4 lights single switch multiple modes

First of all, I'm a super noob to the site, and i've been trying to search through the threads, but wasn't sure if this should be in the lighting or relay thread so i appologize if there is already a solution that i haven't found yet.

What i'm trying to do is setup 4 ralley lights with a single pulse switch. I want to be able to hit the switch once and turn on 2 lights, hit the switch again, turn on the next 2 lights so all 4 are on, and then hit the switch agiain and turn them all off. If i could i wouldn't mind having it so i just press the switch once to turn on 2 and maybe just hold down to turn on 4, and press to turn off... any of these combos would work, but i can't seem to figure out exactly how to wire this.

I know there are other solutions out there that i could use that would make it easier, like mulitple switches, but this is a stock switch that i'm re-purposing and want ot keep it as stock looking as possible.

Any thoughts or ideas are welcomed.

Sounds like a good application for a 4017 "One of ten output" counter, but that's a 14-pin chip/IC that would then have its outputs (up to 1-9, 0 left as "off") combined through diodes and transistors (or another chip) to drive the light relays. IMO relay logic would be a nightmare, and IMO - if you mean rally - somewhat risky. Let me know if still interested. Soldering of chips and electronic components is required...

That is what I was afraid of, but was hoping for possibly an easier solution...and yes i did mean rally lights sorry for the misspelling, (ex: Hella 500's) So doing a single pulse relay (or dual, one for each set) to operate all 4 at the same time would probably be the better option.

Well, speaking as a rallyer myself... (Admittedly many years ago, but let's just say that the driving methodology is still very present - I still scare the wits out of my girlfriend of 20 (er, ...23) years - and that's just from my "non-reaction" to normal traffic, and my clearances to passing passenger-side vehicles.) My main suggestion would be NOT to have a sequential switch. You want big, strong, and simple switches. You don't want to be fumbling for switches, or counting pushes, or cycling again because that last bump caused an unintended push. (Oh - and move floor-mounted dip switched to the column, but maybe that is irrelevant these days. In 2001 I fitted a later hi-low-flash steering column switch to my "1 year old" 1965 ute...) Back then we were limited to a max of 4 headlights so I removed my inner 2 standards and added SuperOcars. I included a switch to turn off the outer highbeams because running 400W of lighting on a 25A alternator led to flatteries (flat battery). Later I enabled the outer lows to remain on even when on high. I found that I lacked good lighting just in front of me even though I could see what was 1km to 1 mile ahead. (And what do modern cars do? LOL! But the arguments I once had - authorities argued it was illegal, but I proved them wrong. (Yet again.)) How did kangaroos get sunburnt during the night? My car! But I am currently going thru a similar situation to you - essentially 6 bulbs where the outers are hi/lo H4, but are normally run as low even when on hibeam (as per many modern cars - eg, dedicated low), plus inner spots. I want to select between flashing the outer H4 high's for friendly fire (around town and for truck signalling) but otherwise the inner spots for angry situations (or maybe all 6 bulbs!). Being the nice guy that I am (until provoked), I reckon my inner pencil-beam spots (100W or 130W) are too powerful for mere mortals. Similarly for normal hi/lo selection - akin to a city or country mode of lighting. Anyhow, I hadn't considered sequential switching because - even in normal civilian driving mode - I reckon I want instantaneous selection. I'll probably use momentary push buttons that latch the appropriate combination. Reaction speed and switch space as well as location are important considerations. With that comes the ease of selection - I don't like having to look at my switches to find them - I want eyes on the road. Rather than outline possibilities, I'll ask you if you are space limited or have several options available. (Besides, I must get to other pressing issues...) But if I may add two thoughts: 1. Big rally type long toggle switches were popular, but I reckon they break to easily (eg, fast hits whilst competing), and IMO they were electrically too big (since all lights should be through relay anyhow, hence making many more switches suitable). And toggle switches are hazardous enough when moving around the cabin. 2. An oil-pressure & engine kill system: (This also relates greatly to fools that control electric oil pumps from oil-pressure switches!!) Some use lack of oil pressure to kill the fuel pump. This is a totally wrong philosophy. We already have the best system - the (no) oil pressure light comes on and the driver decides if they want to kill the engine midway around a corner or in front of an approaching locomotive. That's not mentioning the damage that can be done to injectors and the engine by leaning out the fuel mixture... As an automated system, then a warning light that triggers a timer (maybe 3 seconds?) to give the driver a chance to override the impending engine kill. I envisaged 2 big lit push-buttons (~1" square) - one green, one red... The red kills the ignition. It is lit (and flashes, maybe buzzes) if the oil-pressure light comes on. Hitting it kills the engine imediately. The green is an override. It is also lit if the oil-pressure light comes on or red is flashing. Both or either can normally be lit as well, maybe dimly when not activated (by lack of oil pressure etc). If the green is NOT hit within say 3 seconds of the oil-pressure red flashing, the engine kill operates. Though red can be a universal engine kill, the green can be an automated engine-kill defeat/override, or an engine start if the engine is not running. The above is relatively versatile & simple - the delay timer being the most complex. Engine-run sensing is done via the alternator's charge light circuit (which is what controls electric fuel pumps - NOT oil-pressure switches!) but can also be done via air-flaps on EFIs, or spark-sensing circuits (eg, the common Bosch EFI's spark-sensing fuel-pump relay). Fuel pumps are supposed to stop as soon as the engine is stopped - not AFTER some oil-pressure drop delay. Nor is killing fuel an appropriate way to save an engine (eg, in case of no oil pressure) - that can cause major engine damage until it finally stops; that should be an ignition-kill circuit (usually by shorting the ignition sensor else points or ignitor output to GND). In simple terms, engine stall needs a instant fuel-pump kill. Engine protection needs an an instant engine kill. Low oil pressure either kills the engine (not recommended!) or advises the driver. Killing fuel to stop a gasoline engine is NOT recommended. Whilst that 2nd thought above is detailed, I provided it mainly as an example of how switches and their lighting can interact, and also to prevent you following the same universally crap advice that others with competition cars seem so bent on pursuing.    And it's the above switch and their lighting method I'm considering for my lo-spot, lo-hi, lo-hi-spot etc combinations but using small "tactile" 50mA PCB mounting switches (~10mm round). [FYI - Other things are involved too, like the horn activating headlights, dimmers for all headlights (to reduce inconsiderate or "illegal" 130W or 100W bulbs to lower intensities), dimmable halogen park lights...]     Your thoughts? (Or your confusion...?)

