03 foglights AND catz zeta system

[Anonymous]

I recently bought an ATO fuse type catz zeta system for my 03 foglights. So I got a few questions about installation now Smile

I'm going to try to setup this post so that anyone who is doing something similar in the future would have an easier time and a kind of guide to go by.

Some basic information:
Our foglights run off a single 15 amp fuse located in the fusebox on the drivers side at the side of the dash (in case someone didn't know that there is a fusebox there in addition to 2 other fuseboxes, one under the frunk lining on the passenger side which houses the headlight fuses AND one under the hood near the battery)

Now, the zeta system is a simple light amplification system. Just think of it as a box. From the right side of the box there is a ground wire. On the left side of the box there are 2 pairs of wires AND an ATO wire connection to go into a fusebox:

1) First set of wires is green and black (for the low beams)
2) Second set of wires is red and white (for the high beams)

There are inline fuse holders on the green and red wires. These are the +ve INPUTS to the zeta system.

The black(low beam) and white(High Beam) wires are the ZETA ENHANCED +ve OUTPUT wires that connect to the positive terminal of the regular halogen bulb.

So just to clarify here, the positive lead of the factory lighting connects to the green(low beam) and red(high beam) wires.

Ideally, the zeta system would like to see a total of four fuses:
Lowbeam-Right Lowbeam-Left Highbeam-Right Highbeam-Left

But since I am using the zeta system for my foglights, I will hereon talk only about the lowbeam wires (+ve input green AND +ve enhanced output black) since those are the ones I will use for the fogs.

Each Zeta ballast needs 10 amps to operate. An ATO fuse type connection taps into the place where the original bulb fuses go (NOTE: our cars use the mini ato fuse types so we would have to convert the regular ATO fuse connection from the zeta into a mini ATO connection type if we are going to follow the zeta manual).

The actual light fuses from the fusebox are placed into the inline fuse holders. So in the manual it says that if you have 7amp fuses for the bulbs, change them out to 10amp fuses as the ballasts need 10 amps each.

ALL IS WELL AND GOOD SO FAR, but here my concerns where I need your input if u please:

The ZETA RULE is that there is one ballast powering ONE filament at any given time.

But our foglights use ONE 15amp fuse for BOTH foglights. Clearly this won't work as I need two fuses going into the zeta inline fuseholders (Left ballast and Right Ballast).

I was thinking of doing the following so please let me know if you think this is feasible or not:

1) Take the 15amp fuse out and short the connection there in the fusebox. So current will simply flow through. I think I should be safe to assume that each bulb draws in 7.5 amps each.

2) Get two 10amp fuses and place each 10amp fuse in both the inline fuseholders.

3) Then I want to cut the positive signal wire near the foglights and connect that end to the +ve RED INPUT wire of the zeta system. Follow that with a reconnection of the +ve BLACK zeta enhancd output to the positive of the bulb input and that should complete the setup.

Do YOU guys think this will work out? I don't want to cause any electrical damage.

I will be eagle eyeing the replies to this post Smile And thanx for sticking around and reading!! Hope this helps out others who may follow.

~G

[Anonymous]

ok so I sat and thought about it and here is what I came up with:

1) Since the foglights have a 15 amp fuse, there is 15 amps of current going through that wire.

2) That would mean that 15 amps of current go through EACH bulb because the bulbs MUST be connected in parallel. i.e. if one bulb goes out, the other one would still remain on because the system is not setup in series....that would be pointless.

3) Thus, I can put a zeta ballast on each bulb with a 15amp fuse in the fuse holder of the ballast.

OK now I can go and buy my multimeter and test out my theory  s:) s:)

[GSB]

Nope. I've read it, and I still havent a clue what it is your trying to do...  s:( s:(  

You mention foglight power supplies, and High and Low beams, which begs the question:

"Which lights is it that your are trying to replace?"

[Anonymous]

I'm assuming they are the bottom ones on here.

I think effectively you this setup is built for normal lights (with hi and lo beam) and not for the fog lights which you are wishing to adapt them for, correct?

Before you do start, 2 questions....

1) Are they road legal?

2) Will the existing foglight wiring loom take the extra power load?

