Automotive schematics

This device is a simple timer, allowing to keep on the headlights of your vehicle for about 1min. and 30sec., e.g. when accessing some dark place, without the necessity of coming back to switch-off the lights. Pushing on P1 allows C1 charging to full 12V battery supply. Therefore Q1 is driven hard-on, driving in turn Q2 and its Relay load. The headlights are thus activated by means of the Relay contact wired in parallel to the vehicle's headlights switch. RL1 remains activated until C1 is almost fully discharged, i.e.... [read more]

This circuit automatically turns a motor cycle's headlight on and off, independently of both the light and ignition switches, provided the battery is fully charged. The first stage uses the 22O resistor and ZD1 to hold transistor Q1 off while the motor is not running; it draws about 2mA. Once the battery voltage exceeds 7.0V during charging, Q1 begins to turn on.... [read more]

LED Bike Light Circuit Project... [read more]

These two headlight reminder circuits are easy to install and operate on the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle. The simple circuit involves adding just a 12V piezo buzzer between the lights circuit and a door switch. The buzzer sounds if the lights are left on and you open a door. The disadvantage of this simple circuit is that it's annoying to have the buzzer sound continuously if you want to leave the door open while the lights are on. The improved circuit overcomes that problem by adding a 1000µF capacitor and a parallel 100kO resistor in series with the buzzer. Now, when a door is opened, the buzzer gives a brief burst of sound only, while the 1000µF capacitor charges. The 100kO resistor discharges the capacitor when the lights are switched off.... [read more]

In most countries it is now mandatory or at least recommended to have a rear fog light on a trailer with the additional requirement that, when the trailer is coupled to the car, the rear fog light of the towing car has to be off. The circuit shown here is eminently suitable for this application. The circuit is placed near the rear fog light of the car. The 12-V connection to the lamp has to be interrupted and is instead connected to relay contacts 30 and 87A (K1, K3). When the rear fog light is turned on it will continue to operate normally.... [read more]

For several years now, a rear fog lamp has been mandatory for trailers and caravans in order to improve visibility under foggy conditions. When this fog lamp is switched on, the fog lamp of the pulling vehicle must be switched of to avoid irritating reflections. For this purpose, a mechanical switch is now built into the 13-way female connector in order to switch of the fog lamp of the pulling vehicle and switch on the fog lamp of the trailer or caravan. For anyone who uses a 7-way connector, this switching can also be implemented electronically with the aid of the circuit illustrated here.... [read more]

This astonishingly simple circuit allows one or two powerful 12V 21W car bulbs to be driven in flashing mode by means of a power MosFet. Devices of this kind are particularly suited for road, traffic and yard alerts and in all cases where mains supply are not available but a powerful flashing light are yet necessary.... [read more]

The circuit is based around the LM324 low power opamp which draws around 3mA of current, so it won't bother the battery if left connected for extended periods.... [read more]

Going camping nowadays involves taking lots of electronic equipment whether for day to day running or for fun and entertainment. Most of the time a charged lead acid battery and a power inverter would be used to ensure a smoothly organized holiday where ideally the missus and the children cheerfully use their electric and electronic gear! With rechargeable lead-acid batteries it’s invariably useful - if not essential - to determine whether the power source you’re hauling along on your travels is losing capacity and needs to be topped up. The same circuit would also come in handy when going on a car or motorbike trip as it can check the status of a 12 V (car) or a 6 V (motorcycle) battery.... [read more]

Connecting this circuit to the battery of your vehicle, you will always know at a glance the approximate voltage available. An indication of battery voltage is useful to the motorist for monitoring the battery's capacity to deliver current, and as a check on the efficiency of the dynamo or alternator. Threshold voltages of the Leds are set by means of two Zener Diodes (D6 & D10) plus two further Diodes wired in series (D4, D5 and D8, D9 respectively) adding a step of about 1.3V to the nominal Zener voltage.... [read more]

This i-TRIXX circuit can prevent a whole lot of trouble for those of you who go on holiday in a caravan. It would be a significant damper on your holiday spirit when you are ready to leave the camping and discover that you have used your battery too much and that you are now unable to start the car. This annoyance can be avoided if you were warned early enough by an illuminated LED when the charge in the battery threatens to become too low.... [read more]

Most, if not all, recent cars have an impressive amount of electronics, whether it be ABS brake systems, engine control with injection calculators, airbag activation, or other various functions, called comfort functions. Among them is one which we tend to forget because it has become so common today. It turns on the windshield wipers automatically for a few seconds after the windshield cleaner. This practice is almost indispensable because it avoids any dripping of excess rinse product right in the middle of a just-cleaned windshield.... [read more]

If you’re a biker or scooter rider you’ll know how easy it is to forget to cancel your flashing indicators after turning without an audible reminder. Constantly glancing at indicator lamps is hardly an option; your eyes should be on the road ahead! The simple circuit shown here provides an audible reminder. The clever bit is the way it doesn’t annoy you by beeping the instant you activate the flashers but only after a preset time, in other words when your indicators are active longer than normal. Supply to the circuit is through the flasher relay.... [read more]

This circuit uses a 1458 dual op-amp to form a radar detector.... [read more]

This device is a simple timer, allowing to keep on the headlights of your vehicle for about 1min. and 30sec., e.g. when accessing some dark place, without the necessity of coming back to switch-off the lights.... [read more]

This circuit was designed as an aid in parking the car near the garage wall when backing up. LED D7 illuminates when bumper-wall distance is about 20 cm.... [read more]

This circuit has been designed to alert the vehicle driver that he has reached the maximum fixed speed limit (i.e. in a motorway). It eliminates the necessity of looking at the tachometer and to be distracted from driving.... [read more]

This circuit uses the popular and easy to find LM3914 IC. This IC is very simple to drive, needs no voltage regulators (it has a built in voltage regulator) and can be powered from almost every source.... [read more]

Driving the highway with your high-beam headlights can really increase your visibility, but can he a blinding hazard for other drivers. This simple circuit can be wired into your headlight switch to provide automatic switching between high and low beam headlights when there is oncoming traffic. It does this by sensing the lights of that traffic. In this way, you can drive safely with your high-beams on without blinding other drivers.... [read more]

In the circuit, a quad voltage comparator (LM339) is used as a simple bar graph meter to indicate the charge condition of a 12 volt, lead acid battery. A 5 volt reference voltage is connected to each of the (+) inputs of the four comparators and the (-) inputs are connected to successive points along a voltage divider. The LEDs will illuminate when the voltage at the negative (-) input exceeds the reference voltage.... [read more]