help in wiring spotties on roof rack

[Malgreen]

Hi guys, i just scored 4 x lightforce genesis spotties... ( $100 couldnt go wrong )
so now just need a little help in how to wire them up on the roof,
going to run wiring up the snorkel with Anderson plug near the top so i can unhook them.
i will be running them from the high beam with a switch in cab.
so do i need 2 switches and 2 lots of wiring or is there a way to wire them all together as a single circuit? i do most of my electrical work myself and have a rough idea how to do this but decided to get some advice before i tackle this.

before anyone gets in to the topic of having roof light or not with the pros and con of both, this is the way i have decided to go with 4 lights up top and my set of ipf's on the front bar. not only does it look good but makes looking good..

thank you in advance

[MudRunnerTD]

Hey Mal,

Nice score mate. So the Hi Beam circuit is going to be your switching circuit only and not your power supply.

Basically you need to take a supply from the back of your hi beam or from the Hi Beam relay and take that to the Switching side of the relay or pin 86,
85 goes to Earth,
87 from positive on the Battery and
pin 30 up the snorkel to your roof.

If you wanted to control the roof lights from inside but keep them on the Hi Beam circuit then put the inside control switch into the wire from your HiBeam to Pin 86.

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2012/05/192.jpg

Taking the supply from the back of the HiBeam will be fine or obviously from the back of the HiBeam Relay pin 30 will be perfect.

Remember that your Roof lights will need an Earth up there or take one up the Snorkel to the Anderson Plug. I'd be more tempted to take the wires "Down"" the snorkel from the roof and put the Anderson Plug in the Engine bay so when the lights are removed you dont have to secure the Anderson plug or pack it up?? You might as well put it at the start and leave the lead on the the lights. That would leave an Anderson Plug in the engine bay for other uses too. ;)

I have an Anderson Plug on my Engel Lead and i plug my fridge in using one. If your camping you have the Anderson plug there for your fridge. ;) Put an Anderson Plug on your Compressor too ;)

Fuse Everything!

[megatexture]

Here is a pic of how you can wire it up its probably the most self explanatory diagram i saw quickly,http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww270/slipstream_uk/technical%20stuff/spotlight_wiring.jpg

if you were to run the wires up the snorkel to an Anderson plug for 4 lights, unless you have 2 plugs then you will be joining the two circuits, im not sure if there’s any problem with doing this but personally i would go and buy one relay say like a 20-30amp.
From what i can work out the lights will draw 16.6amp for all 4 correct me if I’m wrong(math isnt my thing).

here is a link to a related thread on runing the wires up the snorkel hope it helps (post #13 of page 2 is a pic of how i have done it).
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?10393-Roof-Rack-light-bar-12vdc-plug-location/page2

[Malgreen]

Great info guys.
now i know about fusing everything as close the battery, etc.
but the main thing is that running 4 light from the same connection on the relay, is that ok?? and do i daisy chain the power cable to the lights or should i split the cable to 4 separate ones from the Anderson plug?
i was considering putting in 2 different wiring harnesses in with 2 fuses but running to the same switching from high beam to in cab switch to flick the relays on and off. My thinking behind that was that on the off chance of a fault, i still have one set working ( hopefully). As for running the wires down from the lights in to the engine bay and keeping the plug there, that makes perfect sense and in fact i hadn't considered otherwise.


Hey megatexture. i like the little cam u have, how have you got that hooked up on the inside of the cab?? i was going to put one on the very front of my bar but i think mud would block it to much.. maybe one up on the roof with my new lights.. would be an interesting vid if a good size bug hit it.. hahaha

[megatexture]

if you have 2 wiring harness and they both link up to one Anderson plug then to the lights from there, if one of the relays, or wiring loom shorts/dies then you will still be feeding power to 4 lights and the working loom will fail also. no problem with switching the 2 relays with the one switch at all but you may not want to use an Anderson plug maybe see if you can find two smaller plugs or one plug with 4 connections on it to keep them separate. if that makes sense .

this camera is only for my short wife who cant see the front of the car...mainly for car parks.
ive got the camera showing on my cd/dvd player and have made a switch to flick between that front camera, inside camera showing back seats and reverse camera and also have a input also for cameras/vid recorders i may wish to preview on larger screen.
No bugs yet but would be funny to see

[MudRunnerTD]

Yes the load is of concern and the potential for voltage drop is real.

Splitting the circuits from the back of the hibeam is the go. From the hibeam to 2 different relays (1 per pair of lights) then to 2 separate Anderson plugs and 2 wires to the roof. Go large or split into 2 circuits. The switch inside can control both relays no problem

[MudRunnerTD]

I have run the wire up the inside of the B pillar and brought the wire out on the inside of the passenger side and installed an Anderson plug next to the rear passenger grab rail on the B pillar. The roof lights wire comes in the door opening and plugs straight in.

It has been like this for 6 or 7 years. It does not whistle, does not leak or let water or mud in.

Easy

[Malgreen]

I have run the wire up the inside of the B pillar and brought the wire out on the inside of the passenger side and installed an Anderson plug next to the rear passenger grab rail on the B pillar. The roof lights wire comes in the door opening and plugs straight in.

It has been like this for 6 or 7 years. It does not whistle, does not leak or let water or mud in.

Easy


Just a question relating to the Anderson plugs, do they work ok with a smaller diameter wire? i have never used these plugs ( but will be soon when 2nd battery goes in ) and i know they are designed to carry a bigger gauge wire. thoughts please?

over the years i have run all sort of cables around door frames like that and never had a problem either so not afraid of doing that but the idea of having the plug under the bonnet sounds better for this application.

cheers
Mal

[97_gq_lwb]

I find it a lot easier to have a ground activated bypass switch to pin 85 on the above circuit just run one wire into the cab and connect it to a switch with the other side to ground.