This also makes for an interesting read  s;) s;)

I know a few people who have melted wiring looms by putting higher wattage/driven bulbs in without thinking about it. On my old car I went down the route of fitting some Hella HID driving lights, which whilst quite expensive, lit up the road like daylight and only drew 35W once lit. Just check periodically to make sure that the connections on the back of your bulbs isn't melting as an electrical fire could leave you a bit burnt out  s:( s:(

In answer to your actual post, I haven't a clue without looking at what the kit is and having a ferret around a car to see how it will connect, sorry  s:( s:(

Just wanted to make sure that you don't do yourself an electrical disaster. If I still had the pics of the result of electrical fires in some cars, I'd post them to show you it's worth checking everything before and after installation  s:D s:D  A multimeter could be your best friend  s;) s;)

If you do go ahead with it, take pictures as you go along and then post them up as others may find it very useful (if they wanted to boost the power of their fog lights   s:? :? s:?    s:!: :!: s:!:  ).

[Anonymous]

Its for my foglights   s:D s:D    

Mentioned that in the very first line.....but thanx for asking anyways. Hope my post didn't confuse you.

I am expecting that the existing fog light wiring loom should take the extra power as the system is effictevely built FOR the 55 watt halogen bulb amplification (just as a side note, our foglights on the 03+ are 51 watts).

Foglights should have no problems as even with amplification, they will not shine upwards towards drivers eyes. DOT regulations in the US are very very strict so most aftermarket HID or amplification systems were banned.

People were stupid and fit in aftermarket HID in normal halogen housings and caused crazy amounts of glare onto oncoming traffic.  

Out headlights have projectors with a cutoff so we don't have those problems.

ALSO, since I am using the zeta for my foglights, it shouldn't be a problem at all....they aim very low right onto the ground and light doesn't really leak upwards where it might hinder others.

I am surely NOT putting in higher wattage bulbs as they would not be good at all. I am only using a zeta system which was designed around the heat and all of the normal 55 watt bulb.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you've given it some thought   s8) s8)  

Just wanted to make sure you checked before you embarked on your project. Wouldn't want you putting yourself in jeopardy, either safety wise or legally  s;) s;)

I' massuming you are over in the states then? Some of us over here take a dim view on the over use of fog lights. Despite it being technically illegal to have them on when it's not foggy, lot's of people still do, and in the wet can cause a lot of glare on the roads. I don't know what the rules and regs are over in the states though, hence the questions  s:) s:)

It's interesting on one of the links I posted that they say that bulb life suffers (from the sounds of it quite badly) so surely that must be down to the brighter burning of the filament, which in turn will generate more heat and possibly melt the reflectors? Or does the kit come complete with bulbs and reflectors? I don't think that kit is available over here (which is where you now prove me wrong by telling me you live over here in the UK  s:D s:D ) and may well be illegal in the UK due to things such as being E-approved for safety, etc.

So it looks like you might be on your own in doing this, but someone has to be a pioneer  s;) s;)  It'd be interesting, if you can, to take before and after shots of the levels of light produced with the stock fogs and these uprated ones so other people could get a view on whether or not it's something they may like to do in the future.

Just for info, my mate and myself spent 13 hours   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  fitting my HID driving lights to my last car. We wanted to make sure they were well fitted and safe to boot. Spent plenty of time triple checking everything before we were happy, but it was well worth it in the long run.

Best of luck   s8) s8)

[Anonymous]

Oh thanx!  s:) s:)

I have HIDs installed in my projectors as well. I say you can never have enough light.  I like the road to be lit up like day at night......plus I have this zeta system sitting around so I thought I might try using it.

Yes, I am in the good ol' US of A.

~G

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the rules and regs are over in the states though

Regarding fog lights, there is no rule. You can turn 'em on whenever you like. Most drivers who have them turn them on in tandem with the headlights "for added safety." The rest turn them on in order to notify other drivers and members of the public that "hey - I've got fog lights! Look at me - I've got fog lights!"

Very few drivers use them appropriately.

[aaronjb]

Very few drivers use them appropriately.

Having just done 170miles back home this evening - it's the same over here. (Especially the guy in the yellow Audi S3 with the registration "S3 2 BAD", who seemed to have them on to say "Get out of my way, I want to drive like an ar*e").