Duck Pond Redneckery

[Rigjockey]

My 2019 has DRL (of course) but the dash lights up all the time. When you flip the switch for full lighting system there is a green headlight icon that lights up so you know you have your full lighting system on.

I noticed some states have a law when the wipers are on headlights should be on. I think that is one hell of an idea and I think they should pass that law here.
I turn my lights on in the rain or even on overcast days.

 

[Duck]

I'm wiring this micro imitation Model T shitbox edition up from scratch.

I'm kinda toying with the idea of DRLs. Except wired to the running lights circuit.

Just low power LEDs, just to be seen, not to see with.

 

[389 Hood]

DRL's that use LED's won't last long. It burns the transformer out in a short time making up for the voltage loss to the primary power side of it.

I equipped the Pete with LED's by Katana. It would eat the transformers up in about 2 months. I got into the BCM and turned off the DRL's and never touch the lights afterward. Even though I always used the lights when on the road, for the few minutes a day when the headlights were on without full power, it would cut the transformer life horribly.

The transformer has written on it that it will operate from 2V-32V DC. The DRL powers the circuit to 7.5VDC. The transformer heats up very hot to make up the voltage. I don't know what it does to dissipate the excess when running higher voltages.

 

[Duck]

DRL's that use LED's won't last long. It burns the transformer out in a short time making up for the voltage loss to the primary power side of it.

I equipped the Pete with LED's by Katana. It would eat the transformers up in about 2 months. I got into the BCM and turned off the DRL's and never touch the lights afterward. Even though I always used the lights when on the road, for the few minutes a day when the headlights were on without full power, it would cut the transformer life horribly.

The transformer has written on it that it will operate from 2V-32V DC. The DRL powers the circuit to 7.5VDC. The transformer heats up very hot to make up the voltage. I don't know what it does to dissipate the excess when running higher voltages.

Not sure what you're talking about.

LEDs run on I think 5 volts. A 12 volt LED just had a resistor or something to drop the voltage.

That's for low power LEDs like tail, brake, marker, etc. I don't know about the super blinding bright headlight ones.

What I'm talking about using, just to be seen, not light up the road at night, are only about as bright as a flashlight.

 

[389 Hood]

Hmmm! I misread what you were saying. I thought that you were going to do LED's all the way around, including the headlights.

Sure, marker lights, tail/brake lights would be just standard wiring.

Yes, the ones I put in the Pete were for revenge. I'm not sure they were even legal. My replacement called me a few weeks ago and asked what kind of lights were in that truck. He was out on a 2 lane and oncoming traffic kept flashing him. He said he would hit them with a quick high beam flash. They were insane with the high beams and fog lights on. I just told him the truth. Australian bush lights.

Thinking about it, I put just regular white LED's on my p-cup and it was plug and play, no transformers. They aren't worth a damn compared to the big truck.

 

[Electric Chicken]

Hmmm! I misread what you were saying. I thought that you were going to do LED's all the way around, including the headlights.

Sure, marker lights, tail/brake lights would be just standard wiring.

Yes, the ones I put in the Pete were for revenge. I'm not sure they were even legal. My replacement called me a few weeks ago and asked what kind of lights were in that truck. He was out on a 2 lane and oncoming traffic kept flashing him. He said he would hit them with a quick high beam flash. They were insane with the high beams and fog lights on. I just told him the truth. Australian bush lights.

Thinking about it, I put just regular white LED's on my p-cup and it was plug and play, no transformers. They aren't worth a damn compared to the big truck.

 

[quillcom]

DRL's that use LED's won't last long. It burns the transformer out in a short time making up for the voltage loss to the primary power side of it.

Not sure what you're talking about....That's for low power LEDs like tail, brake, marker, etc. I don't know about the super blinding bright headlight ones.

I always wondered why my DRL's LED blues came with a little fan installed right behind the light. The ones I got serves a dual purpose for lowbeam drl and highbeam which I never use.

 

[389 Hood]

The right LED lights generate some heat. The transformer is a separate unit within the cable harness of the light assembly. Try packing all of that stuff into the little pods of the 389. It looks big, but there sure isn't very much room in there.

 

[Duck]

The right LED lights generate some heat. The transformer is a separate unit within the cable harness of the light assembly. Try packing all of that stuff into the little pods of the 389. It looks big, but there sure isn't very much room in there.

Can you get aftermarket Peterbilt LED headlights that are only as bright as regular halogens, but don't get super hot?

If I'm able to do anything at all with this 6 volt positive ground generator at all, it ain't gonna be much.

I think it can be repolarized to negative ground.

There are transformers you can get to bump 6V up to 12, but they're inefficient & I might end up with like 3-4 amps tops.

 

[389 Hood]

Can you get aftermarket Peterbilt LED headlights that are only as bright as regular halogens, but don't get super hot?

If I'm able to do anything at all with this 6 volt positive ground generator at all, it ain't gonna be much.

I think it can be repolarized to negative ground.

There are transformers you can get to bump 6V up to 12, but they're inefficient & I might end up with like 3-4 amps tops.

