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Idea on wiring multiple aux. lights

Fergie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
Sometime soon, I'll be installing some extra off-raod lights up front, and two in the rear. To kepe everything nice and neat, I was thinking of using some kind of box under the hood to put the relays in.

Has anyone done something like this? Just some kind of plastic box to do this. What all have you used, and did you doing anything special/extraordinary?

Thanks for the help.

Fergie
 
no joke--

i was on a boat whre i guy had used a clear plastic tupperware container (with snap on lid) to house some electrical connections/switches

was it cheap? you betcha (just dontlet the wife catch you hackin up the kitchen tupperware stash

will it work? hell yeah, if u do it right

is it purdy? heh, um....in a sort of "cheapXJ" way, um, sorta?

just thought i would toss this in there ;)
 
relays

i have a 92 laredo 4 door, and have managed to get a couple of regular relays into the existing fues box under the dash. i dont know if all boxes are the same or not, or the size of relays you are planning, i think mine are 25 amp.
i have also used a used an under hood fuse box from a scrap car, and wired the relay receptacles for my needs, also gives you a few extra fuse locations.
just be sure to measure your ideal spot and try and match a box to fit as close as possible.
happy hunting, wear long boots in the scrap yards, it gets deep in there!!!!!
martin
 
Thanks for the Bosch link. Man are they inexpensive!

One more quick question. The wires that are coming out of the light are 12 gauge wires. Should I stick with this size for the rest of the wiring or use something smaller/larger? Thanks again

Fergie
 
You should use either the 12Ga wire for everything, or something larger, but never go with a smaller wire, especially if you plan to run it some distance.
 
why not use a metal box and ground all the relays to it? you could keep the wiring neat and tidy. Try an electrical junction box from home depot, they're even galvanized.
 
Well, when I put the relay box in for my Ecodes, I ordered a Hella relay box along with the lights - but I like my wiring neat. The Hella box is a 4-gang, and is also dovetailed on the sides so that boxes may be ganged together for more relays. I plan to use them when I restomod my 87 to clean things up.

Yes - the Bosch relays are tougher than the hinges of Hell - I don't think I've lost but two or three in the last 20 years or so. Not bad - no wonder I use them on everything... Oh - the stock Bosch relay is rated for either 30 or 40A (I've seen both out there - depends on where you get them. Both variants are the same size.) Also, there are three types - SPST, SPDT, and DPST (one CKT on-off, one CKT switched to A or B, and two CKT on-off.)

5-90
 
5-90 said:
Also, there are three types - SPST, SPDT, and DPST (one CKT on-off, one CKT switched to A or B, and two CKT on-off.)

5-90

So which should I get? My thinking was that the single poll, double throw will be fine. Is that correct?

Fergie
 
SPDT seems to be the most common, but you can use either any of the three - just be sure of your wiring. I just wanted to mention them for the sake of being compleat.

Besides, I like my wiring uncluttered, so I keep all sorts around (what I use depends on the project...)

5-90
 
leftlane said:
i have also used a used an under hood fuse box from a scrap car, and wired the relay receptacles for my needs, also gives you a few extra fuse locations.
just be sure to measure your ideal spot and try and match a box to fit as close as possible.
happy hunting, wear long boots in the scrap yards, it gets deep in there!!!!!
martin

Go to a U-Pull and find a relay box to fit under the hood. Best way to go.

Fergie said:
So what is the difference between this $.99 relay, and this $1.99 relay? I really can't tell a difference except for price, or am I missing something? Thanks

The only diff I can see with the relays is that the $.99 one states Automotive.
 
Fergie said:
So what is the difference between this $.99 relay, and this $1.99 relay? I really can't tell a difference except for price, or am I missing something? Thanks

Fergie

you are missing something. The 1.99 one is a Bosch, the other is a cheap relay. A couple of us have told you....go Bosch or stay home at night.

Trust me...it is worth the extra buck.


Rev
 
I knew I was missin' sometinhg, but it just wasnt registering in my head. Ordered three of them just a bit ago. Thanks for the help all.

Fergie
 
For controlling lights, SPST will work fine. The SPDT has the option of being wired so that it's either ON or OFF when there's no power to the relay. To be legal when wiring "fog" (not "driving") lights, they have to be wired so they go off with the high beams and go oon when you switch to low beams.

The simple way to wire this is with a SPST relay tapped off the low beam wire, but then you can't operate the aux lights with just the parking lights. The more sophisticated solution uses two relays ... a SPST (or SPDT) tapped from the parking lights to energize the lights, and a SPDT wired normally closed and tapped from the high beams to interrupt the power to the lights when you flip the headlights to high beam.
 
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