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Use high beam for DRLs??


ckc

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Hi everyone, I am wondering can the DRLs switch to operating out of the high beams. I have no intention to use HIDs, but I think having the low beams on day and night got to lessen the life for these bulbs. Since the high beams are so seldomly used, I think it will be logical to have them on with reduced power during the day time. Anyone have any recommendation? Can it be done without too much rewiring?? I also don't know how to remove the headlight housing unit. anyone can advise on that??

Thank you.

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My recomendation is to not be an a-hole and drive around with your high beams on. Just disconnect the DRLs and be done with it. Check your state motor vehicle code for reasons why you can't drive around with your high beams on.

 

PS It can be done, but not without serious rewiring, which is what you are trying to avoid. Again, just disable them if you are concerned about bulb life.

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I'm sure it can be done.. But, do you want deal with the law or ticket(s)?

 

I would also interested in that mod.

 

I don't see how using dimmed high beams would be illegal.

Many car makers use this setting, which is the best IMHO because it has good visibility while sparing the low beams.

 

And please don't start that complain about DRL/Canada again ;)

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I'll step in here since I had the same idea. I think what he meant doing is the same like other car makers do, and run it at a lower voltage therefore not blinding people but still keeping the DRL function. I will soon get myself into this project, and I don't really think I will make myself an a-hole out of it :munch: I was looking at the wiring diagrams for the DRL circuit and how it funcitions, and it may not be as hard to make it work. I still believe in the safety feature of DRL's, and it is a shame that Subaru did not think like other manufactures and put the seldomly used high beams to good work.

 

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Ok, so I was thinking about this....

 

Isn't the length of the filment in the High beam bulb longer, IE, more light? And if so, it is more likely to be stressed from motion than low beam, shorter filment, less light? And if that is true, why would you want to heat the filment of the high beam more offen than you need to if it has a higher chance of failure?

 

I for one just disconnected my day time running lights.

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Ok, so I was thinking about this....

 

Isn't the length of the filment in the High beam bulb longer, IE, more light? And if so, it is more likely to be stressed from motion than low beam, shorter filment, less light? And if that is true, why would you want to heat the filment of the high beam more offen than you need to if it has a higher chance of failure?

 

I for one just disconnected my day time running lights.

 

I had a few cars with high beams as DRL and never notice a higher rate of bulb failure.

And the Legacy has a very high rate of failure on the low beams.

A friend on mine is actually on his third set of bulbs on his LGT that he bought in july on 2004. That is very short life!

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I see I am not the only "A Hole" here!! Of course I am not looking to blind everyone by keeping the highbeam on all day long. Obviously there are enough cars out there use that DRL setup, as concurred by other readers.

I will definitely appreciate if a friendly someone, whose less 'sensitive' to this idea, to offer a way to do so without breaking the law or the electricals. Thank you.

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My recomendation is to not be an a-hole and drive around with your high beams on.

 

you guys don't have to be obnoxious. There are several cars out there that use high beams on low power for drl. It's not like it's a new concept.

 

And please let's not get into a why drl's suck thread, there is plenty of research all the way around pro and con, and it won't be resolved here, that's for sure...

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Looking at the wiring diagrams some more I think I have narrowed down the wires that need to be cut and spliced. Now I just have to go to the car and see them in person. Hopefully I'll get some time this week.

 

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Mr. Deer Killer and OCDetails :

I appreciate the fact that you did not share the view of some of us who happens to think DRLs are good. However, I did not appreciate your tone and name calling. You guys had a bad experience with DRLs or something? Clam down, man!

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Well , I'll try it, test it out and see what it looks like. The high beams will hopefully not be at full force, and it will not blind anyone. Anyway this is a mod for someone that knows what they want, and will have to know how to do it, does not mean that everyone will go around blinding people around. So hopefully whoever does this will be smart enough to turn on their lights at dusk. Just like having fogs on without any other lights is illegal, but people still do it.

 

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I just came back from experimenting with the Higbeam-DRL mod, and I found out some interesting things. To begin with I found out that the brown cable that is on the far end of the white plug that gets disconnected to disable DRL's is the only cable that turns off and on the DRL's. I also found out that when the DRL's are running they run at is 12.5 volts, and when the headlights get turned on it runs at 14 volts. This is how the DRL's are not as bright, and also turn brighter when the headlights turn on. So simply cutting this cable wil disable DRL's, but if you do not want to cut anything, unplugging the white connector should not do any harm.

 

I also found out that the black connector next to the white one controls the high beams. The red cable is the one that turns them on and off.

 

1. Picture of both connectors (white is unplugged):

 

http://deexboy.com/albums/album25/IMG_5053.sized.jpg

 

2. picture of white connector showing brown cable that controls the DRL's:

 

http://deexboy.com/albums/album25/IMG_5056.sized.jpg

 

3. white connector with brwon wire cut, this disables DRL's:

 

http://deexboy.com/albums/album25/IMG_5058.sized.jpg

 

Now the logical thing to do would be to just splice the brown cable from the DRL white plug module into the red cable from the black plug, but unfortunately the circuit is a looped one that does not switch off when the low beams are on. So it is not as easy as just cutting and splicing, I will have to use a relay to make the highs turn off when the low beams are on. It should not be hard, and it will probably be a better circuit anyway.

 

I got tired today of doing this, but this is a good start. At least there are a few things that I know now that I did not know before. Once I get done with this, and if the high beams turn out to be too much light for day driving, then I will disable this mod. Got to try it before knocking it for sure. I will probably end up putting a switch as well for when I get tired of DRL's, or when I need them off.

 

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Lax, I did a quick research on Google and found this :

 

How does high beam DRL systems with lower intensity work?

Low beam DRL systems are not very common in North America, however, it is perfectly legal. High beam DRL systems are very common. The main reason for using high beam is simply a marketing/safety/relibility thing from manufacturer. Since full power high beams in general are used 30% and low beams are used 70%, automaker can make bulbs last longer by combining high beam with DRL function.

 

Tecnically, a resistor could be placed in series with bulb to lower voltage and therefor output, but it would not be possible to go below a certain voltage. Below around 10Volts, bulb does not get hot enough and start making inside of bulb glass smoked, which of course is not good. The most common solution to this is to send squared vawed pulses with a vawe length of about 12ms of 12V hight. By varying the time off in comparison to time on, the desired output can be achived. As an example, if you have a 55W bulb, and have 1:1 relationship, it would give half the output. In most realistic cases, squeare vawe is more on than off, giving out 60-80% of full wattage.

 

 

Maybe it can help...

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Thanks DrGT. This is why I measured the voltage from the DRL and found out that it runs at 12.5V when in DRL mode, and 14V when in full on mode. Of course our cars are different in that instead of switching on Positive (+) voltage, they get switched on Negative (-) ground. I will have to play with it and see how they turn out. I also may need to use a diode to stop the high beam indicator light from turning on. I will work on this more in the next couple of days and see how it turns out.

 

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