Immediate Help Needed - Simple relay wiring question

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:21 pm

Ok, rear driving lights are mounted. I haven't done relays in a while so.....
Don't wanna go the firewall penetration route...

1. Can I tap power for the lights off a fuse? If so, which one?

2. Want lights to be switchable even when key is off. Can I run the Green wire which goes to 56A on the relay (other end supposed to go to a switched power lead like the headlight) to the same tap so it is always hot? or is this gonna cause problems?

3. I ran all my grounds to the 2 ground screws under the dash, including the one that should go to battery negative. Is this a problem?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 6:34 pm

Hmm, its best to get power for the lights straight from the battery. Its really not that hard to get through the firewall at all. I found it to be very easy with a wire hanger. I pulled the panel around the hood latch out and pushed it through a rubber boot that had about 200 or so wires going though it. :shock:

Be sure not to cut into one of those wires!!

You can get power from the fuse panel to energize the relay, but I wouldnt get power for the lights there. You should be fine on your grounds. If you get power from the fuse panel for the relay, and ground it, you will have power all the time to the relay which will let you turn the lights on at any time. I didnt like that idea so I tapped into the park lights to get power for my relay. It was another wire to go through the firewall, but I didnt care.

Just a summary: Get a + fused power feed from battery for lights. Ground the lights. Get + power for relay from fuse panel and ground the relay. Sound good?

adamkrz · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:38 pm

jeepster got it right,go straight to the battery with a fuse or circuit breaker,Be careful with the boot - mine came off and can't get that sucker back on-no room for human hands to get at it-I may have to silicone around the boot or take it the the dealer..

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 7:44 pm

Well, the light was fading fast so here's what I did...
I decided to pull the trim panel again & take a last look for the firewall hole. I saw the big wire bundle but couldn't get through it. I remembered an old post about the other plug that's in there so I found the post and saw the plug it mentioned right below the big wire bundle but all the way against the left side wall. I stuck the cordless drill in among all those wires on one side and the brake pedal on the other...

..... As soon as the drill bit, it yanked the plug right out. :shock:

I wire coat hangered the pos wire and the relay energize wire through and connected them both to the terminal block so now I have lights that can be switched on even with power off. It's great for working behind the KJ. They are also gonna be hard to accidentlly leave on so I'm not worried on that score.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 9:21 pm

Sounds good! You may want to put some silicone around those wires going through that hole. Im not sure what kind of metal finish that is, but it may be a rough edge. Some dirt/water may come in also. Be sure you put a fuse on the wire that energizes the relay also!! If it did short out and you didnt have a fuse on it, it could be bad... You should be able to use the same fuse for both.

My hellas have covers on them so during the say I couldnt tell if they were on or not. I didnt want to come out and find the covers melted to the lights on a hot summer day. :shock:

POST SOME PICS!!

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:52 pm

Quote:

Sounds good! You may want to put some silicone around those wires going through that hole. Im not sure what kind of metal finish that is, but it may be a rough edge. Some dirt/water may come in also. Be sure you put a fuse on the wire that energizes the relay also!! If it did short out and you didnt have a fuse on it, it could be bad... You should be able to use the same fuse for both.

My hellas have covers on them so during the say I couldnt tell if they were on or not. I didnt want to come out and find the covers melted to the lights on a hot summer day

The relay itself has a fuse built in to the side. I guess it's for the outputs? I ran the energize wire straight to the terminal block. I'll put a fuse in line this week. The plug hole under the dash has a nice rounded surface/lip into the engine compartment but I sealed it with silicone anyway. What a mesh it was trying to get a great big blob of silicone on the end of a yard stick snaked down into that area so I could seal it. Silicone messy! I had already closed up the inside trim and wasn't about to pull it back out for the 3rd time asfter a six hour install. No covers on mine so no worries about melting them. I just tried em out, nice backup lights!

Where I attached the wiring (not my photo - from a previous LOSTers install):

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:05 am

You should be good. The relay may have a fuse on it, but that only protects things AFTER the fuse. Any wires coming into the relay could still get shorted out. Its best to put the fuse as close to the power source as possible. If the relay was beside the battery then you would be good. Your going to install a fuse so you will be just fine. :wink:

Immediate Help Needed - Simple relay wiring question

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