When do yours pop up?

[Andy390]

Hi Guys, Just a quick question:
My Series 2 390's lights pop up even when the sidelights are on, and for no reason as far as i can see. surely it would be better for them to come up when you flick the light switch to the second position(i.e. dipped beam?) I was thinking of rewiring them to do this. Is this the same with you (what about 400SE's with the later square lamps?)
cheers
Andy

[Wedg1e]

I've heard this before; as far as I can tell there's no good reason for it (unless some bizarre piece of legislation was intoduced that called for it).
Worth looking at the wiring configuration; there are a couple of diodes that 'steer' the control voltages for the lights. Not blowing one's own trumpet in any way but there is an article on Wedge Webpages that outlines what should happen. Should be easy enough to reconfigure the wiring to get the results you need.

W.

[shpub]

Yes it was legislation. You can reverse the diodes, replace them with straight links and get all sorts of different combinatiuons which is why TVR made them fairly accessible. Also covered in the bible.

Steve

[JohnL]

Sounds like bizarre legislation.
Is it therefore illegal to do this mod?

[andymadmak]

Didn't it have something to do with the "Dim Dip" laws?
It was supposed to stop people just driving on sidelights by introducing a dim dipped headlamp that came on at the same time as the sidelights. No surprisingly no other EU state adopted it so it was dropped a few years later. My 400 pods come up on sidelights and have dim lights inside the pods as well.
I don't think going back to ordinary sidelights + headlights will get you into any trouble!

Andy 400se

[M@H]

the 914 was the same... it was quite handy if you wanted to check the lenses quickly or something as you didn't have to stare into a Lit bulb..

Cheers
Matt.

[Andy390]

Cheers guys,
Now as andymadmac's 400's got sidelight bulbs in the main headlamp also, well that makes sense, but my 390 has the circular main headlamps without any sidelight bulbs, hence the reason why it seems pointless to pop up. Now....hmmm... shall i add sidelight bulbs into the main lamps or just rewire them to stay down until i put on dipped beam...decisions decisions!
Cheers
Andy

[philg]

I think andymadmac meant that the main lamps are dim rather than an extra bulb. I have a Series 2 350 with the round lamps. They pop up and are on dim with the sidelights.
The annoying thing for me is that they don't pop-up when I flash the lights when they are off. Always have the driving lights on with the main beam and they don't flash either, so I can't flash mainbeam unless the lights are already switched on. Is this controlled by the diode pack?

Phil

[broadside]

I noticed that after buying my 450, the pods came up when the side lights were turned on but there were no side lights on inside the pod. Noticed that there were side light bulbs in there so thought I would change the bulbs and work from there. Took eveything apart and lo, no wiring going to afore mentioned bulbs. Still, it gave me the oportunity to check everything over. Put everything back and decided to live with it.

Must admit though, the car looks good with the pods up and the lights on, but looks a bit daft with the pods up and no lights.

Hey, ho the joys of wedge ownership (wouldn't change it for the world !!)

Broadside

[shpub]

quote:
I think andymadmac meant that the main lamps are dim rather than an extra bulb. I have a Series 2 350 with the round lamps. They pop up and are on dim with the sidelights.
The annoying thing for me is that they don't pop-up when I flash the lights when they are off. Always have the driving lights on with the main beam and they don't flash either, so I can't flash mainbeam unless the lights are already switched on. Is this controlled by the diode pack?

Yes. Worth chceking that you don't have a dead one or one that is in the wrong way.

Steve

[Schazzar]

My old series 1 had the right combo which I want to put right on my series 2.

Move the switch 1 click and the sides lights came on with pods staying down. Move the switch 2 clicks the the pods popped up with headlights full on.

I reckon the combination of side lights and fogs look better than pods up with dimmed bulbs.

Is there an easy way to change the wiring over to sort this out too?.

[philg]

quote:

quote:
The annoying thing for me is that they don't pop-up when I flash the lights when they are off. Always have the driving lights on with the main beam and they don't flash either, so I can't flash mainbeam unless the lights are already switched on. Is this controlled by the diode pack?

Yes. Worth chceking that you don't have a dead one or one that is in the wrong way.

Steve

Cheers - I'll check it out.

[seb]

My old MK1 was the same as Schazzar's. They also popped up when flashing the lights.

Steve

[Wedg1e]

Having the pods pop-up when you flash the lights is all very well, but unless you give a prolonged flash, the beams light and extinguish BEFORE the pods even move! OK, if you only have standard headlights then you need the pods t lift, but I reckon if you have fogs/ driving lamps/ blue LEDs or whatever, you may as well just flash them and leave the pods down.
Have a look at your relay board; if it's in the n/s footwell and, on the RH side you have what looks like 2 fuse holders, with diodes hanging out of them; extract the middle terminal from the holder. This 'should' stop the pods coming up. However, this being TVR, anything could happen, depending on year/ colour/ whether Mr. Cockup got there before you.

W.

[gemini]

My 280 FHC is wired so that they stay down on side light but come up when on dipped / main beam. They also raise when flashed