james6546

james6546

Well-Known Member
Not my strong area...

So my lights arrived today, considering they came from China they are really good quality, so I am pleased with that.

I am looking at how I am going to wire them up now. The light bar itself comes with its own wiring loom, so that is fine. So just need to look at the flood lights.

My plan is to have either 1 or 2 on the sides and 2 on the back, all switched individually, so max 2 to a circuit. Am I right in thinking that as they are only 1.5A that I can use a carling switch and won't need a relay? As the carling type switches seem to be rated to 20A and the max I will be at is 3.

These ones

2x 6inch 18W LED Work Light Bar Driving Lamp Flood 1350LM Truck Offroad UTE 4WD | eBay
 
Last edited:
With the power that is going through the relay being minimal, I'd be inclined to go for a bog standard Halfrauds cheapie.
 
Oldseadog said:
With the power that is going through the relay being minimal, I'd be inclined to go for a bog standard Halfrauds cheapie.
Click to expand...

Ok, cheers. I bought 5 off ebay with connectors for £8.99.

Now just got to work out where the switches are going...any ideas?

I'm thinking maybe one of these, but it seems stupidly expensive. I already have a couple of switches on the bit with the cigarette lighter.

RDX Side Pod for Switches LandRover Defender 1983 to 2006 Dashboard Console | eBay
 
Just out of interest what is the reason for using a relay if the switches are more than capable of handling the amps .. only asking as I will be doing similar later in year
 
james6546 said:
Now just got to work out where the switches are going...any ideas?
Click to expand...

There's a blanked-off hole on the right hand side of the steering column that's used for the choke control on a petrol. It's the perfect size for a toggle switch (get one with a large plastic lever) and is ideally placed with the other light switches. Remember for it to be street-legal, the extra lights must switch on only on full beam. Use the blue/white wire from the dip switch as the trigger for the relay, with the new switch in series so you can turn the extra lights off completely.
 
Hairball said:
Just out of interest what is the reason for using a relay if the switches are more than capable of handling the amps .. only asking as I will be doing similar later in year
Click to expand...
Putting relays in will protect the circuits as on no volts they drop out, only coming on when the main beam is on which acts as a trigger.
 
FlyingPete said:
There's a blanked-off hole on the right hand side of the steering column that's used for the choke control on a petrol. It's the perfect size for a toggle switch (get one with a large plastic lever) and is ideally placed with the other light switches. Remember for it to be street-legal, the extra lights must switch on only on full beam. Use the blue/white wire from the dip switch as the trigger for the relay, with the new switch in series so you can turn the extra lights off completely.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I went for the pod in the end. I wanted 4 switches (front, both sides and back) which wouldn't fit anywhere.

So now I am just waiting for it to all arrive. Might connect up the light bar with the temp switch it came with as I am impatient!

Also not sure how I am going to do the wiring yet, do I run a positive up behind the dash and then split it, or run separate wires? The light bar will have it's own wire as it can apparently pull 33A. It is amazingly bright though!
 
Some people install a small secondary fusebox rather than add to the existing one. If you went for this approach all you'd need to do is route the relay trigger wires down from the dash to the new fusebox.

The Land Rover way of wiring lights (on mine anyway) is to have a single relay power both lights. Unfused wire from the battery goes to the relay, switched relay output then goes to a pair of fuses, which then go on to the lights. The alternative is to have two relays after the fuses, one for each light.
 
FlyingPete said:
Some people install a small secondary fusebox rather than add to the existing one. If you went for this approach all you'd need to do is route the relay trigger wires down from the dash to the new fusebox.

The Land Rover way of wiring lights (on mine anyway) is to have a single relay power both lights. Unfused wire from the battery goes to the relay, switched relay output then goes to a pair of fuses, which then go on to the lights. The alternative is to have two relays after the fuses, one for each light.
Click to expand...

I'm currently thinking seeing as the lights won't actually draw much current, one 25A cable running from the battery, through a fuse to the back of the dash where individual relays will switch power to each light. Then from the relays through another fuse (as I don't think there can be overkill) to each set of lights.

I'm just trying to decide whether to run individual earths, or to earth the roof rack.
 
the usual reason for relays is to not have large currents running inside the vehicle.

i'm not sure what your config is anymore, but i'd probably just hook up the switches to an ign live, fuse it below the wire rating if you want, and run some thin wire to where your relays are. then inline fuse/fusebox/whatever from the bat or starter bolt to relay down to lamps.

relay only needs 100mA to activate
 
trax said:
the usual reason for relays is to not have large currents running inside the vehicle.

i'm not sure what your config is anymore, but i'd probably just hook up the switches to an ign live, fuse it below the wire rating if you want, and run some thin wire to where your relays are. then inline fuse/fusebox/whatever from the bat or starter bolt to relay down to lamps.

relay only needs 100mA to activate
Click to expand...

Good thinking on the live ignition feed, hadn't thought of that. Though will I want the lights running when the ignition is off? Hmm, guess I need to think about that. Would it cause any problems running from the battery through the switches (fused of course) then to a relay?

Eventually I will have the lights running off a leisure battery so I'm trying to be clever with my wiring...
 
there's perm 12v in there, else the clock and ign wouldn't work :)

the relays should only pull mA so it shouldn't blow any fuses or overload.

do that with some thin cable to the relay activator.

err switches direct to the battery? no not really.. don't see the point though.

you are overthinking it a bit ;)
 
James

i will email you a few wiring diagrams!

before i had the defender i had never done any electrics on a car :lol:


lee
 
trax said:
there's perm 12v in there, else the clock and ign wouldn't work :)

the relays should only pull mA so it shouldn't blow any fuses or overload.

do that with some thin cable to the relay activator.

err switches direct to the battery? no not really.. don't see the point though.

you are overthinking it a bit ;)
Click to expand...

Haha, I do think I understand how its going to work...

Lights connected up, power cables down the snorkel, through the rubber grommets into behind the dash to individual relays, then switch connected to 12v (2nd battery) along with the relays connected to 12v and then back to the lights.

Solved!

Just got to wait for the relays to come along with the wire, switches and dash pods.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Light bar wiring advice
Replies
6
Views
704
dag019
dag019
M
Td5 110 SW brake lights
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
mystery
mystery
Hybrid88
Electric problem
Replies
2
Views
484
Anaconda
A
D
Tail lights not working
Replies
2
Views
793
miktdish
miktdish
N
Land rover discovery 2 TD5
Replies
2
Views
363
sierrafery
sierrafery