Are you saying you disabled the voltage regulation of the IPDM, or that for the drl controller only, you bypassed it?

What about a drl controller with a 13.5V threshold. Does the battery ever store that much voltage to where the lights would be on with the car off?

 

Pretty unique!!

 

LEDs usually do not generate any heat...

 

LOL

You've never handled a high power LED flashlight like this Surefire have you? After about 200 lumens, they can get hot pretty quick. I don't really know how hot they can get, and I don't know how hot 10 watts is, and I don't know what temps the bumper plastic can handle sustained...but I do know that LEDs can get quite hot, and 10 watts is a lot for an LED.

 

I actually have two of those and they are cool, but the CREE LEDs in them are hardly comperable to the little plastic encased units we are talking about here...

 

Excellent questions Xtreme. Now your thinking... The DRL controller I bought from same seller of the LED lights, triggers around 13.7 or 8 volts. Nobody I've found selling voltage sensing (automatic) controllers lists, knows or can answer the voltage threshold question... So without buying them all and trying them I'll never know if there is a lower threshold. They all seem to be the same or very similar in design... so they probably all come from China.


The lower the threshold and the risk of them staying on. So I'm sure their all in the 13.7 - 13.8 range.


My controller leaves the DRL's on for 12 seconds after I shut the car off. On rare occasion I've seen them stay on longer. ? But within 30 seconds they are off. Probably, the fully charged new Plus one size battery I installed at the start of my project is the reason as it's capable of holding 14 volts briefly after receiving 14.7 volts steadily from the alt. I used my multi meter and bought the strongest battery on the shelf. It read 12.9 volts, where most read 12.4-12.6. Now I just revealed how to buy the best battery on the shelf. :-)


Last week I drove the G37X Coupe to FL and back 2,600 miles round trip without a hitch or glitch. After a 12 hour solid day of driving, I could touch the LED bulbs and they were cold at night time temps of 45 degrees.


I can't discuss the IPDM system of the Infiniti G37x as I'm still researching it to know more, and revealing what I know could be dangerous... So all I can say at the moment is I left mine intact as I think the engineers have a reason to monitor the battery voltage and vary the voltage as needed rather than pumping 14.7 volts constant to the battery. It probably extends battery life and saves gas as the alt. doesn't work as hard when producing the 13.3-13.5 volts I see on my Escort Passport detector, as when plugged in it reads the voltage of the car. :-)


So I'm eluding the FIX, on how I get my DRL to fire consistently, while utilizing the DRL controller as I really like the auto dim feature... I can't advise what others do and will continue to test for another month or so b4 I spill the beans.

 

Averaged 26.3 mpg for 1200 miles driving South to Florida... Averaged 23.6 mpg driving North back to Iowa. Still loving the looks of my LED's. Looks OEM to me. :-)

 

OK, so you're not disabling the IPDM...I thought perhaps that's why you weren't giving out details as you don't want any random person to mess up their car. So you are only bypassing the IPDM for the DRL controller it sounds right, rather than a system-wide shutdown of the IPDM.

And furthermore, this is only needed if we want them to dim right? If we just want them on with ignition (no dimming), I imagine this would be much easier to wire...would we even need a DRL controller?

 

Yes, direct wire the lights to the battery source via your own switch will fire the LED's. I would advise NOT to run them at night full bright. After market LED dimmers are available for $30 bucks and would allow infinite brightness control, and a much more detailed install if u plan to mount the dimmer inside the cab.

I like the DRL controllers for the auto on/off and dim, and only cost $10 bucks. Super simple and clean install. Easy to UN install.

 

Seems like you got everything figured out. Quality work.

 

I've seen some vibration sensing drl controllers. Are these hit or miss?
I can't recall if they wire into the parking brakes to dim, but they activate with car vibrations instead of voltage change.

 

Yes, I've seen these as well... but MOST that I've seen turn the DRL's off when you turn on your lights... NOT DIM... And at idle are known to turn off... So until someone posts here there results with the vibration sensing controller's... I'd pass on them.

Any time a DRL controller has an extra wire hookup... bypass... etc... it usually turns them off, and 2nd most commom is to Dim the DRL.

I prefer the DIM as they look so cool on all the time. :-)

FYI: The IPDM does not kick in all the time. Most (90%) the time it pumps 14.7 volts to the battery, thus firing the voltage sensing DRL controls.

In the event the IPDM is kicking in... your DRL's will not light... or will turn off within 30 seconds after start up... as that's when the IPDM kicks in.

Here's a quick fix... Simply turn your parking lights on. BINGO, your DRL's turn on in the DIM mode EVERY time your parking lights are on REGARDLESS of what the IPDM is doing. :-)

So it's really a WIN to install an Automatic DRL Voltage sensing switch that DIMS when lights are on, as it's an override to the full bright mode at 14+ volts. When my G is in IPDM mode... upon the next restart, it's usually in full charge mode.

So I haven't really worried about Modding my IPDM by "cutting" the yellow wire etc... as I just turn my parking lights on and bingo, DRL's light and still look SICK cool in day light hours. See Pic below.

I just spilled the beans! Now get those DRL installed on those G's boys and post some pics! :-)

 

Again, using a voltage sensing DRL controller is the easiest method of install as no switch's / wiring need to be ran into the vehicle. The Auto Dimming feature is cool, and you simply tap a lead from the parking light connector. My favorite way to do this is to identify the parking light lead with a test light. Then expose 1/8" of the wire 2" back from the connector. Wrap your lead wire around the exposed wire and solder it. Then apply liquid electric tape / electric tape etc... Loom the new lead wire and run it to the DRL controller and connect it using heat shrink butt connector. In the pics below you can see the liquid electric tape drying. Which I later wrapped in Scotch Super 33 electrical tape. Only tape I use. Sticky in hot/cold temps and lasts.

On my G37 Coupe, removing the passenger air filter assembly is very easy and allows plenty of room to do the above procedure. :-) I used white wire as that was the corresponding color on my main wire lead I ran through the vehicle to the DRL controller at the battery. Pics below is of the splices I made and finished wiring product. You see the main wire lead with 4 inner wires factory shielded, and you also see the smaller black wire which is the GROUND for the DRL controller. I ran it to a large bolt on the fender well. DO NOT GROUND anything to your G battery post per manual.

Enjoy and get those DRL's installed in your G's.

 

Note in the pics above the 24F battery. One size bigger than OEM battery and fits the tray size perfectly compared to the tiny OEM battery. Consumer Reports listed Everstart MAX 24 as #1 Best Buy. $110 at WalMart.

 

My problem with turning on my parking lights to fire my led's during the day is that the dash dims and if you have sunglasses on, it is hard to see the radio and dash. Turning the brightness up works until it's nighttime, then you have to turn them down. Also you need to remember to turn them off constantly. I have 180* headlights with the led rings that I want to isolate and will be installing the voltage sensing relay when the weather warms up.