Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 For ~$10 I was able to get 2 small lights and the corresponding sockets. My plan is to mount them in the quarter panel vents. (MSA sells them for the 350z). My questions are- Should I wire it to the running lights, brake lights or turn signals? How should I attach them. Ive got some ideas but I thought Id get some more ideas. Wiring instructions? Are the turn signals on a Z always on and when you use the turn signal they blink brighter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Cool idea! Can't help you with wiring, but if I were to do it, I'd probably wire them as running lights that blink brighter when the turn signals are on. I think they'd be useless as brake lights since they're on the side of the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Cool idea! Can't help you with wiring, but if I were to do it, I'd probably wire them as running lights that blink brighter when the turn signals are on. I think they'd be useless as brake lights since they're on the side of the car. Is that how the stock turn signals work? On all the time and then blink brighter when the signal is on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Is that how the stock turn signals work? On all the time and then blink brighter when the signal is on?On the tail lights, I **think** the bottom light stays off, and goes on with the turn signal, and the side markers like you said. Don't quote me on any of that though, I'm only going off memory from the one time I messed with the lights on my parents 280Z. I can check tomorrow if you don't get a definite answer by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Sure thanks. Its been like 5 years since my car has had lights so I dont even remember how they work. Im going to test mount them on my 76 and then do it for real on the 78. Maybe in the next few days If I can neglect other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 thats is such a cool idea! could you just wire them to your side marker lights, of course they would be a bit dimmer but not by much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Im considering doing that... Im guessing the turn signals are 12v. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Are the turn signals on a Z always on and when you use the turn signal they blink brighter? Not sure how you do it on the other side of the world (your often backwards, wrong side of the road, flick a light switch up to turn it on, etc etc). But down here, the light is off and it flashes on and off when you indicate. I would suggest having a relay in your headlight circuit and use one of the extra poles to turn a 12V feed on to those as well. You don't need them on when it is day time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Not sure how you do it on the other side of the world (your often backwards, wrong side of the road, flick a light switch up to turn it on, etc etc).But down here, the light is off and it flashes on and off when you indicate. I would suggest having a relay in your headlight circuit and use one of the extra poles to turn a 12V feed on to those as well. You don't need them on when it is day time. Yeah, but I dont want to complicate this to much. If I wire it up to the running lights then they wouldnt be on during the day. How hard would it be to wire them us to running lights and then when running lights are on and you use the blinker (usually at night) it blinks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Yeah, but I dont want to complicate this to much. If I wire it up to the running lights then they wouldnt be on during the day. How hard would it be to wire them us to running lights and then when running lights are on and you use the blinker (usually at night) it blinks? I think all you would have to do is run a line from the side marker to the new lights, it would do what you want, the side markers are a series circut anyways right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 That was my first idea, but Im not good with electrical so I thought Id ask. How much dimmer will the be? As Mj said its a series so I just need one wire on positive one on negative going to the bulb. All insulated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJLamberson Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 That was my first idea, but Im not good with electrical so I thought Id ask. How much dimmer will the be? As Mj said its a series so I just need one wire on positive one on negative going to the bulb. All insulated. I dont think it would be to much dimmer at all. because its a series wouldnt run a negative to the bulbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Cars that use bulbs that run dim/bright to serve different signal functions ALL HAVE MULTIPLE FILAMENTS AND MULTIPLE WIRES RUNNING TO THOSE VARIOUS FILAMENTS. It is just like having separate bulbs for each intensity. Here is a little electrical exercise for you guys. If you have a 10watt light in a 10 volt circuit.Ohm's law states that there will be 1 AMP of current flow with 10 OHMs resistance in the light bulb. Lets say you want to run the bulb at 50% brightness. A lot of you guys will say put twice the resistance in the circuit. That works out to 20 OHMs using a 10 ohm resistor in series to reduce the power to 5 WATTs. It makes sense except that you will find that the light bulb barely glows at all. The problem is that you now have 2 different items using the reduced power. The resistor generates heat with no light, the lightbulb gets only a fraction of the available 5 watts of power. This is why you use different filaments for different brightnesses. It is best to use an appropriate filament with the proper current draw for the intended brightness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 ohhh.. and lightbulbs should be wired in parallel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 So how do you reccomend wiring it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garvice Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 The flasher units that came from the factory where a thermal unit (That silver can). I am not sure how many lights they can support, but most flasher units that you buy now days are the electronic ones. Most of these can support quite a few lights. If you only want you lights to flash at night: Wire your light in parallel with your current indicator light. Add a contact from your headlight relay in series with your new light bulb. If you want your lights to flash all the time: Wire your light in parallel with your current indicator light. If you have trouble with your lights not being bright enough, or flashing too slowly, then upgrade to a new electronic flasher unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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