Monday 25 June 2012

Brake Light Switch Upgrade

I've never been truly happy with the existing brake light switch, the one supplied by Tiger.  This is a pressure switch that screws into one of the spare outlets on the brake master cylinder.  It is not very reliable and sometimes requires quite a bit of pedal pressure to light the brake lights.  Being a small, low car it is essential that people following behind, sometimes too close, are given maximum warning when I am slowing down.  I was reminded of this when being tailgated in London city centre last weekend.

To ensure that the brake lights come on as soon as the brake pedal is pressed I've introduced a microswitch on the brake pedal assembly, just the same as would be fitted to a normal production car.  Here is the microswitch mounted using a piece of cut and shaped aluminium L-section.


Floor mounted brake pedal re installed and wiring connected up.


The microswitch has been wired in parallel with the existing pressure switch - adding a level of redundancy.  Now, when the brake pedal is depressed just a couple of milimetres, the brake lights come on.  Likewise, now the lights also go out with a very positive action.  Next on the to do list is to investigate a high level third brake light installation on the roll bar.

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