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Car Forum / MINI / July 2005

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Ignition warning light

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Dave Potts - 27 Jun 2005 14:01 GMT
Hi,

Trying to completely re-wire my dash with new lights, gauges, etc.
(http://www.minipark.net/car_image.html?thisImage=%2Fcars%2Fbigcars%2F3002%5CDSCF
0009.JPG&sid=3ca1714f02d454b1a5cd6c5d8a7ce637
)

Unfortunately i can't work out how to wire up the 'red' ignition warning
light/ alternator charging light.

I've studied the 3-clock binacle and the connections to the red'bulb' (i.e.
the bit I need to copy) seem to do all sort of wierd and wonderful things
such as wind around the temperaure gauge needle. I've had a look around the
web and am wondering if I need to somehow incorporate a Ballast Resistor?!?!
I also have the Mini's wiring diagram in Powerpoint if that'll help anyone
understand!

I have 99% of the bits working - any help on how to wire this last part
would be greatly apprecaiated!

many thanks,  Pottsy (Stoke, UK)
Kelley Mascher - 27 Jun 2005 18:17 GMT
One connection on the lamp connects to the +IND connection on the
alternator. The wire should be  brown with a yellow stripe from the
alternator connector. The other connection on the lamp connects to the
switched power pole of the ignition switch. This is the same pole that
connects to the coil. Should be a white wire.

I think you're getting lost in the voltage stabilizer wiring. It's
easy to do. I doubt your gauges use the standard voltage stabilizer so
you should be able to safely ignore it.

Cheers,

Kelley

>Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
>many thanks,  Pottsy (Stoke, UK)
Nicholas Bales - 27 Jun 2005 18:24 GMT
> Hi,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> many thanks,  Pottsy (Stoke, UK)

The red IGN light is connected to a plain white wire and a plain brown
wire. That's all.

That light is need by the alternator to charge the battery. If it's
blown or missing, the alto won't charge.
Dave Potts - 28 Jun 2005 14:43 GMT
Cheers guys - I had tried it that way round before but it would appear I was
making a schoolboy error - had the LED wired back-to-front!

Thanks again,     Dave

>> Hi,
>>
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> That light is need by the alternator to charge the battery. If it's blown
> or missing, the alto won't charge.
Nicholas Bales - 28 Jun 2005 17:49 GMT
> Cheers guys - I had tried it that way round before but it would appear I was
> making a schoolboy error - had the LED wired back-to-front!
>
> Thanks again,     Dave

I don't think it will work with a LED. It needs a real old-school 12V bulb.
Dave Potts - 29 Jun 2005 08:37 GMT
Hmm, it seems to be working though - if you follow the link from my first
post you can probably work out the LEDs from there; indicators & full beam
are fine, Ignition warning now lights up (whether it goes off again with the
engine running is yet to be discovered) and I just need to sort the low oil
pressure - think there's a fault on the sender unit though.

Dave.

>> Cheers guys - I had tried it that way round before but it would appear I
>> was making a schoolboy error - had the LED wired back-to-front!
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I don't think it will work with a LED. It needs a real old-school 12V
> bulb.
Colin Stamp - 29 Jun 2005 17:35 GMT
>Hmm, it seems to be working though - if you follow the link from my first
>post you can probably work out the LEDs from there; indicators & full beam
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>Dave.

You may well find that it stays on and the alternator won't charge. If
that happens though, you can get round it with just an extra resistor
across the LED.

Cheers,

Colin.
Karl - 01 Jul 2005 22:47 GMT
All the light does is look for a voltage differential across the alternator
output and the battery (ignition switch), should still charge ok.
Karl
>> Cheers guys - I had tried it that way round before but it would appear I
>> was making a schoolboy error - had the LED wired back-to-front!
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I don't think it will work with a LED. It needs a real old-school 12V
> bulb.
Colin Stamp - 02 Jul 2005 10:21 GMT
>All the light does is look for a voltage differential across the alternator
>output and the battery (ignition switch), should still charge ok.
>Karl

That's not how it normally works. Alternators often expect a
reasonable current to flow into the warning lamp terminal and the
regulator needs that current in order to start up reliably. With an
LED as the warning lamp, the alternator won't see nearly as much
current as it's designed to and it may well not work.

The other problem is that some (but much less) can still sink into the
warning lamp terminal even when the alternator is charging normally.
It won't be enough to light a filament lamp, but it might well make an
LED light up.

Cheers,

Colin.
Rob - 02 Jul 2005 13:10 GMT
>>All the light does is look for a voltage differential across the alternator
>>output and the battery (ignition switch), should still charge ok.
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>
> Colin.

I depends on the type of alternator some don't need the current via the
warning lamp for them to start charging.
 
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