Indicator / Brake Light repeaters

[JohnnyV]

Hi,

I recently had the experience of bieng stopped and advised that my van lights weren't working (this turns out to be an earth fault with the towing relay - which the towbar company has now fixed for the third time).

I decided that I need something visual to warn if any of the van lights are not working, so am in process of making a small box with six LED's that will be wired back to the van lights and will then sit in the front window of the van so that I can see in my mirror if my Brake or Indicator lights on the van have stopped getting any power.

Has anyone made/done similar? Any issues ? Any Tips ?

 

[Guest]

By law you should already have some means of knowing your indicators on the van are working. This is either a light on the dashboard, or a warning sound from the boot. It is pretty much a case that if they are working fine, then the others are too. Not always, I accept, but most of the time. If you have checked them all before setting off, then the chances of say the stop lights failing alone, are low.

I am in the fortunate position of towing with a Volvo so my lights are always on. I can see the sidelights on the van lit all the time, so know that I at least have a connection. That and the above mentioned indicator repeater light on the dash gives me more confidence. I also have a 13 pin plug which does appear to be better at staying the pace than the 12N and 12S

 

[laurieW]

Hi JohnnyV. What you are suggesting will not tell you if your stop/tail light bulbs are "blown", although it will tel you if you have a feed to the bulb(s). As regards your indicators:you should have a tell-tale device already fitted(by law),either audible or visual(or both).

 

[JohnnyV]

Yes I accept you are both correct - the indicator repeater does sound but due to the positioning I can't hear it (and yes I have tried to get it moved but due to the way the wiring is set up on the car it doesn't seem practical).

Last time they failed I did as per Scotch Lad and left my side lights on so I could see that I still had power, and yes Laurie I know that this will only tell me that I have power to the lights - its just that I am now paranoid after three failures and actually want to SEE that the car relay is putting power to the van lights - its just peace of mind !

As an aside, the problem seems to be with the positioning of the connection on the vehicle wiring - the socket on the old Jeep Grand Cherokee was inside the car, my new one has it on the outside with no access for wiring back into the vehicle (according to the fitter that fixed the fault on Tuesday)- Great!

 

[Jim_374473646]

The wiring for the socket must originate from inside the car, so it should be possible to connect the buzzer inside the car.

Jimbo

 

[Guest]

Curious an earth fault happens 3 times. If anything the Fitter connects a new earth cable and all should be well. Sorry, sounds like something else is not kosher either.

Apart from trying another tow bar fitter (I always found Witter to be excellent even if it was not their bar) I am still curious why if the tail lights are working, then the stop and indicators suddenly do not wish to play ball. I know they are different circuits but usually if the plug and socket are fine, they stay that way.

By the way, not to be picky but it is technically an offence to not be able to hear your audible device, if that is what is fitted.

 

[RonD]

Curious an earth fault happens 3 times. If anything the Fitter connects a new earth cable and all should be well. Sorry, sounds like something else is not kosher either.

Apart from trying another tow bar fitter (I always found Witter to be excellent even if it was not their bar) I am still curious why if the tail lights are working, then the stop and indicators suddenly do not wish to play ball. I know they are different circuits but usually if the plug and socket are fine, they stay that way.

By the way, not to be picky but it is technically an offence to not be able to hear your audible device, if that is what is fitted.

It is strange as the left and right sidelights should be fed separately. If all the sidelights are off it's possible the "fitter" has simply connected left and right to the same pin on the 12N.

Ron

 

[JohnnyV]

Scotch Lad its ok to be picky, your point is perfectly valid ! Actually I can just hear the repeater, but not too well as road noise and other things such as the radio tend to drown it out.

The problem seems to be that the Earth is an integral part of the wiring harness and not a simple 'bolt to the bodywork' - one of the issues is finding something to bolt to that would provide an earth.

It was really my fault that the repeater bleeper is outside - the Jeep is really badly designed for this - the fitter would have had to drill a hole through the floor of the body to fit inside, and even then there is no where to put it other than in the load space where inevitably it will get bashed or assaulted by the dogs. Unfortunately (or fortunately - dependent upon your view point)the car is on a plp and one of the specific exclusions on the agreement is drilling any holes.

The problem has been intermittant but hopefully is now resolved, the latest fitter to have a go is really confident that he has isolated and cured the problem - my idea was purely because I had become paranoid and I thought that if I had LED's wired back from the van's running lights I could always see that the indicators & brake lights were working (well at least receiving power - if a bulb has gone then obviously it wont tell me that).

As I am using LED's the wiring can be very thin cable as there is no real power being drawn, and longer term the plan was to fit the box in the car but first I need to find a very small waterproof connector to link car & van - needs to have at least 4 x connections.

Thanks to all for your comments - my plan is probably a bit unneccessary it will just make me feel happier !

Jon