Geno's Brite-Box fog light control kit

[Tmartin000]

I bought the one for the 06. Brights and lows stay on as perscribed. The Fog light control function worked graet for two days. Then... . poof. No more fog light control. Checked the brown-to brown conection. Still connected as directed in instructions... . :{



What gives? Anyone else have theirs fail?

 

[jakprince]

did you blow a fuse somewhere?

 

[Tmartin000]

That was the first thing I checked... nope. Then I looked at the wiring. No issues there either.



Tried calling the people at Gino's. They sent me a phone number to a manufactorer. Called them... . no response from the message I left.



Bummer.

 

[jakprince]

That figgures. Of course it is a holiday.

 

[crabman]

Check the fuse w/meter to be sure. Mine looked good but was bad, replace w/new one and all is good.

Also check to see if you accidently push in the light switch cause that will turn them off all the time.



crabman

 

[jelag]

I bought 2 of these kits and didn't know that having the day time running lights turned on would harm the kits... Unless there is a work around on this... I burnt out 2 of these kits with the day time running lights... so I suggest that you check this out...



Just my thoughts... I guess that I'd rather have the day runners than the brite box... Would love to have them on my new jeep but it came standard with automatic head lamps etc...

 

[Tmartin000]

I wonder if the Viper alarm could cause the box to burn out? That IS interesting. The alarm will flash the lights when on/off and leave them on when my autostart is engaged...



The fuse issue... I would bet that since both headlights actuate and stay on with the brights, fuses must be good. The 06's have two boxes, for each headlight.

 

[JFielding]

Check the fog light bulbs. If you turn them on at the same time the grid heater comes on they can blow. I had that happen without the brite box. I now leave the fogs off until the grid heater has done its thing.

Call Joel at Baker Auto he can help you figure out what happened. He is great to deal with.

 

[Tmartin000]

Thanks. Fogs work fine. Just not with the boxes control.

Called Joel yesterday. He was out sick for a while... . We did some trouble shooting. I noticed that the drivers side box (also fog control box) was chattering when on. Sounded like a relay not sticking shut. I would have expected the fogs to be flashing with the relay, but they (relays) are in series so as not to kill your head light if failing. Probably a good idea.



He's sending a new one out asap. I will let you all know how it goes...

 

[ronman]

TMartin000 Any update on your Brite Box issue??

I'm considering the exact setup that you had trouble with. Inquiring minds want to know! Have you received your new unit?? Is all well now??



Thanks

Ron Man

 

[dezeldog]

I have been thinking of this mod as well. I have an 03 with factory fogs with a after market switch so will the bright box still work as perscribed???TIA



Jim

 

[Tmartin000]

Well,



I did replace both boxes a few days ago. Funny, I never noticed the passenger side wasn't pairing the hi's and lo's untill the drivers side box was replaced! So, outta the box, they both were inop. Anyway, I posted the update on another thread. Basically, I have the fogzilla (55w instaead of 45w) upgrade, and the brites with fog boxes. At this point, my problem is quite simple. If I drive for 10+ minutes with all of them on (as advertised) the fog lamps do not respond to the factory knob push on/off. They (fogs) stay on! Even if I turn the truck off! I takes a few minutes and a key switching on and off to turn them off... OR if I yank the drivers brite box fuse and put back in, the fogs go off. I can see no possible way an alarm can screw any of this up. I'm not even using the darn thing! I feel darn confident the problem is heat related. Somthing (relay) seems to be latched on and it takes a power fluctuation to get the thing to unlatch. I could try putting the factory fogs back in (less 10 watts a piece) and see if that extra current is heating the drivers brite box (the fog control box) too much, causing the problem. But if you read Brite Box's littiture, its says the extra wattage & heat should be fine. .



I don't know guys... . maybe this CanBus stuff is too complicated?

 

[JVantreese]

I have the Brite Box and found that out of the box I had a problem with the passenger side brights flashing on and off. I called Genos and they mailed me a replacement set of boxes. I replaced the passenger side box and mailed the the old box back to Genos. It has been two years with no further problems. The system works as advertised and my alarm system seems to have no problems with this mod.

 

[RogersM]

I have been following this thread... after I had ordered the bright box w/fog control for my 06 Dually. So I emailed Geno's to ask if they were aware of any probs. Reply in one day said it was a fluke and that they are aware of this thread. Also assured me that any probs would be dealt with by warranty. I know they are a Class A company so I have not a worry. Just hope all works as promised once installed.



I also called my dealer to ask about the option, mentioned on another thead, of having fogs stay on when brights lite up. He was not aware and sounded reluctant to remove and jump the relay that was involved. That was the service writer, not the diesel tech so who knows. Dunno what else to say on that... mebbe it's safe... mebbe not. Would not hurt, I guess, to fuse that jumper.



Mark

 

[Tmartin000]

Sometimes it takes threads like these to make people aware of potential problems... .



If you could feel the fused wire that controls the drivers side box (which also controls the fog's) you would instantly know that the wire inside is definetly warm. My point is, if the Brite box people say you can upgrade your Fogs with 55w bulbs (from 45w bulbs) WITHOUT having problems with addition heat, then you shouldn't have problems. But i'm telling you, that wire is warm through it's insulation. I can offer no other explanation for the Fog's not turning off--They don't release a schematic diagram as to how they work, so I can't say anything else. But I can tell you, heat in electronics is a killer. I can't see this box lasting very long. I live in the country and use my boxes more frequently that city folks. That means about every night on my way home, they will get 15-20 minutes of use.

 

[RogersM]

Tim,

I know of what you speak when it comes to elec. and heat and I DO believe you. I have no desire to increase the wattage of the fog bulbs or, really, to have fogs on when brights are on. Just to have brights and dims at the same time. Perhaps I should have ordered the standard bright box but since I do have factory fogs I thought I had to get the one with fog control for some reason. Perhaps i could/should exchange mine for the simpler one. I surely don't want your problems.



As I see it, this system is merely a relay which takes 'pressure' off your main headlight wiring harness/switch so it all does not heat up from the extra amps. That's why the pos. batt connection. I did pretty much the same thing when I upgraded to higher wattage bulbs on my old Porsche. I doubt there's much more to it, really, but I'm not an electrician.



There's a guy here in Sac who just does auto electrics... which most wrenches hate to do as I understand it... calls himself Calif. Rewire. I took my Porsche to him once and he called on my cell before I got home to tell me he had fixed it all. I will call him and see what he has to say about all this.

 

[Tmartin000]

Roger-



When I spoke with the Brite Box people I was informed that their cicuitry has some redundantcy built in for protection of the headlights not going completely out while driving down the dark road---liability of course. So, I know there is more than one relay within the boxes. That was why I would hear chatter (relay chattering) while the system still passed 12v for the headlight, but, the fogs would not come on. So, I'm sure its more complicated unfortunetly, or fortunetly if I was driving down a dark hway at night... thanks for your help.

 

[RogersM]

Tim,



I have exchanged emails with Brandon from Geno's these past two days. He still thinkds your truck's problem is not the norm. I surely don't know. Thanks for the extra explanation on the relays. I am opting to use just the regular boxes w/o the fog control and assume that my stock OEM light switch will still operate the fogs on dim only. I don't need a problem. I still will try to talk to the guy at Ca. Rewire OR you could call him if I get his number for you. Want that ?





Mark

 

[Cochran]

Does the SD7 with fog light controll allow for the high, low and fog lamps to all be on at the same time?

 

[RogersM]

Yes, as I understand it, but Tim had trouble. Read his first post. Dunno if this is common or just a fluke it his truck.



Mark