So ive been reading about the famous baja lights, and behold i have attained a set for x-mas, anyways i want to mount them on the front to be used in addition with my already installed rounds on the bumper...to help in super snowy conditions where the rounds actually make it harder to see, and add to the brights of the normal lights.

Now i want these lights to come on with the brights of the headlights (any time i turn the brights on i want them to go on and off with them too), and also have the option to use them at will....with the dims in case i need the rounds off for weather conditions.

Anyways this is the plan, in the coming weeks, i want to do the HD headlight harness, and install these bad boys at the same time...i just wanted other opinions on this diagram, before i actually get into it all to find out it may not work. The concern i have is the "switch" signal 86 on the relay, will the common point where the toggle, and the splice into the high beam wiring, cause a conflict if i have the toggle on, and hit the brights...? any comments or ideas are welcome, or if someone else has done this show me how you did it!


sorry for the long post and crappy diagram!

 

No ideas anyone!?

 

it looks like the high beams would come on when you turned your baja lights on but I am not sure. i would need to see the diagram of the high beams also just to make sure

 

Thats something i hadnt thought of.... Im still not totally sure where i would like to tie it in with the brights. Im considering putting in diodes in each signal wire that meets at the relay to keep the power running towards the relay and not back upstream causing brights to be on or any other screwy thing... Im just pondering if both wires are feeding power to turn the relay on at the same time if that will mess anything up with the relay considering the relay only needs milliamps to turn on.

 

tie in to your high beams after the high beam relay. use your diagram you have now and it should work. that will cause the baja lights to come on without your highbeams if you just want them on but they will also come on when you turn ur highbeams on

 

I think that you would need a 3 position switch and 2 relays. and wire it so that Switch Position A is wired to relay 1 to be powered on either hooking directly up to battery or on the same circuit as running lights I spliced into the wiring for the bulb that illuminates my transmission indicator so that the switch is only powered when running lights are on. this will allow you to have complete control of when you want to turn on your lights, as long as running lights are on. Switch Position B Off. Switch Position C wired to relay 2 which wired as drawn in your diagram to come on with high beams. Note: Assuming there is a separate wire to connect to that serves the high beams and you will have to splice power to the lights from both relays, as well as from the switch to both relays.

 

Sorry in advance for a long post.

I had the same basic idea as you. I wanted my roof rack lights to come on and off with my high beams. That way I wouldn't be fumbling with a bunch of switches if I saw a car coming from the other direction. Also, I wanted to be able to manually operate my roof lights without having to have my regular lights or high beams on. This is what I came up with.



Relay A will direct power to the light switches if either the high beams are on or if the master switch is thrown. If the high beams are off and the master is off, then no power to the light switches.

I use my roof lights quite a bit on backroads. It is nice that they automatically power down when I go to low beam and come back on with my high beams. Also, being able to turn them on with the headlights off makes it easier to aim the roof lights.

I used a cat5 cable to my switch box. That way there is only a single cable that has to go to the box I mounted overhead.

Also, if you wonder why I have a 20 amp fuse on one set of lights and a 15 amp on the other, they are different power bulbs. The inboard lights are 100 watts each and the outboard are 55 watts each.

 

marc is right. I struggled with this one when trying to figure out how to wire mine. If you tie your high beam circuit to a power source from your switch, you will send power to your high beams when you throw the switch.

Also, another thing to think about is if you always want them to come on anytime you have your high beams on.

I didn't want the rooflights to turn on automatically anytime my high beams were on. I don't know about where you live, but the extra lights aren't exactly legal in TN. We can have two auxiliary lights of 55 watts each, but I have four and two of them are 100 watts.

What I came up with basically sends power to the light switches when the high beams are on or if the master switch is on. From there, you can still turn on one or more individual sets of lights or leave them off.

 

well i gotta say, lots of good ideas and thanks, now as for this massive diagram, i would like to follow it, considering its been done, and is tested and proven to work.

Great job on that btw its pretty fancy! I have a few questions on it though...

Now relay A what kind of a relay is it? looks to be a spdt relay but the wiring according to the #'s would be totally different than what ive seen so far....like the 87 and 87a (or q) should be outputs..? and the 30 an input? what did you do there?

As for how the system works, lets see if im following it....the main switch gives power to the others, when on it works just like any other light install with the other switches right? so how does it work with just the brights..? do you leave the master off and flip the other switch to the on position when would like to come on with the bright application? Also im assuming you have the option set in here so they stay off too correct?


