Autoswitch :: model as5p2

How It Works

The visual LED blinks rapidly during the timed "window" up to 10 seconds long when you should release the trigger signal (high beam switch). The single tap to flash the high beams or leaving the high beams on will not activate the Autoswitch. LED shines green to indicate power to your auxiliary lights relay.

Wiring

Additional information coming soon ...

Installation

The Autoswitch is easy to install. If you already have auxiliary driving lights installed with a controlling toggle switch and relay, Put the Autoswitch VIOLET wire where your toggle switch was connected on the relay coil pin. Tap the RED into any ignition-swtiched 'ON' wire for power, YELLOW wire to the high beam bulb wire. Add connection to ground, and neatly tuck the Autoswitch and wires out of the way in any convenient location. And without building a bracket, drilling any holes, or modifying your dash, you’re done!

Go ahead and look at the detailed instruction sheets but don't be spooked by the amount of text! The above paragraph is really what it's all about if you are a knowledgable tech or shadetree mechanic.

Using a Headlight Modulator

This Autoswitch is triggered by the high beam wire so there is no interaction because your modulator affects only low beam. However our instructions may tell you to feed power to the Autoswitch (to energize the circuit) from the low beam wire or power source. Thats only one of the sources available to you for this purpose. If you do select that wire to energize the AS, just be sure feed point is BEFORE the modulator so the AS gets steady power.

Using a Turn Signal Canceler

If using an aftermarket turn signal canceler that ALSO sends a negative or ground connection to the controller box, be sure the pulse is less than 1 second in length and it is a single pulse. This will avoid it telling the Autoswitch to activate your lights relay ON or OFF. Or activating the garage door opener.

Using Multiple Autoswitches on the Same Vehicle

The AS5P looks at a power ON window of 1.2 seconds to 10 seconds during which time the high beam would be turned off to activate your lights relay.

The second Autoswitch would be the AS5P2 which takes 2 quick power on pulses from the high beam wire to activate the lights relay. This AS5P2 ignores the long pulse thats seen only by the AS5P. Likewise the AS5P ignores the 2 quick pulses that the AS5P2 sees. Or instead of the P2 it may be the garage model AS5NG2 but 2 of the same pulse models shall not be used on the same vehicle if sensing the same circuit. (both activations would occur)

Some uses for 2 switches might be separate control of one or 2 sets of auxiliary lights. Or to turn on a power strip providing power direct from the battery, or to remove power from a circuit.

On BMW bikes with the negative pulse turn signal cancel, up to 4 switches total can be used!

LED Indicator Light Information

LED dimensions details:

This LED has a lens on top. The housing is a 5mm diameter, 7mm tall. There is a 1mm long flange at the bottom thats 6mm diameter. The wire underneath needs aproximately 20mm before a full bend can be made. This stiffness is only due to all the layers of protective heat shrink tubing. By modifying this area the bottom of the LED wire secion can be set up much smaller.

LED info:

The LED is a bi-color. Red or Green. It changes color by getting the volatge on the feed wire reversed by the processor. When the LED is quickly pulsed the color appears orange to the eye. The wire is 6 to 7 feet long. It should never be cut or altered due to the danger of damaging the processor chip. If the wires are shorted when the Autoswitch is powered up, the processor chip will be instantly ruined.

Further tech info about converting the LED to be a bulb, or changing to a different LED entails custom work, info and configurations we do not have available at this time.

Relay Basics for the Novice

A relay is nothing more than a remotely located switch that you activate using a small switch or computer. The reason for a relay is to allow switching on and off high currents. Such currents like 10, 20, and 30 amps would make a toggle switch too big and impossible for a fragile logic circuit. So you control a relay using a small, low cost toggle switch or a computer circuit. You let the relay do the hard work. The relay then has an IN and OUT (usually reversible) high current pins that break the high current line between the battery and the large lights.

The relay has inside an electromagnetic coil, like an electromagnet. This coil usually draws very little current, such as 30, 50 or 100 mA (0.03 0.05 or 0.10 Amp) When the logic circuit or small toggle puts power across this coil it closes the high power contacts inside the relay. You hear a click on and a click off.

