I was parking outside a busy service station one night while my girlfriend was inside. She looked out at my car to see where I had parked. She could not see inside the car because of the glare, so my waving did nothing.

Now I know I could have just flashed my lights at her (which I may have done). The thing is, I think it would be neat if one of my headlights could be "flashed" off. It would look like my car is winking.

This could also be a supplement to the solution to the problem that s2ki members are having identifying other members.

What do you guys think? Can it be done? Will it harm the HID system? Do you think I'm stupid?, because I can deal with that.

 

i think the only way to do this would be to tap into the headlight circuit itself. A simple relay tied to a switch might do what you want.

 

It can easily be done, no real harm to the system.

 

SWEET. I think it would be cool. I'd have to run a wire though, right? Since it's to deal with a single light, right or left. The only place to tap would be under the hood.
Please advise me guys.

 

This could be interesting.

 

You would actually need to run a pair of wires through the firewall to whichever light you want to "wink". It would need to go to the positive lead going to the headlight of choice. You would need to cut this wire and tap the wires you ran through the firewall into each side of the cut headlight lead. You would then need to connect these leads to a relay to the N/C (Normal closed) contact on the relay. This would allow the headlight to run if the coil is off. You would then have to find a source for 12 volts for the relay coil and a ground for the other side of the coil. The switch you use could go into either one of these leads to turn on the relay when turned on. When done properly this would break the connection in the 12V positive lead going to your headlight and cause the "winking" effect when the switch was flipped back and forth. Any good stereo shop should be able to wire this for you. Run the wire through the firewall to the headlight lead under the hood and it will save you some $$$$ at the stereo shop....Dale

 

Simply use the 12V feed for the light as one side of the switch, that way you don't need to run extra power wire...

2 lines into the cabin, that's all.

Slice and dice the headlight power wire and insert the relay switch inline,as so...
12V --> Relay switch --> headlight

then tap into the same 12V line, into the cabin to a switch, then back out to the relay coil...
12V --> switch --> relay coil --> ground

 

Sweet, no possible damage to the light though, from a wiring standpoint? I'd hate to start burning bulbs like no tomorrow.

 

The filament is generally the weak spot in your typical incandescent bulb... since HIDs are an arc-based bulb, there's nothing to burn up. I'm sure it shortens the life a small fraction if you did it 10 times a day, but it would probably not be measurable. In other words, do it and forget about it.

 

Thanks Mac...did you watch that show with Richard Dean Anderson?