Aaaargh! Flat battery!
David Jenkins - 24/7/11 at 01:11 PM
Been out for a really good run this morning - 2 hours round the Suffolk lanes & by-roads. Only down-side was the number of drivers coming the
other way who preferred the middle of the road... so I put my headlights on to give them all an extra clue.
Got to my local pub, had a couple of beers, then wandered out to get in the car to go home... flat battery! I'd left my headlights on. 
Fortunately the landlord had some jump leads and let me start using his car's battery, so that didn't delay me too long.
Next job - fit some daytime running lights so I don't need to use my headlights! I'd fit a lights warning buzzer, but on tin-tops they rely
on the door being opened to trigger the beeper - "lights on + door open + ignition off = beep" - which isn't so easy on a Locost!
Maybe I'll fit a 10-second beeper that works on "lights on + ignition off".
Nobody's fault but mine... Sigh...
[Edited on 24/7/11 by David Jenkins]
John Bonnett - 24/7/11 at 01:42 PM
Why not wire your headlight relay coil feed through the ignition switch? Maybe easier and must be cheaper than fitting running lights.
PSpirine - 24/7/11 at 01:52 PM
Yep, that's what I did on my mini - just wired the headlights through the ignition only. It's only the hazards that need to work with
everything off.
It's quite rare you'd ever WANT your headlamps on without ignition.
big_wasa - 24/7/11 at 03:19 PM
quote:
It's only the hazards that need to work with everything off.
Side lights should work with the ignition of aswell.
mad-butcher - 24/7/11 at 06:01 PM
FIA battery isolation switch
Ninehigh - 24/7/11 at 06:06 PM
I remember my Astra would buzz if I left the lights on without opening the door, as long as the ignition was off.
indykid - 24/7/11 at 06:14 PM
A couple of beers?
I hope they were halves
David Jenkins - 24/7/11 at 07:39 PM
I'll have to go and look at my wiring diagram to see if I can wire the headlights from the switched circuit... I still fancy DRLs though, as
they do help the car to stand out, possibly more than headlights. I'm still not totally sure whether they are a good idea for every car on the
road.
A buzzer would be very easy to rig though, even with a 10 or 20 second operational delay.
Of course, the simplest solution is to remember to turn them off!
As for the beers - I didn't say how big they were! 
)
[Edited on 24/7/11 by David Jenkins]
whitestu - 24/7/11 at 08:19 PM
quote:
FIA battery isolation switch
+1
Stops anyone turning the lights on when the car is parked as well.
Stu
David Jenkins - 28/7/11 at 04:26 PM
Too complicated...
I have now worked out that I need one short piece of wire, plus a £2 buzzer from Maplins - it's a tiny mod of the relay circuitry I set up for
the security system. When I've finished I will get a beep when I turn off the ignition when the headlights are on (but not if only the
sidelights are on - I may want to do that, and they won't drain the battery as quickly as the headlights).
steve m - 28/7/11 at 04:40 PM
FIA battery isolation switch
+2
Its also another way of securing the car,
[Edited on 28/7/11 by steve m]
russbost - 28/7/11 at 04:45 PM
This
Is what you need!
RichardK - 28/7/11 at 05:47 PM
Russ do you have any of those for the back
David Jenkins - 28/7/11 at 06:08 PM
Already thought about the DRLs - easy enough to do (may still do - and Russ's prices are appealing!). At the very worst it's a new length of
wire and a relay.
This is the first time in umpteen years that I've had this problem, so I don't intend to perform major surgery to my car loom! 
russbost - 28/7/11 at 06:38 PM
DRL's for the rear???
David Jenkins - 28/7/11 at 06:49 PM
No - front! The original problem was dodgy drivers coming at me in narrow country lanes on my side of the road. I put my headlights on to attract
their attention - hence my discussion of DRLs!