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 annosL
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| posted on July 22nd, 2011 at 12:44 PM |
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wiring spotties
Hi there, I'm fitting driving lights to my L, can anyone tell me the best connection for the battery feed to the relay: direct line to the battery or
is there a spot on the fuse box which would shorten the length a lot?
much appreciated
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11CAB
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| posted on July 22nd, 2011 at 01:27 PM |
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By law the spot lights need to be triggered from the high beam circuit. Use a relay and take the power for the lights from the battery and make sure
you put an inline fuse in the wire as close to the battery as possible
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annosL
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| posted on July 22nd, 2011 at 04:41 PM |
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I've got the relay hooked up to the high beam circuit, no worries there, I was only thinking maybe I can reduce the distance from the battery to the
relay if there was a point on the fuse box I can use instead. I guess I can just use heavier cable
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annosL
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| posted on July 22nd, 2011 at 04:49 PM |
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Hope this doesn't look like I'm talking to myself! but just noticed on Dave and Rob's site: the headlight switch is a junction for power, would
this support feed for my spotty relay or overload that circuit when the spotlights are on?
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ratty 63
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| posted on July 31st, 2011 at 10:38 AM |
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Spotlights draw a lot of power (depending on the size of the bulbs you use).
The cable that runs from the battery to the fuse box is really only rated to withstand the current that would be generated when you run the electrical
components that would have come on the car when it left the factory. Placing the extra load from spotlights on the factory wiring may work, however
to be safe it would be best to run a heavy duty wire from the battery, through a fuse, to the spotlight relay.
The factory wiring is also prone to voltage drop, which will most likely cause the lights to .... well lets just say they won't necessarily be as
bright as they could otherwise be
Keep in mind that the wiring you use should be rated at least twice the operating current drain of all the spotlights when they are operating to allow
for the higher current that they will draw when switched on.
R 
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annosL
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| posted on August 6th, 2011 at 08:13 PM |
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Thanks Rossco, only just noticed your reply, I have now run the wire from the battery through a fuse to the relay (as supplied in the driving light
kit) wired switch as per supplied circuit diagram, using the no.5 fuse as the high beam (blue with white flash) connection and double checked the
wiring before testing, low and behold no go, the relay just vibrates with a buzzing sound! I though maybe a dud relay so I bought another and fitted
that but same thing, makes a buzzing sound and when you feel it it vibrates- no lights! Would this point to the battery wire being too small for the
current draw as it is quite long or something else? got me whacked
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ratty 63
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| posted on August 7th, 2011 at 10:41 AM |
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A buzzing noise from a relay is usually caused by the contacts in the relay opening and closing really fast and is normally caused by a low voltage
supply to the relay.
I would re-check all the connections you have made to the switching side of the relay - so take a close look the high beam fuse connection, the
connections on the back of the relay and pay special attention to the relay earth connection (which is what I am betting will be the cause).
If this fails then use a multimeter to check the voltage being supplied to the relay from the high beam fuse and make sure that it is better than 12
volt.
Let us know how you get on. 
R
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annosL
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| posted on August 8th, 2011 at 12:52 AM |
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Thanks Rossco, good tips there, I will be onto it and post results. Access to high beam circuit , fuse box etc slows me down but as soon as I read
your post, especially the relay earth made me think twice as I utilised one of the mudguard mounting bolts which show 10mm or so of thread to mount
the earth and I originally used copper coat on those when assembling the car so could be a bad earth, also I used a piggy back spade connector for the
high beam switch wire (blue) to fit the relay wire so that could be a dodgy connection too.
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ratty 63
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| posted on August 8th, 2011 at 10:09 AM |
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...the piggy back connector should be OK as long as it is a tight fit, I would start by looking at the earth....
R
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annosL
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| posted on August 13th, 2011 at 01:08 AM |
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Finally got to the car today to find fault, after all this hassle it was very simple: the 4 pin connector on the relay has three black wires on the 86
pin, two from the driving lights and the third is the body earth, twisted together and crimped in the female spade only the crimping was very poor and
the body earth wire had slipped out and was hidden from view. Bit embarrassing I didn't pick it up so thanks Rossco for showing the way! Lights work
fine now and make a huge difference to night driving, lot of roos around here
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ratty 63
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| posted on August 13th, 2011 at 11:10 AM |
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great news.
R
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