5 replies to this topic

[mini_ron]

can anyone help me out???

I would wire my drivin lights into the main beam on my mini?

I plan to have 4 Cibie Super Oscars on the front, on a light bar.

I think i will need to uprate the alternator and battery as the lamps are a huge drain on the standard batt n alternator.

Is there a wiring pack i can buy?

I wired (bodged) 2 of the oscars on the front on my Mazda with a fuse and a switch, but id like the mini to have the driving lights on at the same time as the main beam, and then the spots i want on a seperate switch.

any help, ideas, horror storys???

thanks for reading

Aaron

[Guess-Works.com]

Basically, adding any auxillary lights onto the standard loom is a no no, as you'll melt it...

You will need to create a new loom section for your auxillary lights, both with inline fuses and both with relays. The relays will protect you mini's loom from the extra current which the lights will draw...

Depending on the size of bulbs you put in the lights, if it's post 1986 ( I think ) you are limited to 55w by law. So lets work on that...

55w * 4 = 220w which on a 12v supply means when all the aux lights are on you'll be drawing an additional 18+ amps off the alt/battery.

Your wiring for the lamps needs to be able to cope with this. Also, these should be driven ( like the main beam ) direclty from the main Battery cable on you solenoid.

Basic circuit diagram... You have relay 1 which isolates the switch from the auxilary light circuit ( otherwise you going to need a farly hefty switch ) and relay two senses when the Main beam is on. with relay 1 and 2 closed the auxilary light light up...

The same goes for the fogs, but instead of the main beam circuit the sense should be put on the headlight circuit, as the front fogs can then be used when not on main beam... again a primary osolating switch must be used ( relay 1 )

[Dan]

If you mount your relays on the inner wing, near the solenoid it will be dead simple for you to wire them up. You can pick up the sensing feeds for each circuit in the bundle of bullet connectors under the slam panel, each of which has a spare socket in the multi way connector that you can use. Main beam is Blue/White and dip beam is Blue/Red. You might find it is better for your fogs to sense off the side light feed, because it they are on the dipped beam circuit they will extinguish when the main beam is on. Side lights are Red/Green (I think)

Also you can do this with only one relay per circuit, if the coil side of the relay takes it's power from the circuit you are sensing from and sends it's earth to the dashboard switch. So the override switch interrupts the earth to shut off the relay, and the lamps.
As Guessworks says, take the power side of the relays from the solenoid via a fuse. And make sure all cables relays and parts used are up to the current you intend to draw. You need a dashboard tell-tale connected into front fog lamp circuits.

[Guess-Works.com]

Dan, good point about the side lights, forgot about that, and nice idea about the earth cutoff.... ... :nugget:

When I did my lamps I used a couple of reclaimed switches ( think rear demist ) with green lamps and added them next to the rear fog on the aux switch panel on the right... This gives you the visual lamps on, and ties in nicely with the minis switch gear.

[Woody]

Just remember it is illigal and verry anoying to drive around with your fog lights on and no fog and also illigal to have any auxilery lamp on facing oncoming traffic even if there is fog !
And acording to the cops round here it is illigal to have any auxilery lamps lit up in a built up area (under street lamps)

[mini_ron]

ahh so not as easy as i thought

i had 2 Cibie Oscars wired from the battery on my mazda thro a fuse and a switch, v basicly done, but it worked

i hate electrics, like proper hate electrics, is it worth giving it a go myself, ie can i ******* anything up really bad?? an is it worth going to an auto electrician to save hassle?

like i dunno how id mount relays to metalwork, n i dunno what kind of cable to use, woudlnt know what kind of relay to use.... in fact im pretty dumb to electrics!!

whats the best way of mountin spots? the Oscars are melonsin heavy bits of kit!!

im only gunna mount the 2 spots on the front as it`ll be a squeeze getin all 4 on there and will drain the battery! ill just uprate the headlights to some angle eye jobbies once ive had the wing pulled out (rolled it into the front of the house!!!... doh!)

thanks for the help tho guys. at least if i fancy givinb it a go ive got all the info i need!!

i know how damn annoyin it is, im short n so sit lower than most in a mini and so anything bigger than a focus i get blinded by!!

aaron