i need a lo to hi beam fix

[culowdragger72]

has any body figured out how to keep the low beam from dimming down when the high is switched on?

 

is there a wire that needs to be cut or looped.

 

my light suck at night :mad:

[DanielC]

You can get aftermarket lamps (bulbs) that have higher wattage. If you do, you need to add a relay to bypass the original headlight fuse, and light switch. A 521 stock fuse box, when new could barely handle the electrical load.

post 33, on this page of my project gives some details of a quick and dirty way of adding another fuse, and relay to power the headlights.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/30606-my-ratsun-datsun-521/page__st__20

[banzai510(hainz)]

Get a H4 harness.

 

if you got a 35amper Alterntor and at idle it might go dimmer

 

reseat the connectors at the lamps and clean the fuse box contacks where the fuse goes

[culowdragger72]

i have the 240z 50 or 60 amp alternator

[banzai510(hainz)]

50 AMPER IF TRU THEN IT HAS TO BE A BAD GROUND OR SOEMTHING OR CORROSSION

 

 

I run a H4 harness with 55/60watt out lights stock 50watt inners

and Hella 500s bumber lights and 50amper alt.

Doesnt LOAD down at all now since the upgrade to a 50amper.

 

I run a cig light volt meter and I can tell when Im drawing to much current as the volts start to go down. You can look at that maybe alt getting weak

[Laecaon]

Do you mean how the low beam goes away, and you only see the high beam pattern on the road? The low beam is not dimming, its completely going away.

 

Your outer lights are Hi/Low dual filament lights.You cannot run both the high and low filaments at the same time for any useful duration as it will overheat the light.

 

What you could do is wire up the truck to maintain the low beams on anytime the lights are on, this being your outer head lights. Then when you turn on the highs, only your inner lights get turned on and not the outer lights high filament, and this would be in addition to your already on Low beams. Now you would have both your high and low beam patterns on the road.

[culowdragger72]

Yeah that's what meant about the lows dimming when you flip the highs on. So to do that I need to run a different switch for the highs?

 

[Laecaon]

The super duper ghetto way (I would never do it this crudely):

 

Find your headlight relay. Cut the RB wire going to it. Then connect the RB wire to the RY wire (leave the RY connected to the relay as well). Finally cut the RW from the terminals behind the outer head lights (or whichever lights have 3 wires going to them).

 

Honestly though, I would get some new H4 lights.

[banzai510(hainz)]

Yeah that's what meant about the lows dimming when you flip the highs on

 

They dim or go completely out????????

 

STOP!!!!!!!!

Buy a H4 Harness!!!!!!!!! OR

Clean the light relay connector. Or clean the contak in the relay. This is simple

[Laecaon]

I have looked at the H4 harness you always link to, not really easy to get anymore. And it doesnt accomplish what he wants.

 

And it doesnt sound like a dirty contact issue, everything sounds to be working like it did from the factory.

 

He is basically not liking the way cars have always turned their low beams off to turn on the high beams (every car I have ever driven does this, I am sure there are a few exceptions)

 

So really he is just looking at a way to fill the road in front with light, and the current quad highs dont work for what he wants, though it should as my friends 521 has pretty decent light output with the 4 sealed beams.

 

Are you lights adjusted properly?

[banzai510(hainz)]

Laeceon. The Lows should not dim when the Highs come on unless hes at idle with a 35amper alter. The stock sealed beam lamps are 35/35 watts. on low it usues one element then on HIGH it uses the other element but never both at the same time.. Then whn the highs come on of coarse they come on.

Now he can just use the new H4 harness as a low current trigger. Useing the connector that goes to the passenger side outer lamp 3 prong connector plugs in to the new harness which is hooked up directly straight to the battery thus . But I believe there is a ground wire that hookes up there to the chassis( i got to look).

To me I dont think he has anything wrong besides corrossion issues. or low output.

Key is Buy some Hella/Bosch/Cibie lamps and a H4 harness and should be fine with a 50amper.

Now you can harness from ebay. Victoria British. 4 wheel drive shops. Ralley lights .com, IPF ect.

I only show thay website as its a basic read on how they work. Most are made in China. Higher quality is about 100$. I have had good luck with mine except the crimp at the end of the H4 plug melted. High resisitance. I had to redo it.

