Spots Disco 2 ES Premium project.

Cheers. I thought my drawing worked because i have an ignition trigger wire to relay. The ignition circuit that id splice into routes back to neg as standard. I don't want to clutter your thread up with all of this mate - lll go through threads mentioned above and do some more reading up. Thanks!

On the left you have your existing main beam wiring (somewhat simplified) and on the right you have additional wiring for two spot/flood lights. Notice that everything starts at the +ve of the battery and ends at earth (-ve of the battery).

Fuses are close to the battery so that if the wire frays and shorts to Earth then the fuse will blow to prevent a fire.

The trigger wire for the relay taps into the main beam after the switch so that the relay will only operate when main beam is on.
If wanted (advisable) you can add a ‘control’ switch into this wire so that you can have main beam on without the extra spots/floods being on.

As you can see by my drawing of the relay, the only connection between the circuits is magnetic between the coil and switch. There is no electrical connection between the to so the original wiring can not be overloaded.

Hope that all makes sense?

Fuses should be slightly over the maximum expected current of the circuit for example, my LED’s are 36w/3A each and I am pairing them therefore the max expected current is 6A and the wire I’m using is rated to 9A so I will cover them with 7.5A fuses therefore the fuse will take more than the lamps should use however the wire will take more than the fuse so the weak point in the circuit is the fuse to make sure it fails before anything else in the circuit. Comprendes?

Thanks for taking the time to do that. Makes sense now

No worries, always happy to return the help when I can.

Last question - Do I always have to go back to the negative or is an earth point the same result?

On modern vehicles earth/chassis/-ve/bodyshell are the same thing (-ve earth) so yes you can just screw a -ve wire to the body/chassis and job done although it is best practice to wire back to the battery for high current items such as winches.

HOWEVER on some classic vehicles, I’m not sure if it applies to early land rovers there was a thing called +ve earth that works the other way around. The chassis is linked to the +ve side of the battery and all -ve’s are wired back to the battery.

thanks again. I have half a clue now. I won't install anything for a while just like to learn stuff that will no doubt be useful!

Positive earth is only on vehicles with a dynamo rather than an alternator. Wiring a set of spotlights to come on with main beam is a good way to learn about relays, you can even buy spotlight wiring kits that include a relay, fuse holder etc

Who can guess what tomorrow’s project is.....?





https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/aftermarket-double-din-stereo-install.308189/

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/372356981982

Getting there....



And the new touchscreen head unit in the placed in hole...



Still a fair bit of spraying, sanding and perhaps a bit more filling to go yet but it’s looking promising!

Took longer than I expected, I’ve spent at least a couple of hours on this every day this week and a couple of days of 4-5 hours on and off however I’m now happy with it!



Now the next job is preparing the wiring as I need to tie it into the reverse and hand break/park circuits but that shouldn’t be too bad once I’ve got the original dash pulled out....

Finally fitted!!! Took most of the day but happy with the result!!!



Including the Reversing camera!!



And navigation!

Also including built in WiFi so I can tether to my phone for data.

Very happy with the results!

That looks amazing off to order a spare facia and get the dremmel out

triggersbroom said:

That looks amazing off to order a spare facia and get the dremmel out

Click to expand...

Thank you!

The only thing I wish I’d done is get a headunit that fits with a cage rather than fixed brackets, that would have made it all much easier.
Other than that it’s not a difficult job as long as you take your time.

When you’re taking the facia out, pop out the central locking switch by the clock and the switches next to the heated front and rear window switches. There’s two screws hidden behind them, one either side.

There’s three screws each behind the ash tray and change draws and two in the middle at the top once you’ve got the original head unit out.

There’s two more screws hidden under a clip in panel immediately under the original stereo (these become redundant and you have to remove the metal panel they screw into too).

That’s all there is holding it in, twelve screws in all.

About 10-14 days ago I had to swerve to miss and idiot that had got the wrong lane on a big roundabout and as I did, I felt an abnormal lurch in the truck and the amber ACE light came on. I continued the 2 miles to work and by the time I got there I had hydraulic oil all over the back right (drivers) underside....

Closer inspection revealed the rear low pressure ACE pipe rubber hose had been worn through by the spring/coil fitted around it to prevent friction damage!! The end of this spring had been bent in and worn a hole in the pipe... not impressed!

I phoned my local Indy specialist and they refused, point blank, to touch the ACE system stating that they had had nothing but trouble with ACE and it had cost them £thousands so won’t touch them any more... not impressed! They won’t be getting any trade from me if I can help it!

I ordered a replacement from Island 4x4 and have to say they were excellent! It arrived at my door in under 40 hours!

So yesterday I set to fixing the problem!!

What I anticipated as 3-4 hours turned into a day and a half....

It looked easy in the workshop manual!

“Remove two bolts securing pipes to chassis” failed to mention the nuts rusting away and seized... cue about an hour on each one with dremel working at awkward angles with crap visibility to actually see what you’re doing....

“Release two nuts on ARB drop-links” again, rusted to hell so knackered threads.... almost another job for dremel but not quite however best part of an hour on each side to totally remove the drop links.... (replaced with new)

Finally in a position to tackle the actual problem.... releasing the burst pipe wasn’t that difficult, the cap nuts on the actuator came off fine and the nuts/studs on the valve block, likewise.

I wish that I’d brought both pipes to replace as I ended up having to release the intact one to be able to remove the burst one so may as well have replaced it but I didn’t have it and needed the truck back on the road... oh, by the way, the pipes are a tight fit to get out and back in!! Reminded me of the krypton factor!!

So it took me about 6 hours to remove the burst pipe and about an hour to fit the new one and the new drop links....

I didn’t bother bleeding the system, just put new fluid in the tank and kept it topped up. All good and body roll now much better!

I can’t believe the local indy specialist advised total removal of the ACE system because of one burst pipe.... they won’t be getting any trade from me now which is a shame as they are only 10 minutes away from me....

Good work - sounded like quite a challenge!

rob_bell said:

Good work - sounded like quite a challenge!

Click to expand...

Let’s just say, I’m glad I did it myself but I don’t want to do it again!

Tidy work

So last week I had the power steering s#!t itself all over the road.... not what I wanted! We had some horrible wet weather due in and as I don’t have a workshop/garage I decided to send it to the garage.... steering box needed and nothing second have immediately available so had to pay out for a new one... could have done without that bill!

On the bright side, I’ve finally got my light bar fitted to the roof and all the wiring tidied away. I’ve run the cables from the roof rack to the light bar then down behind the snorkel and tucked it under the bonnet then across under the windscreen and through the bulkhead grommet.



I need to get some black cable ties to fix the wires a bit better!

I’ve put a 100 amp cable through the bulkhead (with a fuse next to the battery!) to another fuse box;



That then feeds up to the dash pod and all the switches (see further up the thread).

I’ve now got most of the lighting on the roof rack and light bar. All the wiring is in but I plan to add two LED floods on the back and two more to go on the outer ends of the front light bar. I’m certainly going to be able to see what I’m doing when out with Wessex 4x4 Response!
Take a look....