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Re: List Wisdom:HT/Aux Lamps

To: tboicey@brit.ca
Subject: Re: List Wisdom:HT/Aux Lamps
From: TRIFARI@aol.com
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 14:14:29 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 97-07-31 02:18:52 EDT, you write:

<< 
 TRIFARI@aol.com wrote:
 > 2.   Pull power off the low beam side of the dip switch.  This will keep
you
 > from using foggers and hi-beams at the same time.  Seems to be a no-no in
 > California, idiotic as it seems.
 
   My modern car is wired this way as well. It's actually
 a bit more complex because the fog lights are also the
 daytime running lights, but that's another story.
 
    Anyways, there is a reason for this that is at least
 rooted in a good idea. There is a limit to how many watts
 of light you can have on at any one time. It's designed to
 stop people from installing super light bars to
 improve their own vision at the expense of blinding
 everybody coming the other way.
 
   If you have high beams and fog lights, this puts you
 over that limit. So they are wired to be mutually
 exclusive.
 
  
 Trevor   -- My point only was that in the case of aux lights (fog or
driving) there are times when you need the combination of both high beams and
aux lights--especially driving lights--and that it appeared idiotic to
proscribe a combination of the two.  There are two issues here:
 Functionally, do fog lights and high beams works well together?  See Dan
Masters comments on this below.  My remark was directed more towards the
combination of hihg beams and driving lights, and looking back over my
comments, I can see that I did not  make that clear.  That brings up the
second issue--blinding on-coming drivers.  I agree completely with your point
about too much wattage:  it goes without saying that on-coming drivers can be
blinded by too much candle power and not only is it against the law (at least
in CA) to operate high beams in teh face of on-coming traffic, but it's
damned discourteous and dangerous as well---aux lights or not.  I assume that
any SOL owner installing aux lights will have the common sense to realize
that if he ties his lights to the high beams he is doing so with the
knowledge that he is going to have to watch closely if another car comes his
way.  At least I hope I can make that assumption.  BTW all my aux lights are
wired as I described in my first e-mail on this--they cut out when the
high-beams go on, and function only in conjuncton with the low beams.  John
Trifari  1980 MGB/1955 Healey BN1    

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