Possible to wire headlights into warning buzzer when left on?

[brentlehr]

I have a bad habit of leaving my lights on. Do it at least a couple times a year and come out to a dead van.

There's a warning buzzer that goes off when the key is left in the ignition. Is it possible to wire the headlights into this so the van lets me know audibly when the lights are on? That would be amazing.

[brentlehr]

I think I know how to go about this now. I have to wire the buzzer into a +12 volt wire that's inline with the headlight switch and to a +12 volt going to the door switch. So if the door is open and the lights are on the buzzer will have power. I'm gonna try and track everything down in the wiring diagrams and see what I come up with. Will let you all know.

[gushaman]

Im excited to see your results

[ratatouille]

Interested in your results as well. But personally I hate those buzzers..like the newer vehicles these days have that seat belt warning that never goes off. (Unless you put your seat belt on I guess..) I'm always so distracted I would probably still leave the lights on even with a buzzer going. If your going to the trouble, I wonder if you could rig an "auto off" like other newer vehicle these days.

[timsrv]

Sorry I missed this post before. This is usually pretty easy. Just put one wire of the buzzer to a spot that get's hot when the ignition is on, then the other wire of the buzzer to a spot that gets hot when the headlights (or marker lights) are on. When the ignition and the headlights are on, both wires get power, so the buzzer won't sound. When you turn the ignition off, if the lights are still on, it should sound. Ignition switched circuits typically don't make good grounds, but since piezo buzzers only require low current, chances are there's enough resistance in the "powered down" ignition circuit to supply an adequate ground for a buzzer. This is not guaranteed, but it will usually work (experiment with jumper wires before making it permanent). There are other "more positive" ways to go about this, but if this works, it's certainly the simplest. Tim

Note: Make sure the buzzer is polarity sensitive and be sure to put the negative wire on the ignition switched circuit.