Lighting Tips

Q: Anyone got any info of how to setup mini headlights on relays?

This is a good thing to do.

I think later minis have it as standard, and it is something you really should consider especially if running higher wattage bulbs. I run 80/100W bulbs and this will pull nearly 17A on main beam.

The mini dipper stalk contacts can hardly cope with 5A let alone 17! I have binned the stalk and use a 15A toggle for the dip/main.

The lighting switch is also over-loaded.

What I plan to do is have seperate fuses and relays for the dip and main. Standard black automotive relays are ~40A rating so will cope fine.

All you do is take the standard wires for the lights (dip=blue/red, main=blue/white) and run these to the trigger coil terminals on the relay.

Earth the other side of the coil.

Then take two nice chunky 12V feeds from eg: solonoid battery cable connection and fuse each wire at say 25A with line fuses, or better install a small blade fuse box (available from eg: Demon Tweeks) and use the extra outputs for other things like air-horns, spotlights etc.

Then connect the wires to one of the the relay switched terminals, and the other terminal to the your lights. Job done.

The great thing about this is 1) your lights are now fused which is much safer, and 2) you are feeding dip and main seperately so if one blows you have the other. I had ALL my lights fail at 60mph in the dark on a sharp bend and it isn't much fun!

UPDATED 16 DEC 2002 Info from Scott Beavis ( I did the same FB)

Q: Anyone my lights flicker at Idle! (IME'd 20 Dec 2002)

Recently I've noticed the lights on my mini flicker at idle. As the engine
increases RPM the flickering increases rate too. So I rigged up a voltmeter
and it flickers too. I've checked the earths and they seem fine. I put a new
alternator on it about 12 months ago. Everything else seems to work okay and
the battery gets charged.

Have I got a dodgy alternator or could it be something else?

I think it's the commutator (I think that's what it's called) in the
alternator. Copper gets wiped across the sections (by the brushes)
and this shorts some of them together. I use a broken-off hacksaw
blade to scrape the copper out of the grooves between the sections,
which usually fixes the flickering.

Info from Rocky Frisco