Wiring LED lightbar to high beams

Ok I must acquiesce to your statement about my proposed solution being over complicated but I believe that using a DPDT switch also is a bit overkill. I too believe that three relays are a bit much, however as long as everything is properly labeled, its fairly simple. That mess in the lower left is the internals of the switch body permitting only two wires to pass through my firewall. As it sits now with Rigid's standard wire loom, there's four wires piercing my fire wall. Now that I'm not trying to search for solutions on a tiny cell phone screen, I need to state some changes to my post. Having the 30 Amp fuses in my circuit are a bit overkill. Rigid's light bar draws 11.74 Amps (15A fused) and the D2's draw 2.5 Amps each (15A fused). I mistakenly doubled the Amperes when the math comes out to 16.74A rounded up to 20A @ 20 Gauge wire. The reason I'm leaning toward that particular switch in my schematic is because the incandescent lights are internally wired to turn on when the switch is toggled to the ON position so no need for jumpers. Also that switch is only a four terminal switch instead of the seven and ten terminal switches posted previously in this thread. Personally, I would like LED's but OTRATTW doesn't have any SPDT switch bodies that fit my needs; I should call them and see if they do. Tonight at work Ill give it another go at an alternate solution with proper rated fuses. Ill keep you all posted but should my schematic work in theory?

-J

 

*Side Note*

LED indicator is optional

For the LED indicator to work properly, both input voltage to the switch must be 12 volts

 

That's brilliant! It never crossed my mind to ground through the relay. Now on my schematic, I believe I should have used Pin 2 from my switch to terminal 85 on the relay instead of Pin 7. Looking back, Pin 7 is just for the lights in the switch. Also, the D2's require 2.5 volts each but the decimal is hard to see. It reads 5.0 volts. Thank you so much Fergyz. One question, is there a particular reason you put the fuse after the relay? I'm assuming that symbol stands for a fuse. Here's my updated schematic.



Edit: this is what I'm talking about. Power coming from my two inputs (going in the output) and leaving through one output (the input) on the switch. This way my lights in the switch still get power and minimal voltage to the relay through only one wire dependant on where I tap the high beam circuit.


-J

 

Fergz nailed it. That's exactly how I had my DPDT switches wired up. I liked the DPDT switches because the internal bulbs weren't tied to the position of the switch so I could make it so the bulbs turned on with my dash lights.

 

actually it wasn't a fuse... i just wanted to show 12 volts going to the LED bar. ( i have replaced the diagram)

but with that being said, you did catch a mistake on the fuse part. i ened up having to quickly redo that diagram and left out the fuse part.

 

the only thing i see you need to change is the main fuse to the relay. that should be 30 amps. voltage to the light bar and the D2's will be 12 volts. the D2's may only need 2.5V DC to light up but they have built in circuitry to regulate the input voltage to the rest of the internal circuits. since the D2's are wired parallel, the voltage on your schematic would be 2.5V not 5.0V

 

Awesome! Thanks buddy. I'm banging my head on my desk wishing I paid more attention in beginning electrics way back in high school. Should I still use 20 gauge wire for my light circuit or should I step it up in size to match the 30 amp fuse?

-J

 

where are you using the 20ga wire? how long is that wire in total?

 

Let's see, it would be from the fuse through the relay to the branched connectors for both the light bar and the D2s as well as their respective grounds. Rough estimate from the fuse box would be somewhere in the 7' to 12' ballpark. Common hot and a common ground.

-J

 

if you stick with a single relay, it looks like you would need to run 10ga from the relay to the lights positive distrobution point and from the battery to the relay. you can use the lights ground wire to ground to the chassis.

if you go with 2 relays, then you can run 12ga to each light. you just have to run the trigger wires to both relays. thats easy though.

 

i run D2's on my truck... i just took a quick look at the spec sheet. they only pull 5 amps total. i seriously think you can just run 12ga wire from the one relay. dont know what the amp pull is for your bar though.

nevermind... i see it. you are good for 12ga. you could knock down the D2 fuse to 7.5 or 10 amp. use a 20 amp for the main fuse.

 

Its Rigids E series 20" @ 7.97 amp draw, so maths says 12.97 total amp draw from the 20" bar and the two D2's. I just want to be doubly sure that the wires match the current. BBQ'd tacos aren't tasty -Fact.

-J