spod & high beam

[bretto88]

Hi mate,

My understanding of an spod isn't perfect but it's basically a bunch of relays in a box I thought? All coming off a single power source?

If that's the case you need to take a power source from your high beams and direct it to one of the relays. Tha way the high beam will trigger a single relay.

With regards to legality each state is different. I know for WA 'driving lamps' need to be triggered by high beams but I'm guessing all states are similar.

If you Google IB-123A and IB-132A of defines what lights can go where on your car pretty clearly.

Cheets




Sent from my SM-G900I using Aussie Jeep Offroad mobile app

[nevillebartos]

hmm, ok. seems like a bit of a duplication happening there. If the power out from the source is switched off, the additional relay wont kick in, makes sense. Just seems to be a mass duplication of an already expensive box... oh well, I'll keep digging.

Thanks Neville

Yes there is some duplication because we want 2 switches controlling the one thing. We are requiring both switches to be on ie: both relays to be closed, to create a complete circuit . Flipping one switch or the other to off opens a relay to break the circuit / kill power to aux light.

[nevillebartos]

Hi mate,

My understanding of an spod isn't perfect but it's basically a bunch of relays in a box I thought? All coming off a single power source?

If that's the case you need to take a power source from your high beams and direct it to one of the relays. Tha way the high beam will trigger a single relay.

Could probably be done this way but then your high beam becomes your only point of control, and renders one of the switches in the panel unuseable. I think better to use the spod as a 'master switch', with the high beam stalk as the quick access.

[nate_ford]

I did see another possible option today. Running DPDT or DPST (bugger, can't remember which now) and having the switches in one position for the high beam trigger and the 2nd for normal power. This was more for having a reversing light running through the spod & wired to reverse at the same time, but the principle would be the same I think?

I'll have to track down where it was.

[Banshee]

I have my lightbar triggered through the high beam & sPod.

As said above, mostly. But the other way around.

I have power to the lightbar switched through the sPod, but then to another relay. This 2nd relay is triggered by the high beam, so that the power from the sPod only gets to the lightbar if the high beams are on.

bretto88's understanding is slightly off. Power to the sPod is from the battery, (or wherever you connect it. Battery is default.) You can't switch the sPod power for one channel via another relay before it, only after. Hence the use of the sPod to supply power to the 2nd relay. This also means that the extra current won't trigger a fault warning in the CANBUS monitoring of the high beam current.

[Redemptioner]

Sounds like thing are getting a little confusing.....

Can't speak specifically about the SPOD, looked at them in the past but they want about 10 times what they should be asking for considering what is in it.

Basically you want a relay setup on the lights with a switch so you can turn them on and off manually (say for a light bar), then you want a second relay connected to a switch (with the power for this relay/switch coming from the hi beams) and then the output (the power that relay is switch on and off) from that 2nd relay connects into the the power source the switch is turning on and off (on the output side of that switch) with the first relay . This will allow manual switching as well as your trigger for the hi beams with a switch to decide if they are on high beams or not.

Worth pointing out that most light bars exceed the requirements to be used as spots/high beams so.....

You can use little mini relays to do the second high beam switching as it is switching only the current used to switch the second relay. I have mine setup to turn on the 500w light bar, the 180w side lights, the 250w of winch lights and the 2 light force spots with the high beam (on a single switch to engage) as well as them all being on separate manual override switches.

Note the heat shrink wrapped pack of mini relays on the bottom left that is doing the high beam switching, most of these mini relays have dual channels so you can sitch 2 light sources at the same time in the one relay. About $40 worth of parts and you can do better than any SPOD will give you.