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"Hella" Lota trouble..

ZacSquatch

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Fairbanks, AK
Got me some Hella's and I wired emm up and they aren;t up to snuff...

The grounds, power, and all that ish is straight... Its the wire that goes to the high beams... I don't want mine to go to my high beams... I just want them to turn on when I flip a switch... but the switch won't work if I have JUST a ground and power in... They give you this funny lil relay box with wires commin out of it and Its confusing me...

WTF?
 
Sleep it off and try again when you are sober :D
 
Three wires on the switch, one to ground, one to power one to the relay pin 86, run pin 85 to ground. Connect pin 30 to the battery, pin 87 to the hot lead on the lights and the other black wire on the lights to ground. I don't have a hella switch handy to read the pin numbers and I don't remember off hand and it's too freaking dark to go out and pull the one out of dash on my TJ....
 
RichP said:
Sleep it off and try again when you are sober :D

Haha... All we have is Buuuusch... :shhh:

Thanks for the constructions, I'll try it when my minds straight.
 
lowrange2 said:
Hook it all up exactly like they said to but instead of running the lead to the headlight run it to the switch with 12volts on it. Tada!

Huuuuuuh?

Shut up.. Haha, your confusing me
 
ZacSquatch said:
Huuuuuuh?

Shut up.. Haha, your confusing me


Hek you asked!

In order for the relay to know that the high beams are on is for it to recieve a 12v input when the lights are turned on. You can do the same thing by running that wire to a switch.
 
It already connects to the switch at one end... it can't connect on both ends to the same terminal
 
ZacSquatch said:
Huuuuuuh?

Shut up.. Haha, your confusing me

He is saying run the wire for the high beam switch to another wire with a constant feed. That way whenever you turn on your Hellas, they will come on (with or without your any headlights being on).
 
Don't let the relay confuse you, all the relay is is a remotely operated switch that is very quick vs a manual switch which is very slow, very slow results in arching in the switch which eats the contacts in it and burns out, this is true for any application that draws more than 1 or 2 amps like lights do, light draw alot of amps, high amps means you need the relay or a very expensive manual springloaded switch made for high current applications. Thats the reason the breakers in your house electrical box are spring loaded.
So, the dashboard switch does nothing more than operate another switch [the relay]. The relay needs 12v to operate, the switch in the dash provides that 12Volts, it can provide it from the high beam wire, the low beam wire, etc, it can supply it from the cigarette lighter or from the battery. If you tie it into the high beam wire the relay will click with the high beams, switch to low beams and the voltage on the high beam side is removed and lights go out, put the wire on the low beam wire and the light will go on and off with the low beams, hook it to the battery and the lights will go on or off anytime you flip the switch.
 
So are you saying the factory dash switch for the foglights only works when the headlights are on hi-beam? I put a pair of aftermarkets on my bumper and just wired everything the way the stock ones were, they work with the headlights on lo-beam.

Maybe I'm not understanding you...
 
fubar XJ said:
So are you saying the factory dash switch for the foglights only works when the headlights are on hi-beam? I put a pair of aftermarkets on my bumper and just wired everything the way the stock ones were, they work with the headlights on lo-beam.

Maybe I'm not understanding you...

The factory one is set for low beam fogs, thats the law in most states. If you put an aftermarket kit in you can pick which source you want to operate the relay from the switch. Probably the easier choice is the cig lighter as it goes off with the ignition which will ensure they go off and won't kill the battery if you leave them on after a foggy morning drive into work :D
Even the Jeep OEM add on kit that has the plugs and relays for the fogs hooks up in the harness under the dash so that it only works with the low beams.
 
So if I want to run my factory switches (I do) without having the headlights on I need to get under the dash and fiddle with the wiring harness?
Hmmm. that's probably why they are still hooked up the same way.
 
RichP said:
The factory one is set for low beam fogs, thats the law in most states. If you put an aftermarket kit in you can pick which source you want to operate the relay from the switch. Probably the easier choice is the cig lighter as it goes off with the ignition which will ensure they go off and won't kill the battery if you leave them on after a foggy morning drive into work :D
Even the Jeep OEM add on kit that has the plugs and relays for the fogs hooks up in the harness under the dash so that it only works with the low beams.

Ah, gotcha. No fog lights and high-beams at the same time. I suppose I can live with that, but if I decide I can't, I know what to do now.

Thanks.
 
Hey don't use the relays, complete waste of time.

Use as small gauge wire as possible so you can conceal it. Just get your power lead straight from the parking lights circuit.

No fuses to worry about either since you aren't using the relays.












:)
 
Blaine B. said:
Hey don't use the relays, complete waste of time.

Use as small gauge wire as possible so you can conceal it. Just get your power lead straight from the parking lights circuit.

No fuses to worry about either since you aren't using the relays.
:)

Hey, you gotta watch that, there are people out there that would believe it because it was on the internet and on this site. Especially if they were doing a quick search....:doh:
 
Heheh.

In all seriousness-

My stock fogs would work with parking lights or lowbeams, but when the highbeams were switched on they would cut out.

Last week I did some thinking. There was a wire from the highbeams which would cut the fog lights off via the relay. I simply got rid of that link between the highbeams and the fog light relay and wallah, I can have my foglights on when the highbeams are on as well.

It just didn't make sense to me to get less light when I want more light. Not anymore though.
 
Blaine B. said:
Heheh.

In all seriousness-

My stock fogs would work with parking lights or lowbeams, but when the highbeams were switched on they would cut out.

Last week I did some thinking. There was a wire from the highbeams which would cut the fog lights off via the relay. I simply got rid of that link between the highbeams and the fog light relay and wallah, I can have my foglights on when the highbeams are on as well.

It just didn't make sense to me to get less light when I want more light. Not anymore though.

I agree, the laws on this are kind of stupid for fogs, my hella relay stuck once and I had the fogs on as soon as I put the parking, headlights on, I liked it, then cleaned the relay and 'fixed' it, if it happens again I'm leaving it alone.
 
I don't know why the no fog + highbeam law exists anyway.

I thought you could have any amount of lights on if there was no vehicle within so many hundred feet.

But if there are you are supposed to use lowbeams and no more than 4 white lights total, with no additional white lights above the stock lowbeams.

So I don't see the problem if you are out wanting more light with nobody else around.
 
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