Auto Dimming Side Mirrors

 

Does anyone else find there wing mirrors only auto dim / react to the light when some form of higher vehicle is behind them? ie Transit, HGV, 7.5tonner etc?

 

The interior mirror seems really more sensitive to change compared to the wing mirrors?

 

 

The interior and door mirrors operate from the same light sensor, so when the interior mirror dims so do the door mirrors. Works perfectly in mine.

20 minutes ago, BillyJim said:

The interior and door mirrors operate from the same light sensor, so when the interior mirror dims so do the door mirrors. Works perfectly in mine.

 

I dont think mine are on a sensor as such, i think its the glass which reacts to the light.. because instantly if a car moves from behind the mirror goes back to normal in a second rather than like the other system which involves an electric current

Edited 26 January, 20179 yr by RickTT

No, it has a rear facing sensor which is behind the glass, but it also uses the front light/rain sensor to compare against ambient lighting (so it doesn't start dimming on a bright sunny day).

The mirrors are electro-chromatic and not photo-chromatic.

If you read dstev2000's article "Frameless mirror mod" you'll see him referring to the sensor behind the glass and the connected wiring.

I think more of the photosensitive film than sensor control. If you look carefully you will see that the applied film on the mirror do not go out to the edges, but instead ends some millimeters before.

Must be a side effect of the MY17 frameless mirror. The MY16 has a bevel frame which hides it.

35 minutes ago, BillyJim said:

Must be a side effect of the MY17 frameless mirror. The MY16 has a bevel frame which hides it.

 

Maybe I was a bit unclear, I talked about the side mirrors. Rearview mirror has no edges and is controlled by sensors.

2 hours ago, Scherpa said:

I think more of the photosensitive film than sensor control. If you look carefully you will see that the applied film on the mirror do not go out to the edges, but instead ends some millimeters before.

 

I see that on the wing mirrors

The side mirrors are definitely electronically controlled and dim with the rear view mirror. Same as my old Octavia which had the same non-dimming border. You could prove that they were electronically controlled on that one by pushing a button on the rear view mirror that turned off the dimming - the side mirror would almost instantly un-dim. 

 

If yours arent going very dim then either they need to be checked or you might want to rethink their positions. 

39 minutes ago, stringbean said:

The side mirrors are definitely electronically controlled and dim with the rear view mirror. Same as my old Octavia which had the same non-dimming border. You could prove that they were electronically controlled on that one by pushing a button on the rear view mirror that turned off the dimming - the side mirror would almost instantly un-dim. 

 

If yours arent going very dim then either they need to be checked or you might want to rethink their positions. 

 

Theres no button to enable them / disable them..

 

The positions are pefect as you would expect for any driver.

36 minutes ago, RickTT said:

 

Theres no button to enable them / disable them..

 

The positions are pefect as you would expect for any driver.

The button was on the Octavia not the Superb. I was saying that it used to prove that they were all linked. My Superb reacts exactly as my old Octavia did just without the ability to disable the dimming via a button. 

 

I recommend that you get someone to take a look at your setup to see if anything is amiss. All three mirrors should be working together and they should dim significantly. 

6 hours ago, Scherpa said:

 

Maybe I was a bit unclear, I talked about the side mirrors. Rearview mirror has no edges and is controlled by sensors.

My mistake. Can't say I'd really noticed it in the door mirrors. Nonetheless both the interior and door mirrors use the same electro-chromatic film with the internal mirror sensor controlling all three concurrently, as stringbean says.

Personally I'd sooner have sensor controlled electro-chromatic as it's more adaptable and reacts faster than photo-chromatic which uses a chemical reaction to light.

13 hours ago, stringbean said:

The button was on the Octavia not the Superb.

There was a button on the internal mirror on the MKII Superb alright which allowed you to turn the function on and off.  I miss on the SIII as there are times when I would like to turn it off e.g. to get a better view of trafiic behind me when its dusk.

Sometimes all three mirrors go to full dimming under certain conditions around sunset. An off button would be ideal for these occurrences. 

 

And yes, the door mirror dimming is driven by the outputs from the interior mirror. The front facing ambient sensor is in the mirror itself, rather than using the car's rain/light sensor. This is how I was able to retrofit a dimming mirror to my 2010 MkII Superb. 

19 minutes ago, dstev2000 said:

Sometimes all three mirrors go to full dimming under certain conditions around sunset. An off button would be ideal for these occurrences. 

 

And yes, the door mirror dimming is driven by the outputs from the interior mirror. The front facing ambient sensor is in the mirror itself, rather than using the car's rain/light sensor. This is how I was able to retrofit a dimming mirror to my 2010 MkII Superb. 

 

I have done some testing this evening.

 

There is no way a sensor at the front is making the interior dim from what i can see.

 

ie.. car parked behind with full beam on... Interior mirror is auto dimmed. Headlights behind turned off and the mirror changes back to normal within a few seconds providing clear view.

 

1 minute ago, RickTT said:

 

I have done some testing this evening.

 

There is no way a sensor at the front is making the interior dim from what i can see.

 

ie.. car parked behind with full beam on... Interior mirror is auto dimmed. Headlights behind turned off and the mirror changes back to normal within a few seconds providing clear view.

 

When I installed my frameless mirror, I tested the dimming function of the door mirrors by placing my hand over the ambient sensor on the back of the mirror whilst shining a light at the front. Front as in the mirrored side and rear as in the black plastic side that faces the windscreen. This was tested on a sunny day at about 2pm. The ambient sensor is on the left had side of the mirror. 

I´ts 2 sensors, one behind rear view mirror and one in front av the mirror.

When my car is in the garage , i.e dark in front and light at rear and I put my hand behind the interior mirror as shown above all 3 go very dark ... move hand and they return to normal.

Thanks all - I have now tested in the day light with phone torch and hand over the sensor - I can confirm they are all dimming at the same time.

 

It must of just been with it been so dark it was hard to tell.

 

Thanks all

9 hours ago, RickTT said:

Thanks all - I have now tested in the day light with phone torch and hand over the sensor - I can confirm they are all dimming at the same time.

 

It must of just been with it been so dark it was hard to tell.

 

Thanks all

Also, the dimming to all three mirrors is immediately switched off when the interior lights are active (door open) and/or when reverse gear is engaged. This threw me off track when initially testing things out. 

Digging up this old thread , I dont suppose anyone knows how I could figure out which cable is responsible for triggering the door mirrors from the internal . Or a wiring diagram ??