by the raindrops or the occlusion caused by them - using a microphone attached to the windscreen to monitor the impact of the raindrops - monitoring the wiper motor current because a drier screen is a heavier mechanical load on the blade which causes the motor to draw more current.

Then there is the overall requirement that it should be effective and easy to use without distracting the driver - ideally it should be simple enough to become part of the driving process that we don't have to think about (such as changing gear etc) and any automation of the delay should happen without being noticed. This may seem like 'background' stuff but it's quite easy to produce a design that ignores it and it's a very interesting area which should influence the final design.