TR4A Dipswitch

[RogerH]

Hi John,

yes.

 

Roger

[Robin Powell]

John

Have a look at the June 2008 Traction in the archive and on page 31 you will see an article I did on the dipswitch and utilising the TR4A flasher switch to actuate it and adding a diode to retain the flasher facility.   This used the original relay but with the new one 30 would be fed from the blue/white double bullet as well as the coil on the additional new relay and the other side of the new relay coil to earth. You would then use the make pair of contacts on the new relay to connect S to earth.

 

[tthomson]

This is the circuit I used to convert my TR4A to use a column mounted dip switch. I used a second Overdrive stalk on Left of column to achieve this. By judicious alignment, this switch can be used similarly to a modern push/pull stalk to switch between the two states.

I had already added relays to take some of the strain off the lighting switch, and adding the simple O/D switch and a couple of 1N4007 Diodes was a pretty simple addition.

Good luck with your endeavour.

TT

[John Morrison]

Postscript;-

Said relay together with a double cowl and simple momentary switch,

completed a very satisfactory job for our man.

He is well chuffed, so big thanks to all.

John.

[qkingston]

On 2/27/2020 at 3:34 PM, ianc said:

Can I be the only person who likes the dipswitch on the floor?

Surely, there must be a few others?

Ian Cornish

so after reading the many and various comments on the floor dip switch I think I have decided to go with the L to R conversion of the floor switch. Interestingly, there are 2 welded studs on the RHS by the gearbox tunnel that fit the switch, I'm surprised that Triumph would have included that in a LHD export model, or were they for something else which I have forgotten about?

Regards

David

[stuart]

14 minutes ago, qkingston said:

so after reading the many and various comments on the floor dip switch I think I have decided to go with the L to R conversion of the floor switch. Interestingly, there are 2 welded studs on the RHS by the gearbox tunnel that fit the switch, I'm surprised that Triumph would have included that in a LHD export model, or were they for something else which I have forgotten about?

Regards

David

They are there on both Left and Right hand drive as its the same pressing, Triumph used the minimum of different pressings for either drive.

Stuart.

[ianc]

Stuart is certain to be correct, but perhaps this caters for foreigners (whoops - not permitted to use such terminology nowadays) who have 3 legs?

Ian Cornish

[qkingston]

Thanks, I'm trying to visualise that one Ian

David

[dpb]

3 hours ago, ianc said:

Stuart is certain to be correct, but perhaps this caters for foreigners (whoops - not permitted to use such terminology nowadays) who have 3 legs?

Ian Cornish

Almost everybody has 3 legs where I live...

[ianc]

Excellent and apt response, dpb.   

Ian Cornish

[tthomson]

It reminds me of the farmer who bred three legged chickens.

When asked what they taste like he replied

"I dunno, I ain't caught one yet"

 

TT

[Bleednipple]

The foot dip switch (directly wired) was I assume originally favoured by manufacturers back in the Lucas era simply because it saved a lot of cost vs. fitting a relay and a column switch. I know some folks still like them but I find that the time that you're most likely to need to dip/undip quickly is when you're on the pedals at a bend, or coming out of one and going up the box. So for me, a column stalk is much superior.

On my 4 I now have the old OD stalk as the dipper (as I have an OD switch on the gear knob with a logic circuit).

Quite a big part of me feels I should be keeping all the controls as Triumph intended, to keep the 1960s experience. But sod it, there's enough to do when pressing on in the dark.

Nigel

[ianc]

In a number of cases, Triumph adopted innovations before other manufacturers:

- overdrive on 2/3/4 (I don't believe any others have ever offered this)

- disc front brakes (first quantity production car)

- synchromesh on all 4 forward gears (beat MGs)

- face level, fresh air ventilation (beat Ford)

- Surrey top (beat Porsche).

I have deliberately avoided listing IRS and PI, as I consider that the engineering and the implementation of these "enhancements" were flawed, although owners seem to have overcome most of the problems nowadays - but at what expense!

I have no qualms about making additions and modifications to one's TR to make it more usable and user-friendly.

Ian Cornish

Edited December 18, 2021 by ianc
Had forgotten synchro on all 4

[Martin M]

Hi all

Just added a slightly modified version of this conversion to my 1971 TR6. I was never keen on the floor mounted switchover

I've disconnected the floor high/Low switch and connected those wires to the new Meyle 100 941 0006 latching relay.

I've added a 40A Normally Open Relay to the flash circuit. I've added two Diodes to isolate the signals to each relay too.

I'm using the Flasher Stalk to switch the Earth/0V connection to each relay , reducing the current drawn through the stalk switch.

See my drawing attachedTR6 flash_hi_lo.pdf. Feel free to ask questions.

TR6 flash_hi_lo.pdf

[Andy Moltu]

I did the latching relay mod on the 6 ages ago as per TRaction. So when I flash the headlights the act of flashing operates the latching relay by a 12v+ve pulse and takes it from dip to main beam and vice versa. With a diode in circuit if you want to retain the flash function.

Came to do the mod on 4a only to discover that the internal wiring of the latching relays that are presently supplied has changed and rather than using the positive pulse from the flash to dip/main you have to do it via a negative 12v pulse to the latching relay. Send a 12v+ve pulse and it works once before killing the latching relay! To achieve this you need to connect the 12v flash output to a standard relay, so that when you pull the flash it operates the relay and makes the ground(earth) connection on S terminal of the latchng relay. So that the switch shown connected to the s termninal is actually a relay operated by the flasher circuit. Sorry not as good as some on here at creating wiring diagrams.

Ideally you need a diode that will take sufficient current to operate the main beam but prevent it from back feeding the relay when you are on main beam.

 

[tthomson]

I used a latching relay on my TR4A for dip/main switching initially, but I found they were expensive for what they offer, and they are not as robust as bog standard relays. Using bog standard relays reduces the cost (especially on replacement), and I have over 900 1N4007 diodes so very easy to use them for managing the headlamp flash. I also played with High current MOSFETs instead of Relays (They are certainly cheap enough), but relays seemed more appropriate on a 50 year old car.

[Andy Moltu]

Latching relays are about £20 and seem to last once someone on here pointed out that the current ones need to triggered by earthing rather than a positive pulse! £60 down the pan.

If you use a changeover relay you have to use an additional overdrive switch on the column which just seems less elegant than using the existing flash facility of the light switch.

[tthomson]

Hi Andy,

I am not knocking the use of a latching relay, just that my experience of them is that they are not widely used and so tend to be expensive, and as you point out the operation can be different to what you expect.

The use of the extra overdrive switch on LHS of column is to switch between dip and main. If you have a foot mounted dip switch it can work with that too. My reason for the mod was to get rid of the foot operated dip switch, so hence the additional stalk.

For headlamp flash operation, my system uses the flash facility on the lighting stalk. The lighting stalk operates as previously, but with lower current through the switch.

However, I am not a purist by any means, so whatever suits you is the best option to use.

TT

[Andy Moltu]

It's funny how Triumph were early adopters of some things like disc brakes but late on things like column dips and telescopic dampers.

Money or oversight?

[stuart]

2 hours ago, Andy Moltu said:

It's funny how Triumph were early adopters of some things like disc brakes but late on things like column dips and telescopic dampers.

Money or oversight?

Money, Triumph never had any.

Stuart.