where to wire a switch in to roof bar lights?

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Discophil34

Discophil34

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houston , scotland
As per title I have fitted roof bar lights and want to be able to either have them come on with full beam when offroad of course or nor at all so have fitted a two way switch. My question is where should the switch be wired in tge circuit?
I have opted to fit between the fused live feed and the relay. Is this ok as I have seen other diagrams that show the switch breaking the fullbeam feed to the relay. Is there pros and cons to either or does it not really matter , they are all 8-10amp wires .
 
break into high beam feed. Run that to switch and then from switch to relay. That way they will only come on if highbeam is on. Thus keeping them within the Law and no hassle at MOT time.
 
Did you want two options on this, I have wired a few for mates that are as follows
2 switches, switch 1 operates the roof lights with no other light required so you can leave on for setting up camp or similar, switch 2 operates the roof lights with the full beam as already suggested, however, as they run from a relay that only has one live feed to make the circuit to the roof light I employ the use of two diodes (39p each from Maplins) to ensure they are only on when I want them on
Hope this helps, and if you need a wiring diagram I'll see what I can do
Sniffer
 
I wired my roof lights to a simple relay in the map slot above the front passenger seat and the on/off switch is up by the interior light. The spotlights are wired into the main beam with a seperate switch up to the dash, so I can main beam on with or without them..

when I had my shogun I had loads of spotlights and roof light and got a bit carried away when I discovered how to wire relays and did some clever wiring so I could have any combination on at any time either completely independant of, or with the sidelights/main beam.
 
Yip. Sorry drewster I ment how to wire in the switch as aposed to where to put the switch. I actually used the headlight aim adjuster blank. is there anything wrong with putting the switch in the live feed then , its actually a switched live in the footwell rather than direct from.battery in.to switch
 
Cheers evreeebodeee :eek:) I thought about a three way ( finar finar ) but I can't see me using them independent of the full beam headlights, as if you want/ need light then surely more the merrier I rekon. It was just to see if there is any downside to putting the actual rocker switch pre relay on the live feed aposed to mid way on the full beam as I assume either way will disrupt the signal getting to the lights or when wanted will allow them to come on with full beam .
 
You don't understand the purpose for using a relay. The use of relay is to switch the high current loading drawn by the lamps, a switch won't, therefore don't put a switch on the load side of the relay quote "mid way on the full beam" as they are not rated for loading of the lamps.
 
I can't for the life of me. See why you woiuld want them to come on independently of highbeam?? If you need plenty of light then you want highbeam as well. Also Law says they must come on ONLY when highbeam is on.

So simple option is Live feed from battery to relay, then to lamps with the switched live taken from the highbeam feed. 1 relay for each pair of lamps. can't be simpler really..
 
For the life of me also :) my pair of driving lamps only illuminate on highbeam there's no dash switch fitted. But are not roof lights "work lights"? if that makes any differance and so switch independantly.
 
Last edited:
Rehand you read it all wrong, I too only what all or nothing, as I previously said if you need light you want light . So cant understsnd why you would only want some light man this thread is groing arms and legs :0(
 
Shoot me down in flames if I am wrong or it has been said already but you need to be able to isolate the roof lights so when you go got an MOT they don't come on with your high beam, I'm sure there is a rule or reg about the height of front lights no exceeding a certain height compared to the vehicle or sommat like
 
discool said:
You don't understand the purpose for using a relay. The use of relay is to switch the high current loading drawn by the lamps, a switch won't, therefore don't put a switch on the load side of the relay quote "mid way on the full beam" as they are not rated for loading of the lamps.
Click to expand...

I do understand what a relay is for, to switch a high current thing ( lights ) using current feed . But this is what my original question was about just wasnt sure if rocker switch is better off on the live feed or high beam feed that's all.
 
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