And is there any way you could do up a diagram with 2 3 post switches and the two relays i would use? Theres just so much there im finding myself having a hard time just picking out what i would use, if i were doing it with everything you have i could follow that diagram NP but trying to figure it out with some different switches and relay A im just confusing myself lol

As far as wanting them to come on with the brights, yess im sure i want that lol, the "laws" on that stuff around here really are not enforced well, and i only use my brights out of the "city" when there isnt any on coming traffic lol.....everything here is pretty well backroad and deer like to lurk..well pretty much everywhere haha.

Figured if i was installing them i would wire them up to use them as much as possible....that way theyre not just bumper ornaments so i came up with this........and i have some sort of problem when i do something ive already done....i just HAVE to find a way to make it better and more complex!

 

Relay A is SPDT (single pole double throw). The relay I bought had the 87A terminal labled 87Q, so I made my diagram to match so I wouldn't get confused down the line.

30 on relay A is not an imput. It is actually the power that goes to the other switches. When the Master Switch is off, Relay A is open. Therefore, 30 is in contact with 87Q. In this instance, power can only flow through 30 to the other switches if the high beams are on. So, if the Master is off, the roof lights can only come on when my high beams are on. When I turn the high beams off, the roof lights go off as well.

When the Master Switch is flipped to on, 30 on Relay A breaks contact with 87Q and makes contact with 87. 87 has constant energy straight from the fuse panel, so power flows through 30 to the light switches. When the Master is on, the roof lights can be turned on or off anytime.

In most other applications, 30 would be usually be power and depending on whether 86 had power or not, it would direct the electricity through 87Q or 87. In the case of my roof lights, I used the relay backwards. That is what keeps my constantly available power (87) isolated from my high beam circuit (87Q), thus keeping me from accidentally turning my high beams on when I throw the Master.

If you are only wiring one pair of lights and want to do something similar, it would be less complicated. You would only need the Master Switch, a single Light Switch, Relay A, & Relay B. You wouldn't necessarily need the Fuse Block. You could attach Relay A 87 to either a constant hot if you want to be able to turn your lights on with the Jeep off, or an ignition hot if you only want to be able to power the lights with the Jeep running. Relay A 87A (Q in my drawing) would splice into your high beam circuit; I tied into mine right at the bulb.

Your switches are probaly lighted, so they would the same mine. They can share a ground. I like my switches to light when I turn my lights on, so I tapped into my dash lights for the illumination terminal. They adjust brighter and dimmer along with all of my other dash lights. You could also wire them so they come on anytime whenever the Jeep is on if you use an ignition hot.

The master switch uses an ignition hot for the (+) side of the switch. The (-) goes to 86 on Relay A. Connect Relay A 30 to your (+) on your light switch. The (-) on your light switch goes to 86 on Relay B. Both Relays can share a ground to 85. From there, all you have is a power source to Relay B 30, which will need a fuse (suited to the lights your are running), and wire Relay B 87 to your lights.

All done.

 

Awesome! thanks a ton on that, and thats what i was thinking you did was run the relay in a backwards type of action....havnt actually used a spdt relay yet, but i sure see why they say you can get creative with them....cool haha

again thanks a ton!

 

well after a day of considering what to do with all of this...i started to ponder where the switches would go......which makes me actually want do the same thing you have done ahenderl.

I like the whole idea of it...and its neat, clean, and functional.

Now i have done some searching and actually found a post that was put up where you referred to fitchva.com and i have been reading on it throughout the day...

One more topic i came up with some questions on....what did you do with the cat5 cable? Did you use connectors, or just use the individual wires to hook to the switches and relays?? If you used a connector what did you get and how is it wired after the connector to make sure everything is running to the right place?

I know my questions are kind of a PITA but i guess im more of the "simple system creating" kind of guy.....as of the moment anyways lol

 

Here is what I did I followed a similar diagram. It works but requires a lot of wire. So buy a couple rolls.

 

no problem...I happened accross fitch's site a year or so ago and his write-ups are excellent. I modeled my switch and relay boxes after his.

cat5 cable works great for more involved setups. That way you only have to run a single cable instead of a whole mess of wires. The switches draw such little amperage that the small size wire is not an issue. As far as connectors, I stripped about twice the length of insulation as normal and folded the exposed wire back onto itself. This gave a thick enough piece of wire to crimp a connector. Don't worry about special connectors. Cat5 cable is simply a bundle of very small gauge individual wires in a single sleeve.

Keeping which wire goes where is easy enough. Each individual wire in cat5 is color coded. So, the blue wire on one end of the cable is the same individual wire as the blue one on the other end.

 

Cool thats pretty much what i was thinking, i read something about some female connector blah blah, def. easier with the individual wires then, just wanted to make sure i was planning correctly

Ill update on this when i get it done, hopefully within the next few weeks here after i get all my stuff and a warm shop to do it in!