Clearwater Darla lights on SX SE

[JustinP]

Well, the Skene light controller does not work, at least for the highbeam function. The highbeam signal wire only carries 1.6 volts, which isn't enough it seems . Will have to see if I can rig up a voltage amp of some sort. Another day.

[Prof J]

Justin, which Skene unit are you working with?

[JustinP]

Justin, which Skene unit are you working with?

IQ-275 light controller. The highbeam wire only carries a 1.5 volt signal which actuates the high beam in the LED headlamp unit, and the actual power for low and high is carried by the red/yellow wire. So not enough juice in that wire to trigger the highbeam function in the Skene :/. Guess I'm going to have to use a separate switch to control the aux lights on this bike.

[JustinP]

Now that the days are getting shorter I felt it was time to install the Clearwater Darla lights on SX SE. I have had clearwater lights on all of my touring bikes and love them. They have a high beam feature when the high beam is activated the Darla lights kick on at 100% (really bright!). During the day I have the lights adjusted to 35% output so I don't blind any oncoming traffic. I always notice that oncoming traffic are much more aware of my presence. The lights blend in with the front end of the SX as is mostly black.

It was pretty easy installing them and the wiring was pretty easy once I figured out what I was looking for. There is a dust boot with the headlight connector that carries the low beam signal ( red/ yellow) and the High beam signal (red/black). This is located behind the left lower fairing up against the intake air duct by for the super charger. I mounted the Darla control knob in the inner upper fairing. Still have to run wires to the battery for the relay which is mounted behind the Darla control knob. The High beam feature functions just as it should.

Gordo, with the clearwater lights, you just tapped into the red/back high beam wire for the full power on high beam function and it worked? if so their system has a very low voltage control input. I'll probably just go that route if it works.

[Prof J]

Justin, which Skene unit are you working with?

IQ-275 light controller. The highbeam wire only carries a 1.5 volt signal which actuates the high beam in the LED headlamp unit, and the actual power for low and high is carried by the red/yellow wire. So not enough juice in that wire to trigger the highbeam function in the Skene :/. Guess I'm going to have to use a separate switch to control the aux lights on this bike.

Wondering if you could take the 1.5 volt to trigger a relay, which then could send battery voltage to the Skene, or if too much volts from battery, use an in line resistor/potentiometer to set the volts heading into Skene. Pretty cheap, and parts easy.

[JustinP]

IQ-275 light controller. The highbeam wire only carries a 1.5 volt signal which actuates the high beam in the LED headlamp unit, and the actual power for low and high is carried by the red/yellow wire. So not enough juice in that wire to trigger the highbeam function in the Skene :/. Guess I'm going to have to use a separate switch to control the aux lights on this bike.

Wondering if you could take the 1.5 volt to trigger a relay, which then could send battery voltage to the Skene, or if too much volts from battery, use an in line resistor/potentiometer to set the volts heading into Skene. Pretty cheap, and parts easy.

I can't find a dc relay with that low of an operating voltage :/

[Gordo]

Gordo, with the clearwater lights, you just tapped into the red/back high beam wire for the full power on high beam function and it worked? if so their system has a very low voltage control input. I'll probably just go that route if it works.

I just directly posi-tapped into the RED/BLACK wire on the headlight connector as mentioned in my first post. I thought I measured 6 volts on that wire with the high beam turned on. The Clearwater electronics work just fine on my SE plus set up like this.

[JustinP]

Gordo, with the clearwater lights, you just tapped into the red/back high beam wire for the full power on high beam function and it worked? if so their system has a very low voltage control input. I'll probably just go that route if it works.

I just directly posi-tapped into the RED/BLACK wire on the headlight connector as mentioned in my first post. I thought I measured 6 volts on that wire with the high beam turned on. The Clearwater electronics work just fine on my SE plus set up like this.

Interesting. I measured 159 volts :/. Gonna have to pull the plastics off and measure again now.

[Prof J]

I found this. It's too low a trigger for you.

"I have a relay model RM40-3021-85-1005 (datasheet), and according to datasheet it has a minimum switching current = 10mA

The coil resistance is 125 Ω, and when I connect it directly to 5V it works as expected. The current is 𝐼=𝑉𝑅=5125=40𝑚𝐴.

Considering I have a limited power source, and as my understanding the relay only needs 10mA and I'm providing 40mA, I tried to include a 100 Ω in series with the coil. So the current will be 𝐼=𝑉𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑖𝑙+𝑅1=5125+100=22𝑚𝐴
With the 100 Ω the relay doesn't operate and I believe it is because the voltage over the coil. According to datasheet, the minimum for the coil operate is 3.75V, and with the extra resistor I get 2.75V. 𝑉=𝑅∗𝐼=125Ω∗22𝑚𝐴=2.75𝑉
It is not clear to me. Is my understanding correct? If so, how can I operate the relay with a current lower than 40mA? For example 20mA."
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q ... ng-current


Gordos' solution for the high beam sounds like it's working.