Location of Daytime Running Light Relays

[Sky_Boss]

2006 Dutchstar...

Does anyone know where they located the relays for the DRLs? I'm installing new Xenon low beam lights and DRLs are not comparable with them.

I did find what looks like something in the fuse panel below the driver side seat that might be what I'm looking for.

There are 2 possible places on that fuse panel:

The first if F22 labeled in the diagram as "Hood Latch & Daytime Run LTS" but that slot appears unused.

The second is K3/F34 labeled "Clearance LT Relay (day)(F34)" The picture doesn't show it well but there is a fuse in the F34 slot.

I'm trying to figure this out without dropping the coach off of the jacks, bringing in the slides and just pulling stuff. If I wasn't on the jacks with the slides out I would just start it up and see if pulling the F34 fuse killed the DRLs. Since I am on jacks and slides are out, I don't think the safeties will let me put the tranny in gear. Of course, if I don't get any good clues, I will have to resort to "bute force" testing.

[GaryKD]

Hi Sky_Boss,
You are in the correct location. All the automotive relays and fuses are on that board. The K3/F34 choice looks good to me. That being said, I do not have first hand experience. Your location and board look just like mine.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by GaryKD

Hi Sky_Boss,
You are in the correct location. All the automotive relays and fuses are on that board. The K3/F34 choice looks good to me. That being said, I do not have first hand experience. Your location and board look just like mine.

Gary,

You wouldn't happen to have wire diagrams you can PM to me?

I did seem to find that Spartan installed the DRL module/relay before delivery to Newmar. I have tossed and Email to them too.

Thanks!

[GaryKD]

Nope, sorry I have no wiring diagrams.

[Sky_Boss]

OK...I went ahead and brought the slides in and dropped it off the jacks. No big deal.

BUT...

I pulled about every relay that is remotely possible to control the DRLs and NO LUCK.

I did learn that the DRLs are tied to the park brake switch in some manner. I was thinking it was like a GM car that turns DRLs on when you put it in gear. So...with ignition switch in on/run position (doesn't matter if engine is running or not, slides in/or or jacks up/down) the DRLs come on as soon as I release the park brake.

I hope to hear something from Spartan by Tuesday.

[Sky_Boss]

I got a chance to talk with someone on weekend call at Spartan. He didn't have direct access to schematics but he is thinking that the DRLs might actually be tied into a module that I thought would only deal with the smart wheel but it does seem to have other functions too. I will have to wait until Tuesday for some help but if it is in the module then I will either need to cut or unpin the lead. That would be fine.

What I hope to find is that the DRLs on Spartan chassis is NOT a 1/2 power light but full power. I can dream can't I? If that is the case then I won't need to deactivate the DRLs at all. I need full power to run the ballasts to the new Xenon lights so if they are full power instead of 1/2...

Here is a picture of that module

[Sky_Boss]

Well...I solved the 1/2 power vs the full power DRL question today.

I found that when I had the engine running I had 12.7V at the low beam sockets when I activated the light switch. When I put the high beams on I had 13.9V at both the low and high beam sockets. That was a bit of a surprise to see the higher voltage with the bright lights on.

My DRLs are activated when I release the park brake. With the light switch off and brake released I had 7.0V at the low beams...I guess that answers THAT question. LOL BTW...I also verified I had ZERO volts at all light sockets with the light switch off and the park brake set. I think I covered all my bases on the whole 1/2 vs full power DRLs. I also verified that NONE of my marker or tail lights were on when the DRLs were running.

Now I wait for tech support at Spartan chassis to tell me how I can disable the DRLs. I'm hoping there is a poorly marked relay that can be removed or at least a pin working the DRLs can be removed. Otherwise, I think I will need to cut a wire from a control module unless I can remove the pin from a cable connector and heat shrink it.

[Sky_Boss]

Well...DRLs are turned off and my new HID low beams have been installed.

So...Here is the REAL scoop for 2006 Newmar models and probably fairly close how to do it in later models.

There are no separate DRL relays you can access. The DRLs are controlled by the "Spartan Controller" located in the fuse bay on the left side below the driver's seat.

There are 2 options to disabling DRLs in a 2006 Newmar DP of nearly any kind. Both methods require you to cut wires or remove pins from connectors in the busman service bay that are attached to the Spartan Controller. I opted for removing pins from plugs and heat shrinking the ends.

1. The easiest is to remove Plug 1 (with 16 pins), pin 14 which is a park brake signal. I chose NOT to do that because no one could tell me if that signal was used for any other function. As an example, putting the transmission in gear with the park brake on will give you a warning but I could not find where that was generated.