If you could see my eyes at this point... they would look something like this -> Ok maybe i need to clarify myself a little more. This is for actually a Mini cooper to setup a selection of lights similar to this. However instead of me punching holes in various locations, or mounting the ugly sticky switches i would like to use the stock switch panel that is in the car since there is a spare switch that is supposed to be used for the DCS control, however my car doesn't have it so i was going to utilize the circuit on the board to do the switching on/off of the lights. For a quick reference here is what the circuits look like on the switch board here The nice thing about using the stock toggles is that i already have them all memorized.

hi, look into a PAC TR-7. feature number 16 should interest you. mark

Post Edit: Sorry Ween, I missed your reply. I just spent an hour or 2 on the phone losing my job, and scratching $$ for my now delivered brakes... Back to what I posted... Trust me to jump the gun! (Aren't they Rallye lights? Not that I ever caught up with that jargon...) Ok, so you prefer to use those switches... And I presume at least the 4 inner switches are center-off with momentary up & down contacts. When you say you have the switches memorized, do you mean a circuit that latches their last state (up or down etc)? Not that that's a problem - a normal relay can be wired to latch (with another relay or switch to unlatch). But from any "latching" output, is is simply a matter of connecting to the target lights (relay) thru diodes - eg, switch #1 thru diodes to 2 lights, switch #2 through diodes to all lights (and switch #3 thru diodes to other 2 lights whatever). The only issue is turning off each switch, but in your case, and using SPST relays wired for latching mode, switch #3 could turn on a relay (SPDT) to break power to unlatch the other relays. Using the existing latching circuit or memorization is another issue, though I suspect diodes from switch #3 (off) to the off position of the other 2 switches is the solution. (Hence #1 up for 2 on, down for off; #2 up for all 4, down for 2/4 or all off (with diodes to #1's off); and #3 through diodes to the #1 & #2 off sides for all off. I guess that last para will be another or , but I know what I mean. It sounds doable no matter which scenario, just a lot of diodes. And just in case, are you using one relay per pair, or one relay per light? (I overkill - 1 relay per light but with dual-fused-relay New Era relays. And I use self-restting ATS circuit breakers instead of blade/ATS fuses. But I am reconsidering moving to 2 lights per relay - my separation in case of crashes has never been needed... )

