Light switch hot. Is this normal

[Flo 0]

When I've been driving for a while without using the lights at all, and i touch the headlight switch, it feels very hot. Not scalding, but certainly more than warm.

 

Is this normal?

[h100vw 0]

There is a bulb in it that is on all the time. That would account for the heat in it.

Gavin

[Flo 0]

cool. thanks for the quick reply!

[dinkus 10]

Yup it's normal and is the reason why the switch gets brittle after a while and will eventually break *joy*

 

Ahh the joys of a hand built car :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, I took my old light apart and inspected the innards, only to find the diffuser lense for the light had melted and gone black over time...

 

The new switch lights up really brightly and evenly spread by comparison...

[Flo 0]

So, even when the lights are fully off, there is bulb burning away in the background. Is it illuminating the 'bulb sign'? For some reason it thought it only came on when you put the side lights on!

 

You learn something new everyday!!

[coolrado 0]

its on all the time so you can see where the light switch is when its dark, (oh those thoughtfull germans just a shame they didnt think of using led's) :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

You could try an ultrabright white LED I suppose?

[Flo 0]

its on all the time so you can see where the light switch is when its dark, (oh those thoughtfull germans just a shame they didnt think of using led's) :lol:

 

Shame they couldnt have thought about the wipers, headlights and heaters. Essential equipment if you think about it! :wink:

[DragonVr6 0]

anyone know where i can get a new/second hand headlight switch? :smurf:

[vr6storm 0]

anyone know where i can get a new/second hand headlight switch? :smurf:

 

GPC if you're near Luton or yer friendly $tealer :wink:

[Guest]

Actually, there are two bulbs in the light switch and neither is the cause of the heat in the light switch. One bulb is hooked up to ignition switched power and is to see it at night and the other is to show the light switch is still on when the ignition is off. What you will notice if you have the switch apart is there a big porcilin (sp) block which is a heat sink for the dash lights, figure that out? This block gets super hot when the lights are on and this causes all of the heat.

 

I switched all of the dash & switch lights from green to red in my Corrado and noticed this when I too the light switch apart. Another point to note that is important is how the lighting system is designed in the Corrado and this is good for you guys. In North America we use headlights that are DOT approved which means they put out squat for lighting (I think the governments here want us to die driving at night) but you guys use E-Codes which put out a lot of light. Here's the deal though, VW doesn't use any relays in their lighting systems. If you want to have incresed light output and reduced load on the light switch and ignition switch use a relay set-up for your lights. In stock form the power that illuminates your light bulbs starts at the battery, goes through the cars wiring to the ignition switch, then it goes to the light switch and then it goes to the highbeam / lowbeam switch then it finally makes it to the headlight bulb.

 

This way of wiring the lights puts an extra load on the lighting system and you can see some pretty good voltage drops at the headlight. This also causes the ignition & light switch to fail especially if you are using higher wattage bulbs. If you use headlight relays you will eliminate the whole load by using the light signal to activate a relay that uses 500 ma to activate and takes power right off of the battery and feeds it to the light bulbs for a super bright light output. Here's a link with a how-to on how to do the light relays Euro Light Relays. We did make one change to this set up and that was to use one relay for the low beams and an individual relay for the left high beams and a second for the right high beams for a total of 3 relays. If you are having problems with the lights or the switch this would be my first step. Also make sure the grounds on each headlight are in good shape and you may want to upgrade this.

 

Cheers, Dennis

[Cougar 0]

Dennis, I have a 2 relay set up with no problem (high/low). I've never heard of dedicating a relay each for the highs. Does it make a difference?

[Guest]

It depends on the wattage you want to run in each light. If you are driving on the lowbeam lights then you are only using two bulbs to create the light output. Once you go to high beams you are now running four light bulbs which will take a lot more power. Now, look at the rough guide below to calculate the approximate power draw your lights are taking...

 

55 watts = 4.2 amps

65 watts = 5 amps

80 watts = 6.2 amps

100 watts = 7.7 amps

120 watts = 9.2 amps

 

Now, what wattage relays are you running in the car, most are 30 amps or 40 amps. If you are running 55 / 100's for the outside lights and 100 watts on the inside then you are going to draw more power than what the relay is rated for if it is a 30 amp relay. I like to run at most about 70% to 80% of the power rating for the relays just to be on the safe side. If you are running higher wattage bulbs then you can melt relays or wiring, using one relay for each side of the high beams is the safe way to go. If you are running lower wattage bulbs then you will be fine, figure out how much amperage your lights are using then check the rating on the chart & the relays and see how you are doing.

 

Cheers, Dennis

[Cougar 0]

Good explanation. However on my US spec it appears that the low filiments turn off when the highs are engaged. Is all 4 being on unique to euro spec lights?