 

also on 521s you have to get a tweezers or soemthing and pull the pins out to fit thu the hole. So I just labol the color and remove the pins route wires thru the housing the reconnect on the other side. Also on 521 I had to use a jumper in the harness to make it swichable power. Then when using H4 bulbs one notice there is a defeltor which shine the light on the back HALF of the housing thus one will need to raise the lamps to shoot the beam higher. I think Daniel Stern Lighting has instructions on how to do this. OK for some reason all my sentances starts in middle of the page (WTF)

[Laecaon]

Laeceon. The Lows should not dim when the Highs come on unless hes at idle with a 35amper alter. The stock sealed beam lamps are 35/35 watts. on low it usues one element then on HIGH it uses the other element but never both at the same time.. Then whn the highs come on of coarse they come on.

 

You are right, they shouldnt dim, they should turn off...

Forget the word dim, think completely off. They are not dimming, they simply are not on, its just using the wrong word to describe what is going on. If the lows really are on with the highs, then there is a wiring problem, or a relay problem. You answered exactly what I am trying to say. When highs are on, lows are off. And as you said yourself, high uses the other element, but not both at the same time. So if this is the case, how in the world can the lows even be on with the highs? They arent, not even dim.

[banzai510(hainz)]

Far as I know the Lows stay on with the Highs. In the H4 outters it switches from the 55watt side and goes to the 60 watt side on the outer lamps. the inners get a ground thus turning them ON also.

 

so all 4 lamps will be ON. this is still stock that the way it should be.

[ggzilla]

High - 4 lamps light up (high filaments)

Low - 2 lamps light up (low filaments)

 

So the lows go OFF when the highs come on. Laecaon is correct.

[Boaty]

Let me chime in. Maybe this will make a bit of sense.

 

Let's say I unplug my high beams (inners) in the 510. I go to high beams, it swaps filiments on the outters. That being said, at least on my H4's, the high beam element is aimed so bloody high off the road that it just looks dim, even if it is IS in fact brighter. Maybe that's the case here?

 

Personally, I would rather the low beams stay on just so I can keep the low beam pattern in addition to the high beams (inners). It might just be MY H4's, they aren't name brand.. eBay knock offs from years ago. But they work and have a good cutoff. The split from high to low on them is large though. Like... low beams aimed correctly, the high filaments just fire light up in the sky, trees, etc. This basically makes everything LOOK dim from the driver's seat but you can clearly see the light output IS brighter... just not where it needs to be.

 

I've seen other Datsuns, that when you hit the high beams the low beams cut off entirely. 510's included! I'm saying period, not just the low-beam filament. I mean the outters completely go out.

I'm wondering if maybe that's not intentional, because you lose a LOT of fill light if the low beams go out completely. High beams are like spotlights and suck by themselves, IMHO. Maybe it's a 40 year old headlight relay thing? Who knows. I'm not familiar with other models besides 510's and a little about pickups. Learning more every day.

 

But anyways. I don't think it's a corrosion thing, If it was that bad to cause that much of a voltage drop, after this amount of time you'd know because of other signs. Like melting wires with heat or at least getting them hot. A fuse box thing comes to mind...

 

I like the idea of eliminating the low/hi dual filiment and just using the low beam filament. Both at the same time? Cody does this in his 510 and hasn't had any issues, but I'm not sure how long a set of bulbs lasts him. But if a person were to just maintain the low beam filament at all times, it would essentially give you a reason to run some H1 conversions if you could find them.

 

For years I wanted to buy a set of Cibie CSR's from Daniel Stern, but the price was prohibitive... but after seeing them in person, if I could warrant the expense, I'd rock them in a heartbeat. They were incredibly bright compared to even Hella H4's or Cibie H4's. I was impressed. The CSR's were H1 lamps. Lows stayed on regardless, high beams on when you want them. Literally twice the light of what I have, with the same wattage bulbs. But I digress.

 

REGARDLESS of whether or not it'd be required, all connections, grounds, and relays should be in good shape just BECAUSE that's maintenance. So either way, I'd go in and clean everything up. Including hardness connections, and grounds. That -IS- simple. Either it'll yield improvement, or nothing at all - but it's good juju period. DO it anyways.

[ggzilla]

[culowdragger72]

thanx for the info, i'll take a pic or video of it