Help needed wiring Switch and Relay for work lights

[DaveGQ]

I have the same setup as described by the original poster. Trouble is I am running 2 x 55w Spot Halogen lights and the factory wiring from the reverse light isn't adequate. The lights are noticeably dimmer when powered by the reverse wiring.

I am not very savvy when it comes to electrickery and would appreciate some help (in layman's terms) how I can solve the issue. Obviously I need to use a relay, but how do I wire it?

Here is the caveman setup I currently have. Feel free to scribble on it and post back! Thanks

rearlight.png

[DaveGQ]

Anyone..??

[4bye4]

The easiest way , using your existing setup, would be to connect the wire going from your switch to the light, to pin 85 of a standard auto relay, and pin 86 to earth. Now when you operate your lights from your switch, you operate your relay instead.
Connect a full seperate +ve battery to terminal 30 via a fuse. Connect terminal 87 on the relay to the light.

5-pin-12V-automotive-relay.jpg

This is the easiest way given what you already have set up. After fitting this, instead of using your tail light +ve feed to operate your work light, you will be using that to operate the relay, which is not much load at all, and you will have a dedicated +ve to run your worklight. This will also prevent the work light blowing the tail light fuse and vice versa if there is ever a fault in the circuit. If there is a fault it will also make fault finding a little easier as you can see which fuse if blown.
cheers Tony.
BTW there are other ways of wiring a relay into the circuit.

[MudRunnerTD]

I have the same setup as described by the original poster. Trouble is I am running 2 x 55w Spot Halogen lights and the factory wiring from the reverse light isn't adequate. The lights are noticeably dimmer when powered by the reverse wiring.

I am not very savvy when it comes to electrickery and would appreciate some help (in layman's terms) how I can solve the issue. Obviously I need to use a relay, but how do I wire it?

Here is the caveman setup I currently have. Feel free to scribble on it and post back! Thanks

rearlight.png

Gday mate,

You need to fit a relay into your system. Use the linked supply from your reverse light to the Trigger 86 on the relay. Decent power fused from your battery to 30, Earth to 85 (85 and 86 can go in either direction) and 87 to your reverse light.

If you want to add a switch to the back so you can switch it on from the back too then add a switch into the 86 pin doubling it up and draw the power to that from the power from the battery i.e. pin 30 to your switch. Note if you have a reverse camera it will turn on with the switch as will your reverse lights.

Schematic4.gif

ice-cube-iso-relay-Wire-diagrams-easy-simple-detail-baja-designs-electric-relay-wiring-diagram.jpg

[DaveGQ]

Awesome stuff guys, thanks heaps. Today I picked up a relay from Autobarn and I've wired it up as suggested, it work's beautifully. Incorporated a 3 way switch into it so now I can select ON/OFF/REVERSE, and each time it is powered using the Aux batt so it gets the full power.

Cheers again!

[DaveGQ]

rear work lights.png

Here is a diagram of the way I wired it, in case anyone is looking for something similar in the future but is not too sure about the finer details. There is probably better ways to do it, but this suited me best due to the location of my switch, relay and fuse block....

The three way switch gives you three options (obviously)

ON - turns the lights on using Aux Battery
OFF - err yeah.
REVERSE - Turns the lights on only when you put your gearstick in reverse. But it will use the Aux battery to power it, not the factory wiring for the reverse light.

Hope it helps.