[s-cars] E-Code High Beams Stuck On

[Mike Sylvester]

Paul,

Is the added license plate light on the load side of the relay or the
switch side?

Mike

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] E-Code High Beams Stuck On
> From: "weski at verizon.net" <weski at verizon.net>
> Date: Mon, October 27, 2014 7:11 pm
> To: Mike Sylvester <mike at urq20v.com>, S-Car-List at audifans.com
> 
> 
> Mike,
> 
> My theory on the relay was directly from the company I bought the e-code 
> headlights from years ago and it worked - without the license plate 
> light the highs would stay on and with it they always turned off when I 
> switched them off.  I'm not a EE so didn't know why it worked but it did.
> 
> Yes - all new waterproof sealed relayed and sockets.
> 
> Paul
> 
> On 10/27/2014 3:25 PM, Mike Sylvester wrote:
> > Paul,
> >
> > I'm not understanding your license plate light theory.
> > A relay is an electrically operated mechanical switch.
> > It shouldn't matter what load is present on the contacts.
> > The load from the license plate light should be insignificant compared
> > to the load of the high beam lights.
> >
> > The contacts in a relay will eventually fail. They are a wear out item.
> > Every time you open the contacts there is a little spark.
> > This can damage the contacts. It can make them have poor contact or they
> > can get welded together and not disconnect.
> >
> > When you redid your wiring, did you replace the relays?
> >
> >
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >> -------- Original Message --------
> >> Subject: [s-cars] E-Code High Beams Stuck On
> >> From: "weski at verizon.net" <weski at verizon.net>
> >> Date: Sun, October 26, 2014 9:19 pm
> >> To: S-Car-List at audifans.com
> >>
> >>
> >> Patient is my 95 S6 with e-code headlights.
> >>
> >>    I've been running the e-codes for over 10 years.  They have always
> >> been relayed - one relay for highs, one for lows, and one for fogs.
> >>   From the beginning, the high beams would not turn off immediately when
> >> I turned them off - some times they would stay on and other times they
> >> would turn off after 20-30 seconds.  Needless to say the on-coming
> >> traffic was not appreciative.  For a quick fix, I installed a license
> >> plate socket under my hood and added it into the passenger high beam
> >> circuit.  This worked great by draining off just enough power after I
> >> turned the highs off to actually turn them off with less than a 1 second
> >> delay.
> >>
> >> Fast forward 10 years.
> >>
> >> I've been having trouble this summer with keeping all lights working
> >> consistently - highs, lows, and fogs.  The relays and wiring was getting
> >> somewhat corroded in places so I redid all the wiring this weekend and
> >> also upgrade all the bulbs to Sylvania Osram SilverStar H1, H1, H3 bulbs
> >> (I had been running these in my lows and they were noticeably brighter
> >> than what ever bulb that came with the headlights and I wanted the same
> >> temperature and light level for all lights).  After I was done, once
> >> again the highs would not turn off when switched off - even with the
> >> extra drain of the little license plate light.
> >>
> >> Anyone have any ideas as to what I can check next to try to correct
> >> these latching high beams?  Do you think the new bulbs draw less current
> >> so my original quick fix isn't drawing enough circuit to work any more?
> >> The lows are bright enough to get me by at night in the short term and I
> >> can flip the lights off and on quickly when I need to turn my high beams
> >> off but I don't want to plan to drive it like this into the winter but
> >> it's good enough to get me to and from the airport once a week until I
> >> figure this out.
> >>
> >> TIA,
> >>
> >> Paul Dooley
> >> 95 S6 - 256,000 miles and counting
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