Lights Left On Buzzer 83/84
Headlights Left on Buzzer Modification
This modification has been tested in Mr Squirrel's 1984 Westfalia, Mellow Yellow. Wiring differences between camper versions and standard version of Vanagons as well as changes made to the wiring over the years by Volkswagen and Previous Owners makes it essential that you don't trust any of the information here, and verify your own van's wiring before plunging in.
Mr Squirrel is not as smart as he wishes he was and has on more than one occasion found that he forgot to turn off the lights. So he put together this warning buzzer. Here's how it goes:
I wanted to find an easy way to wire a buzzer into the van without cutting wires, which means I was limited to working on the fuse panel. So I hoped to find a pair of fuses that could power a small 12VDC buzzer when the ignition is off but the headlight switch was not.
With my trusty voltmeter, I built a "truth table" of fuse voltages, as shown here:
| CONDITION |
FUSE # | ||||||||||||||||
| KEY |
HEADLIGHT SWITCH | ||||||||||||||||
| OFF |
ON |
0 |
1 |
2-LO |
2-HI |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
| X |
X |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 | ||||
| X |
X |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 | ||||
| X |
X |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 | ||||
Truth Table for 1984 Westfalia. Ignition Key is shown in OFF and ON positions, Headlight Switching is shown in four conditions: Main switch OFF (0), Main Switch set to middle, parking light position (1), Main switch set to ON (2) position and beams set to low, and with beams set to hi. Voltages on the fuses measured under all eight combinations, a "0" indicating no volts, a "1" indicating 12 volts.
