High Beams on without momentarily blankin

Brock,  You ARE the man!  Your last post got me thinking about my EXISTING oem light switch.  (stay with me here)  Okay,   It's a two position switch.  Position 1 is my parking lights and position 2 is my parking lights WITH my low beam headlights!  Why can't I come off of that position 1 that's going to my parking lights, hit a relay and then the ballast of my HID x2?  That way, position 1 would be my parking lights AND my low beams.  And, my existing PIAA driving lights COULD go to the High Beam leg of my H4 connector.  Then, the "flash to pass" and high beam would be INDEPENDENT of the Low Beams/Parking Lights, RIGHT ???

Am I crazy - or is this a great idea?  It looks like the only thing I would lose is my ability to use JUST my parking lights WITHOUT my low beams.  Big deal.  I never drive with ONLY my parking/running lights!

What do you think ???

Yah that would would work fine and you have described it exactly how it works.  The diagram I came up with does exactly the same thing except you would be able to have parking lights on all by themselves.  To do it my way is more complicated than you would think and requires tricky relay logic and more money spent on parts.  I like your idea, you will save some cash and like you say who cares about having park lights on all by themselves.  I still enjoyed the challenge of making it work the other way.  The schematic required some reverse logic thinking for it to work properly.  I'll send you the schematic when I finish it on my PC just for your records. Sounds like case closed.

Good talking to you

Brock Harvey

Excellent!  I really appreciate your ideas - because it made me think ALSO!  Now, I've got 2 PIAA (new) relays that I didn't use on my initial install.  I imagine I could use them - 1 per low beam side? 

I imagine that I tap into the existing parking lamp wire as the trigger, right?

Is there a way to run ONE cable only with one heavier duty relay?  Or, is it safer to do one per side?  I'm looking for easy - but safe at the same time.  My existing (soon to be High Beam PIAA's) lamps can go directly to the Upgraded H4 harness High Beam side and it's already through a relay and a fuse directly to the battery.

Thanks! - Rick

I would just run one per side since you have them already. You could take a clip on ammeter and measure the current to each light and then add them together to get a total current draw.  Then size your relays, fuse, and wire accordinly, you may be able to use one relay if the current draw is within its range without being overloaded.  Or you could divide the wattage rating of the lights by the voltage (12volts) to get the current.  Your right just tap into the existing park light wire either at one of the lights or at the light switch itself.  I think at the light switch it's BLACK / YELLOW positive trigger but I don't know what year your jeep is so it could be different. 

Brock

One more thing, If you ever decided to do the wiring using the timers the one you figured would work well is right.  I think it was the .....970 for $20.95 would be perfect.

Later Brock

Believe it or not, I have not added an ammeter to my bag of tricks at this time.  I think the HID's draw ONLY 35 watts after the initial 23,000 Volts? to start-up.  The PIAA's come with 35watt H3's - so I'm probably ok, right?  I may consider using 55watt - since they wold only be used in short intervals and will go to my upgraded harness anyway.  Do you think the relays that came with the Piaa 35 watt driving lights would be sufficient - based on what you know about my set-up?  And, I would rather make connections under the hood versus under the dash.  I've got a 2000 Jeep Cherokee.

Thanks - Rick

Yah I think the PIAA relays would work fine (the one that came with my off-road PIAA's was good quality) and sufficient current rated.   Not to many guys with a DC Ammeter as they are a little more pricey than an AC clip on ammeter and not that important for typical 12 volt installations.

Brock

Thanks again.  I will probably dig into it this weekend.  Do you see any issue with changing the 35 watt bulbs with the 55 watt bulbs?  I would be concerned if they were the mains and used all the time.  My intent is probably ONLY "Flash To Pass" or minimal High Beam On use.

Rick

I don't see any problem since the time used will be intermittent.  Have fun!

Brock

Thanks again!

Rick