momentary switch toggle hi beams in car

hi,

well it appears your wiring is correct.  do you have power on term. 56?..lighting switch turned on to headlight position?  term. S is for the switch contact to ground.  the momentary flash you get should be power on term. 56a. (high beam output)

 I mock set up a simple circuit with a few bulbs, power supply and relay of course...everything appears ok here...operates as described. let me know if i can be of any further assistance, since i recommended the VW relay

Mark

Thanks Mark, for your prompt reply.

I'll do some double checking, but I do think I have power on 56 when the headlight is on. That was the first thing I checked, as I presumed maybe I had knocked a wire off teh headlight switch while messing under the dash.

Another thing of note: I have power on 30 (which of course is Hot, and should), and I find that I have power on S. That is where I have the momentary switch hooked.

I wonder if the relay is bad. Any suggestions on how I should test that?

hi,

the relay, connected as described, will have 12 volts on the 'S' term.  the current is flowing through the coil of the relay with power applied to the '30' term. 

if the relay supplies power to the '56a' term, with power on '30' term and 'S' term grounded, that portion of the relay is operating correctly.  it should make a noise/click when the ground is applied.

with power applied to the '56' term, the power should switch between the '56a' and '56b' terms with each application of ground to the 'S' term..it should also click with each ground pulse applied.

try connecting terms. '30' and '56' together temporarily, putting battery power on the '56' term...jumper wire?.  power should be output on either '56a' or '56b'.(headlights on if connected) if they don't come on, i'd suspect a bad relay, assuming your headlight wiring in the vehicle is correct.  if all is fine, then check the wiring from the headlight switch.

mark

Thanks Mark. That is so helpful.

I have confirmed that the headlight wire gets power when I turn on the headlights.

I will do the testing you mention above tonight, or tomorrow night, and post back here with my results.

Well, it's looking like the relay is bad. I moved the BATT wire to the 56 term, and did not have power on either 56a, or 56b, nor did I get the click when grounding.

It was back in March when I purchased the relay from Napa, so I don't know if they'll make it good, but I'm gonna try that route, or buy another, and see what happens. They'll have to order in the relay, so it'll be a few days before I know the results.

Thanks, Mark, for your help. I'll post back when as fyi, or other thoughts, depending on the outcome ;-). I expect to get a good realy and be successful.

sounds as if it is bad.....did you have term 56 and term 30 powered to battery? if just term 56, then the relay is open on the common contact(defective).  the relay won't click unless term 30 has power. that is the other side of the relay coil.  i do have several of those relays if you have problems exchanging...(inexpensive, as i do appreciate the Tri-fives, having one myself)  let me now if you need any further help

mark

I had just 56 powered. I moved the BATT wire from 30 to 56.

I called NAPA, and while a little skeptical ("A Volkswagen relay in a 56?") , I think they are going to change it out. That being said, with this one not working, I'm a little skeptical about another one.

If I had realized I could purchase one from you, I would have done that in the first place.

I'll let you know how it goes. It'll be later this week before they have the replacement for me.

Thanks for your help.

Mark

Well, getting the new relay did it. It now works.

Thanks so much for your help.

Roger

cool...just in time for the summer : )

m