Most relays have a small drawing on the housing to tell you which 1 or 2 of the 3 or 4 pins are the coil and which are the actual switched contacts. If you dont know you can run some tests with a 12V battery, trying different combos of 2 until you get a click!

Here is more relay information for the electrical novice. Thanks to http://www.relayhelp.com/ for this image and visit thier site for an incredible array of other relay wiring ideas.

If the relay is in a metal housing, It may have only ONE pin for the coil. The second pin, or ground is the housing which must be mounted direct to chassis or otherwise grounded. If your relay is in a plastic housing it will have 2 pins for the coil, usually reversible. Your toggle switch is breaking the 12v power line between one side of coil and power.

The Autoswitch VIOLET wire feeds a small amount of 12V power to one side of the coil, in the same manner as your small toggle. The Autoswitch has an extra ground wire in case you have a 2 pin coil on the relay.

But you can also just ground that 2nd coil pin and ignore (cut off) the extra ground wire on Autoswitch. Autoswitch gets ground from the other BLACK wire, it uses for its own circuit.

We hope this has helped those who are electrically challenged and we welcome comments and changes to this text.

Troubleshooting an Autoswitch on the Work Bench

It is always recommended you pre-test operation of accessories of any kind before being installed on your vehicle. Especially important when the accessory is electrical, electronic and involves over an hour of detailed labor and vehicle dissasembly. If the product being installed is defective, you just saved a great deal of time and effort, and can go direct to working with the supplier to remedy the problem. If a problem arrises after the product is installed you already know to troubleshoot your wiring not the product itself.

With all that said, lets test the autoswitch on the bench or at your shop before you install it. You will need a 12-14 Volt power source and a Volt meter/Ohm meter.

1. Unpack the Autoswitch AS5P . Apply +12V to the red wire and ground the black wire. You should see the red LED illuminate for 1 second.

2. Touch the yellow wire to +12V source for 1.2 second or longer and the LED starts flashing fast orange. Now release the yellow wire from the 12V power during the fast flash.

3. The violet wire is now energized and the LED is lighted green. Check for voltage at the end of the violet wire. It would be aproximately 1.5 to 2.0 volts less than your input voltage on the red wire. (reverse voltage protection reduces voltage level)

4. Repeat step 2 to de-energize the violet wire, or simple pull the power off the red wire

5. If you dont have a volt meter for this bench test then just apply the violet to your light relay and see if it clicks over. (You are testing the light kit on the bench too, I hope?)

6. You have proven your AS5P is GOOD. So please remember that before you email for support if the lights dont work.

Toubleshooting an Autoswitch Installation

1. Check your connections.

2. Check your connections.
3. Check your connections.

Follow the 3 steps above and we are 99.5% certain the problem will be solved. These little circuits over the years of refinement (version 5 now) have become excellent at surviving your misuse, abuse, bad installs, bike drops, reverse voltage, bad relays etc.

Some tips:

1. If you care about your work and not paying by the hour to do it, dump the red wire clips. Solder all your connections. Since most connections are a T type and hard to wrap, I use a dab of silicon glue or pieces of plastic tube and other ways to insulate well the connection. Be sure the silicon hardens before closing up the bike or powering up!

2. If your lights blink OFF and then back ON, you have a loose connection either to the relay coil or the high amp wires that the relay is controlling. Dont ignore the ground connections to the lights or relay.

3. If your lights go off and you have to use the Autoswitch to turn them back on then power to the Autoswitch red or black wire is intermittent.

4. Get your voltmeter and test for voltages at the inputs and outputs of the Autoswitch.

5. If the LED is green you MUST have voltage coming from the violet wire. Disconnect your relay coil and test again, maybe the coil is bad or shorted.

6. The LED turns red upon power up, 97% chance the circuit is working fine.

7. Dont forget to call or email back after you did steps 1, 2 and 3 to find the problem you blamed on Autoswitch on your first call or email. Thanks!