DRL dimming - Qashqai's indicators visibility

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duncho
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Post by duncho »

I don't know how about others, but I was already twice approached with vulgar gestures and once almost crashed due to poor visibility of turn lights on its front end. It's not visible enough due to the fact that pretty bright DRL is surrounding the indicator on both sides.

URL E/ECE Regulation R48 point 6.19.7.5 concerning the approval of vehicles (EU Official Journal, been ratified on 17 January 2013) says:

"If the distance between the front direction-indicator lamp and the daytime running lamp is equal or less than 40 mm, the electrical connections of the daytime running lamp on the relevant side of the vehicle may besuch that either:
(a) It is switched OFF; or
(b) Its luminous intensity is reduced during the entire period (both ON and OFF cycle) of activation of a front direction-indicator lamp.

If a direction-indicator lamp is reciprocally incorporated with a daytime running lamp, the electrical connections of the daytime running lamp on the relevant side of the vehicle shall be such that the daytime running lamp is switched OFF during the entire period (both ON and OFF cycle) of activation of the direction-indicator lamp."


Why this car does not comply with the regulation is a mystery, or absence of knowledge?
Last edited by duncho on Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:37 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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robman9
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Post by robman9 »

I too agree with your comments. I did query the DRL on this forum and the answer was it doesn't do it. Maybe something the dealer needs to look at.
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Post by fat controller »

I think the key word there is 'may' - as in, you don't have to. Indeed, if you look at the following point (6.19.7.6):

"If a direction-indicator lamp is reciprocally incorporated with a daytime running lamp, the electrical connections of the daytime running lamp on the relevant side of the vehicle shall be such that the daytime running lamp is switched OFF during the entire period (both ON and OFF cycle) of activation of the direction-indicator lamp"

Note the word 'shall' in that one - in other words, this is mandatory.

For what it is worth, I agree that there is an issue with the front indicators on the QQ - I have already had two close calls, both at roundabouts where people have pulled out in front of me, and I am fairly sure that they just didn't see the indicator because of the bright DRL. The auto-cancel of the indicators is also much more sensitive than any car I have had in the past decade at least - even the slightest twitch of the wheel will cancel an indicator.

I am wondering, though, if it might be worth fitting LED bulbs to the front indicators - in the hope that they will not only give a more intense light, but also will illuminate quicker than a filament lamp giving fractionally longer illumination times? I presume that there will be some sort of multiplex or canbus system on these cars, but would the lesser load of an LED bulb trigger a warning/error? Also, what type of bulb is in the front indicators?
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Billgo
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Post by Billgo »

I noted on an Audi a few days ago that the DRL changed to an indicator when activated for such. No ambiguity here as the size and colour could not be missed. I wonder if the leds used here are dual colour. Or perhaps our QQs could be modified to turn off the appropriate DRL when using an indicator.
A nice project for some of our more learned readers ?
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bone_tone
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Post by bone_tone »

The daytime lights are obviously capable of being dimmed, as they do so when the headlights are turned on - shame that Nissan didn't use the functionality for when you are indicating. Had my second experience of a driver pulling out in front of me because they hadn't seen the indicator today!
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Post by Hound »

Duncho, you seem pretty good with projects like this. Since Nissan probably aren't going to come up with a software solution any time soon, I bet you could make a little module to fool the system...
Last edited by Hound on Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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duncho
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Post by duncho »

LED bulb will not help much even if is brighter. All cars have sensing of broken turn light bulb, which is indicated by faster blinking period. To avoid that you need to balance lower power consumption of LED by load resistors (8R2 / 50W). The bulb type is T20.

Hound: It's easy to design the module which will dim DRL while indicator is ON, however I would wait a bit as I already noted Nissan Europe that the car is not in compliance with the regulation. Let's see what their reply will be and then we could rise the issue higher and in worse case fix this ourself. I don't want to put my young family in danger just because someone is unable to do the job he is paid for.
Last edited by duncho on Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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fat controller
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Post by fat controller »

It's a shame that they didn't put the indicator to the outside of the fitting - that bit more separation would have helped quite a bit; I take your point that a wee bit of brightness isn't going to make a world of difference though.

I suppose on the bright side, the bulb failure mode is more sensible/conventional than I am used to with VAG motors - in some cases, even using load resistors would still not stop an error being chucked up; maybe VAG's software was too clever for its own good.................. :mrgreen:
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Post by duncho »

Correct, VAG vehicles are sensing the whole cycle not only when the bulb is powered but also when it is OFF. Workaround is to use lower resistance 5R6 / 50W. Tested and works excellent.
Resistor with resistance 6R8 is fine too, but causes broken bulb alert poped up on higher ambient temps.
Last edited by duncho on Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by jonceebee »

What about the wing mirror front indicators, I have noticed the QQ does show these off very well
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