dip / main beam switching

[jakesmig]

Hi folks,
I'm currently fully rewiring my mill stone and am pondering the effect of the MK1 column switch on the headlamps. I did a search but didn't find my answer so here goes.

My system consists of 4 relays, each one controlling a pair of filaments, eg main inner, main outer, dip inner & dip outer, with the dip inner having an on/off overide option. Sounds well over the top, which it is, but it's bullet proof and good for 700 Watts out the front if you're up for it.

Point is, when Main beam is engaged the dip beam remains on and if you stand 10 feet in front of the car the rise in temperature is noticeable. Back in the '70's I had a Sprint which was wired 4 & 4 but IIRC the dip beam went off when switching to main. Does anyone know if this is correct, and if so, will the Sprint switches, including wiper stalk, transplant onto the Stag Column, and also, does the Sprint wiper stalk have the intermitent wipe function, which my current switching doesn't have.

Cheers,

John.

[Lingen]

John. I can't answer your question, but a word of warning. If you are using bulbs with twin filaments, these are NOT designed to operate with them both alight together. They will quickly overheat, and will soon fail. And if it really is 700 watts, which is 58 amps, the alternator will not cope with that load, let alone any other electrical equipment that may be running at the same time.
You could have four main beams, and four dip, but that would mean fitting the outer "Dip" type light units in all four positions. The holders would need a small modification to allow this.
Mike.

[V Mad]

Maybe you used SPST relays? You could use SPDT relays to light one filament at a time. One example of many different ways to wire them:

STAG HEADLIGHTS V2.jpg
PS: You don't need to change the column switch or any of the switches.

[jakesmig]

Thanks for the replies.
Mike, I'm not intending to put 700 watts through the system, just mentioning that it can take up to that amount. I do take the point of overheating the filaments, however prior to this rebuild I used Hella headlights which used twin filament bulbs and was wired to light the 2 outer on dip and all 4 on main beam, which means that, with the Mk1 column switch, the outers would be operating both filaments at the same time when on main beam, which they did without burning out. These bulbs were 100/60W, whether that makes a difference or not I don't know. Seems to me that even with the oldest Stag lighting system both filaments on the outer lamps would have lit up in main. The alternator I have fitted is an 80Amp output which just about has enough grunt to run all the electrics at a worst case scenario.

Chris, Nice solution, one which I'd never thought of, however I've gone down the route of a modular fuse / relay box using micro relays so I'm not sure I can now opt for that system. Need to check further on that one. I;m happy to run with my existing switching, although I am interested in intermittent wipers so just looking at different combination possibilities.

John.

[Lingen]

John. You seem to have things under control. Just to clarify, every UK Stag had the same headlight set up, using four single filament H1 lamps. The outer pair were shielded, and the glass lens deflected the beam down. These were permanently lit from the main light switch.. The inner main beams, with symmetrical lenses, were controlled by the dipswitch.
I think some export models had the Sealed Beam lamps as fitted to the TR saloons. These were wired differently giving four main beams, and two dipped.
Mike.

[jakesmig]

Thanks Mike, that explains the column switching arrangement. The dip beam feed (blue/red) at the switch doesn't disconnect when the main beam is activated so both circuits are live by default. My fitment of twin filament Hella lamps was wrong, although the twin element did work without blowing the bulbs.
Strangely enough the lights failed the last weekend before I took the car off the road for the current refurb and the fault was traced to grease coating the contacts inside the light switch, so it could be that, despite using relays, the circuit was heating up which melted the lubricating grease in the switch. At least that fault is remedied.

John.

[Mike Stevens]

When I restored my Stag I fitted a dip switch assembly from a big saloon which does have twin filament outers. By moving just one pin in the plug (plastic Mk2 type) it gave the change-over function rather than having both filaments on at once.

Of course, fitting C/O relays does much the same thing!

Cheers,
Mike.

[jakesmig]

thanks mike.