[megatexture]

the 50amp Anderson plugs are for a 8mm wire from memory so probably isn’t suitable for smaller gauge wires

these are waterproof and rated for 15 amp something like this may be suitable?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/270922306564?hlp=false

[Malgreen]

the 50amp Anderson plugs are for a 8mm wire from memory so probably isn’t suitable for smaller gauge wires

these are waterproof and rated for 15 amp something like this may be suitable?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/270922306564?hlp=false


thats funny, i was checking them out last night too... that would be the way to go i think Megatexture

[megatexture]

thats a prity good price also i looked at them 6 yrs ago for connecting spotties and at repco they were like 12$ for one pair.

[mick.]

With the Anderson plugs you can run 3 mm wire if you like. Instead of crimping use solder and the lugs come in heaps of sizes anyway.

If you are using genesis lights and have 4 of them if there 100 watt bulbs then your drawing about 33 amps so an Anderson plug running 8 gauge wire (I think it's 8mm cross section which can handle 70 amps) down to a 70 amp relay and wire them up like a normal set of spotties. Then run your 4 spot lights to the other end of your Anderson plug.

This way you wont notice the voltage drop, your only running 2 wires and one relay and this will be more then adequate for the job.

Cheers Mick.

[megatexture]

they are hid lights and only come in 35watt and 55 watt so unless your useing after market hid kit they arnt going to be 100watt
so 50watt is 16.6 amp and 35watt is 11.6 amp

[mick.]

Where does it say there HIDs?

[MudRunnerTD]

With the Anderson plugs you can run 3 mm wire if you like. Instead of crimping use solder and the lugs come in heaps of sizes anyway.

If you are using genesis lights and have 4 of them if there 100 watt bulbs then your drawing about 33 amps so an Anderson plug running 8 gauge wire (I think it's 8mm cross section which can handle 70 amps) down to a 70 amp relay and wire them up like a normal set of spotties. Then run your 4 spot lights to the other end of your Anderson plug.

This way you wont notice the voltage drop, your only running 2 wires and one relay and this will be more then adequate for the job.

Cheers Mick.

Yeah that is the maths I did when I put 4x100 on the roof. I used a big relay and 8 gauge wire to combat the voltage drop. No point turn the lights on and building in a permanent dimmer switch ;)

Go large. Go the Anderson plug and large core wire. That's why people upgrade their factory loom for their headlights. Large core provides more power

[megatexture]

though it did sorry mate ,must be a diffrent thread im thinking of need to go over the original post more..

[Malgreen]

Yeah that is the maths I did when I put 4x100 on the roof. I used a big relay and 8 gauge wire to combat the voltage drop. No point turn the lights on and building in a permanent dimmer switch ;)

Go large. Go the Anderson plug and large core wire. That's why people upgrade their factory loom for their headlights. Large core provides more power

Dimmer switch???? seriously?? hahah never thought about that..

i dont think these lights are hid's but they will be one day soon, looking at the 75w kit.
using 8mm cable with a 70 amp relay looks like the way to go. much easier only having one plug. but if that isnt any good i will do the 2 looms to one switch.

thanks for you in put guys. now i just need a roof rack to put them on.( thats coming soon as well )

[MudRunnerTD]

Lol.... Yeah basically if you put big lights up and power them via an undersized circuit and wire then they will never shine to their best and they will be like having a dimmer switch. But you can't turn them up. ;)

Voltage drop is your enemy

[mick.]

Dimmer switch???? seriously?? hahah never thought about that..

i dont think these lights are hid's but they will be one day soon, looking at the 75w kit.
using 8mm cable with a 70 amp relay looks like the way to go. much easier only having one plug. but if that isnt any good i will do the 2 looms to one switch.

thanks for you in put guys. now i just need a roof rack to put them on.( thats coming soon as well )One loom will be fine mate. I've got 4 x 70 HIDs and a 240 watt Light bar on roof so I had to reduce the amount of wires just to neaten it up. lol

I wouldn't bother with the big ballast 75 watt HID kits either your better off with the smaller 70 watt HID kits and mounting them internally. I just finished removing my 100 HIDs (same ballast as 75s) as I was sick of them flickering and the bulbs don't seem to last either. Sometimes they vary in colour too.

The biggest drama these days is there are heaps of different ones and some are just rubbish. It's getting real hard to tell whats good and whats not.

As Mud runner said bigger is better when it comes to 12 volt wiring.

Cheers Mick.

[Malgreen]

ok so a bigger relay and bigger power to lights is the go, a couple more questions for u guys, where do u split the cable to go to the lights?? at the anderson plug or just run from light to light??
Fuse, what size ?? or would a circuit breaker work better??

now on ebay here are a couple of relays.. any good??
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-ERA-12V-TWIN-HEAD-LIGHT-RELAY-FIX-YOUR-DULL-HEADLIGHT-GOOD-/251041350194?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a733b0232

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRITAX-MINI-RELAY-12Volt-80Amps-B-NEW-/150722014100?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2317bb6b94

cheers

[megatexture]

id go the 80 amp ,the twin 30amp is more for high/low setup and would be the same as running 2 relays. Unless the relay is going to be next to the battery you don’t need the fuse on the relay put it close to batt as possible
if you don’t want to wait for postage if you have a jcar near you they have a decent range of relays also you can check out their web site for them also but can take a while to locate them or batteryworld.