2. Nearly as easy and very specific to my needs was to remove Plug 5 (with 3 pins), pins 1 & 2. theoretically, one should only need to remove pin 2 but that seemed to cause some unintended consequences that kinda messed with power to the low beams. BTW...the control module switches DRL functions from the high beams to the low beams if it detects that both low beams are inoperative.

Again, this is specific to Spartan Chassis. I don't know if this translates to FL chassis.

["007"]

So all of these Mod's were done to run your new Xenon lights because they would not light on 1/2 power?
What do they look like now that you have done the Mod's?
Are they headlights or tail lights or all lights?
Its nice to tinker around after retirement, is not it.

[Sky_Boss]

Originally Posted by "007"

So all of these Mod's were done to run your new Xenon lights because they would not light on 1/2 power?
What do they look like now that you have done the Mod's?
Are they headlights or tail lights or all lights?
Its nice to tinker around after retirement, is not it.

Yes...the ballasts can run on 8V-20V but DRLs run at between 6V & 7V. Running them on low power reduces the life of the system considerably.

My DSDP came with Hella 90 MM halogen lights. The good news is that Newmar really does a nice job reducing voltage drop. That means the standard H9 bulb they use is about as bright as it can be. The bad news is that the light pattern of these units was similar in shape to a candle light. They didn't throw much light up and to the right. According to Hella literature (see page 3 of the flyer at bottom of My Hella Lights :: 90mm Low Beam Xenon Classic) you can see the expected difference between the 90 mm Halogen Classic and the Xenon Classic.

I actually started with the BI-Xenon lights but mounting them was not practicable. The Xenon Classic is the exact same canister as the halogen so that made the swap MUCHO easier. Not quite as bright but a WORLD of difference.

The new lights look exactly like my older ones in shape, size and how they look through the hood. They really improved the lighting at night. In fact, after I aligned them I parked the coach in a long lot. After that I drove my car from the back of that lot towards it as if passing it on a 2 lane highway. After that I actually lowered them a tad to better avoid glare for oncoming drivers.

The Xenons are not subject to light quality issues based on voltage as long as you meet the minimum 8V. Typically, even a poor wire design will get you over 11V at the light plug. The Xenons do need good voltage to "strike" when they start up but the current draw is nominally about the same the same as an H9 halogen bulb starting up but once they are running they only use 35W compared to 65W for a halogen bulb.

It was frustrating at first but I really enjoyed the project. The only bad thing was I started to get into a time crunch. I was needing to getting everything shipped and then design the new wire harness and relays.

Basically, I installed 2 relays as outlined by Daniel Stern Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply



What I did do a little different from the diagram was because each relay had 2 pin 87 outputs so I ran #12 wire to pin 30 of the relay and then #14 from each pin 87 to each Xenon ballast. I also chose to do the same for my high beams except I connected to the light bulb socket plug.

I also elected to run 2 #12 ground wires back to the B- behind the generator. I tied the low and high beam grounds on each side together.

To make the relays pass the new power sources to the lights I used a T wire tap on the low beam wire in the wire harness back to pin 86 on the relay dedicated to them and did the same for the high beams taping the harness high beam feed. I then T tapped the ground from the wire harness and tied both relays to that ground. I did this all from the left side wire harness. I later cut off all of the original harness bulb connectors and heat shrinked the ends. I had to reuse the high beam connectors and barrel connected them to my new wires. Finally I wire loomed all of the new wiring and tie rapped it to the original lighting harness.

So...why didn't I just use the 12V from the original wire harness to fire up the ballast? THAT is a GREAT question! Here is why. Since the controller appears to try to monitor the low beam lights it also appears to have limited current output if it didn't detect an appropriate voltage and current draw. Because of this, my low beams would not fire up unless I happen to have the high beams also selected when I turn on the light switch in the coach. HOWEVER...there was alway enough current to activate the new relays I installed. So, that is why I used the T wire taps from the original wire harness to pins 85 & 86 of the relays.

I do have a relay kit to move my DRLs from the low beams to the lower turn signal lights. I will work on that another time.

In the end, my lights work just the same as they did before but without DRLs. I do believe my high beams are just a little brighter. HOWEVER...while the smart wheel headlight flasher works it is important to not "quick flash" the low beams. That can be hard on the ballast. The trick is to hold the flash button at least 1 to 2 full seconds before you release them.

["007"]

Thanks for the write up and explanations Don, I will add to our headlight section in QT's # 3 others may want to do this Mod also.