Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This Little Light of Mine Automatic lights are enabled through a system of headlight sensors — photoelectric sensors gauge ambient light and relay that information to the electronic control unit to turn the lights on and off as needed.
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Its primary element is something called a photoelectric cell also known as photocell or photosensor , usually located on the windshield above the rear view mirror, or on top of the dashboard. The photoelectric cell must not be obstructed, because as its name suggests, it relies on light to produce electricity. Incidentally, a wide range of photoelectric devices are commercially available off the shelf for a variety of industrial applications.
The photocell is made from the same silicon crystals that go into semiconductors and transistors, and all of them come under the category of solid-state components. These things are small, contain no moving parts, and experience no wear and tear. They rarely fail, except when subject to extreme heat or extreme cold, or they suffer a short circuit. When light falls on a photocell, electron flow is initiated, resulting in electrical current being generated.
The system will activate the lights when the car is driven in a enclosure, such as a parking garage. Heavy overcast conditions can cause the lights to switch on. The headlamp off delay is twenty seconds.
Fog lamps, if equipped, will switch off when the driver turns off the engine. Bypassing the system can be accomplished by engaging the parking brake before starting the engine. Also after turning the engine off, one can move the light switch from "auto" to "headlamps" and back to "auto" again. Lincoln-Mercury vehicles have used a system called "Auto-Lamp.
The automatic headlight system can be bypassed at the light switch. Secondly, Auto-Light has an exit delay feature, which keeps the interior and exterior lights illuminated so the path to the driver's dwelling can be illuminated. This was an optional feature circa and model year later made a standard on the Mercury Grand Marquis. Twilight Sentinel is one of the earliest forms of automatic headlamp features for General Motors Cadillac and Buick and Chrysler cars.
It dates back to Twilight Sentinel uses an amplifier and a single photocell to gauge the light intensity before switching the lights on. The Buick Buyer Guide states the headlights will "stay on to light a path ahead of the car for three minutes," when the engine is turned off. The driver can set the time length for the headlamp delay.
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