I really like Ween's idea of the Pac TR-7. I think mode 3 would do what i want, as far as a single switch sending the signal to turn them all on at once. When i say i have them memorized, I have almost the entire circuit memorized, as well as the position of each switch and what they do. The 2nd, 4th, and 5th switch area all the same. If you switch up with will send the same signal as though you switch down. The circuit is actually tied into each of the positions. The link i provided above, also here you can see by the 3rd picture that the A/B contacts have the circuit tied into one another. Typically on the mini when you throw the switch it sends a low voltage signal to a computer which in turn interprets based on the location of the wire in the harness what you are wanting to do and the current state of the device. Example: Flip the 4th switch up it will turn on the rear fog lights flip it up again, or down, and it will turn off the lights. The 2nd switch though, DSC, doesn't work that way (using a computer). from looking at all the diagrams and dissecting the devices it looks like that one will send a signal straight to the DSC device in the engine and from there it's another wire that sends a signal to the main brain to cause the "DSC" light in the car to come on to let you know it's been activated. I still need to check the voltage of the pins to find out how strong it is, but i know for certain i won't be able to run 12v through the switch circuit. Using a circuit simulator i did find that this setup does work with my initial idea of single throw on, second throw all on, and 3rd throw off. However 5 relays on a small car is a little over kill. we were able to create another IC setup that would also work. but sometimes it seemed to cause a little bit of a disturbance in the force (star wars reference).

Yeah, Ween is another goodie for brilliant suggestions. (They have great songs too LOL!) I'm not familiar with and haven't use the PAC-7 and similar. (I keep forgetting what I read, and IMO they are too expensive or too specialised - I tend to use electronics and common relays, not that I've needed much electronics (except diodes) other than for variable speed wiper delays. But now that the awesome 8-pin $3-$6 PICAXE 08M2 is available... a universal core circuit & PCB for everything, including your app.) Nor am I a fan of multiple relays - aka "relay logic", especially if mere diodes or novel wiring can be used. (F.ex, my latching SPST relay is merely ONE standard SPST relay plus an on switch and optional off switch, and I add 1 or 2 diodes ONLY to prevent the chance of power routing through the switch(es). That too is relay logic, but with apparently lateral thinking.) And yes, I now see the obvious common switch connections in that pic. (I was considering deciphering its circuit logic...) And I note - with approval! - that it uses GND or 0V switching - the obvious choice for many applications (different supply voltages of the commonly grounded targets then become irrelevant). Anyhow, those raw switches can be easily tapped via diodes and buffers to control (latching) relays or other logic circuitry. (Don't you love externally accessible thru-holes even in SMD (Surface Mount) designs!) EG: - 2 or 3 switches and 3 buffers or transistors & resistors to control 2 latching SPST headlight relays and a third reset SPDT(?) relay (and diodes?); - a 4017 counter from a single momentary switch control (optional down to reset) which then buffers to 2 SPST relays. A voltage check will only confirm the switch voltages (logic levels), not the possible current. Membrane type switches (eg, the interleaved switch-contact copper tracks the PCB) are only capable of mA with perhaps ~50mA being a typical maximum - ie, a load of at least ~300R (Ohms) resistance. But to prevent track burning or arcing, I'd use some electronic buffer anyhow - unless those PCBs etc are common and cheap (yeah, as if!)? I think the TR-7 has a high-impedance trigger input - ie, mA if not uA. But I'll leave it there for a TR-7 solution.