There are so many different LED's on the market by hundreds of manufacturers. You're going to need to pick a plain-jane type of light that doesn't have too long of an internal stalk that puts the light into the bulb holder. Maybe one made for Ford fog lights. The ones on my p-cup are stubby little things because the housing isn't very deep at all. It's not like you're going to drive this thing on the Interstate.

Pretty sure I read one time where a generator can be repolarized, but not going to swear to it. How about changing it over to a 12VDC alternator. Maybe use one from say a Mini or even a stand alone generator pack that uses a generator to charge it's system.

 

[Duck]

There are so many different LED's on the market by hundreds of manufacturers. You're going to need to pick a plain-jane type of light that doesn't have too long of an internal stalk that puts the light into the bulb holder. Maybe one made for Ford fog lights. The ones on my p-cup are stubby little things because the housing isn't very deep at all. It's not like you're going to drive this thing on the Interstate.

Pretty sure I read one time where a generator can be repolarized, but not going to swear to it. How about changing it over to a 12VDC alternator. Maybe use one from say a Mini or even a stand alone generator pack that uses a generator to charge it's system.

The water pump is on the right side, at the rear of the block, and it's driven by a shaft that comes out the back side of the generator.

If I remove the generator, I'll have to figure out a way to run the water pump.

Space is also limited because of the shape of the hood.

Speakin' of that hood, it's also only about an inch or two above the carburetor so there's no room for a filter. I'm gonna have to make something that fits over the top of the carb that's kinda wide to compensate for low height, and allows ducting up a filter located in that limited space above the generator.

The exhaust is hard plumbing pipe and it's all threaded & I don't think Dipshit allowed for engine rock. I'm going to have to wrap the pipe from the manifold down to below the cab to keep the heat away from my relays & fuse panel.

I think I'll take it to a shop & have them redo the exhaust though.

 

[Rigjockey]

No room for an air filter? Just use a covid mask over the carb.

 

[GAnthony]

Do cars down there have daytime running lights? They mandated it here probably 30 years ago. Running lights come on automatically they are the headlights but not as bright a setting of a nighttime headlight.

i do not believe mandated, but many cars have them as standard equipment.

yes, it's pretty much the headlights, but at a lower wattage, until you turn on the headlights for full brightness.

 

[GAnthony]

Problem with DRLs is at night you have idiots driving with only those and their tail lights are off.

on the past few toyotas that i have had, and my current one, i can turn the switch to "auto" which give me DRL, then thru a sensor on the dash, they turn on automatically, when they sense a darker surrounding........hell, they turn on when i go thru an underpass.....

i leave the switch on "auto"...what is annoying when i take the car to the dealership for service, they turn them off, cuz if not, the lights will be on, inside the service bay.

 

[GAnthony]

Yep, we have DRM that started on 95' but they are not mandated to be on down here.

Some parts of California will have stretches of road where you are required to run them. Not sure if any other state does that.

i do believe that in the desert highway areas of the Mojave for instance, they must be on.

 

[Duck]

I gotta do laundry tomorrow. No idea why Sarah doesn't do it herself.

Monday morning her brother is picking her up and taking her to their parents house in southern Illinois because the trial for the meth head who killed their brother Zach is on Halloween.

I pickup up a free Narcan kit to send with them.

I'm gonna pull her brother aside & make my instructions clear: He is not to tell Sarah about it, and he is to give it to his dad, and not tell his dad it's from me.

It's in case there's a not guilty verdict & his mom goes full Looney tunes again and tries to kill herself. She's got opiod pain meds for fibro myalgia & that's what she OD'd on last time she tried to off herself.

The defense had some other meth junky claim that Zach's girlfriend shot him & her brother is taking the rap for it, for the sole purpose of creating reasonable doubt.

There's also the possibility of a really lax sentence. Because it's Illinois.

A lax sentence would send the old lady into Looney Tunes mode too.

They're in a pretty rural area and it takes like 30 minutes for an ambulance to reach their small unincorporated town, and they just about always have to summon a helicopter to bring people to St Louis or Paducah.

So when I saw the free narcan kits at the smoke shop today I grabbed one.

 

[Hillbilly Canuck]

Where I grew up in Kentucky has been long over run with pills meth and stories of bullshit and fuckery just like that. I can't even begin to tell you how angry and sad it makes me too.

You're a good man @Duck

 

[Duck]

Where I grew up in Kentucky has been long over run with pills meth and stories of bullshit and fuckery just like that. I can't even begin to tell you how angry and sad it makes me too.

You're a good man @Duck

Meth is everywhere in southern Illinois. I've heard it's city trash who go way out into the middle of nowhere for cheap or abandoned houses to set up meth labs in. Eventually the local white trash communities get involved too.

They should all be rounded up and turned into soylent green

 

[389 Hood]

They should all be rounded up and turned into soylent green

The libs and the lawyers would have a field day with that one.

 

[Duck]

The libs and the lawyers would have a field day with that one.

We'd be feeding them into the Soylent Green machine too.

Since 90% of the western world's problems are caused by libs and lawyers, we could rename it "The Ultimate Problem Solving Machine".


I have that movie recorded on my DVR but I haven't watched it yet. It's probably been ten years since I've seen it.