ANY ELECTRICKERY EXPERTS ABOUT ?

Post by **ELVIS** » 16 Jan 2008, 20:28

right-o , wiring question time.
fitting a pair of driving lights to my bus (NOT fogs ) i want to keep the dash unhacked and retain a 'standard look'.
have consulted haybes wiring and i can use a fog light switch to run the spots.
here is where i have a few Qs

i have no further points i can take a live feed from at the front as everything is in use at the mo.
i cant run them off the 'hi beam' as they have 130w bulbs (running thr relays) and dont want to add the 55w driving lights into this circuit for the obvious reasons .
i dont currently have an auxilliary/extra fuse box in the front . i want to get the lights fitted asap as i have to drive a lot of crap lanes.
am going to run a live direct from battery to front , what is best option to do from here ?
the fog light has a 10A fuse after it so i presume it is good for this , i will be drawing less than this (8.5v ) so will go for a 10A fuse aswell.
can i dispense with the need for a relay due to only drawing this many amps ?
was thinking of 3 wires on switch
(1) earth (2) live 'in' from battery (3) live 'out' to lamps without using a relay . sound ok ? saves alot of messin with relays etc .
any ideas etc etc cheers elvis

Post by **kevtherev** » 16 Jan 2008, 21:54

The rear fog you have is it a three position switch?

Post by **ELVIS** » 16 Jan 2008, 22:06

nope. gonna use straight on/off rear type. can use that in the blank above the hazard warning switch so it still looks standard.

Post by **kevtherev** » 16 Jan 2008, 22:11

I have a standard VW three way switch instead of the normal and this operates the aux lamps when in the middle position.

combined with the switch is another normal one above in the position you describe
Thus using the fuse and power circuit of the rear fog.

Post by **ELVIS** » 16 Jan 2008, 22:24

so basically all i have to do is run one wire from the switch to the driving lights and the jobs done for me ? no complicated wiring or nuffink ? one bleedin wire ? and when its in the middle position i get front lights on ?

Post by **Willoughby** » 17 Jan 2008, 00:21

Hi Elvis

am going to run a live direct from battery to front , what is best option to do from here ?

imo best option is to install a extra fuse box.

the fog light has a 10A fuse after it so i presume it is good for this

yup

i will be drawing less than this (8.5v ) so will go for a 10A fuse aswell.

Drawing approx 5A (12V 55W) 10A fues will be fine.

can i dispense with the need for a relay due to only drawing this many amps ?

Yes you can.

was thinking of 3 wires on switch
(1) earth (2) live 'in' from battery (3) live 'out' to lamps without using a relay . sound ok ? saves alot of messin with relays etc .
any ideas etc etc cheers elvis

Sounds good but I would run the earth from the crown next to the fuse box.

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/images/Earth ... _box-1.JPG

Then a live wire via a fuse to a switch then from the switch to the spots.

[img:714:630]http://www.prunty.me.uk/willo/gfx/spots.JPG[/img]

Kev

Post by **Titus A Duxass** » 17 Jan 2008, 05:51

For safety reasons. If you are running a feed from the battery forward, I would put a fuse as close to the battery as possible.

I have two 6mm2 cables coming from the battery to feed the lights, I placed a 4 way fuse box in the engine bay.

It is a fire hazard to have a long length of unfused cable.

Post by **kevtherev** » 17 Jan 2008, 06:53

ELVIS wrote:so basically all i have to do is run one wire from the switch to the driving lights and the jobs done for me ? no complicated wiring or nuffink ? one bleedin wire ? and when its in the middle position i get front lights on ?

I love simplicity

Post by **Willoughby** » 17 Jan 2008, 10:42

Think you may also need an earth.

Older ligths use the case to earth via the body newer need a wire run from the lights to a good earth.

K

Post by **Mocki** » 17 Jan 2008, 11:24

at risk of being shot down in flames here, but
if they are driving lamps, surely it makes more sense to wire them from the main beam, via a realy and a switch?
Without a relay the power will be poor, you only need a 2v drop to loose 40% of the light power, and frankly 55w is hardly enough for driving lamps anyway....

using the relay you only need a signal from the main beam feed, so it wont put any extra stain on the circuit, and you can still use your rear fog type switch as a control in this signal wire.....

you can take the power feed for your realy from the relay you already have for your healights, so no feed to fusebox is needed.......

much safer and more effecient than the simple approach imo.....

Post by **Willoughby** » 17 Jan 2008, 13:31

Hi Mocki

at risk of being shot down in flames here

don't think anyone would, using a relay is the correct way to do it.

I personally would never draw extra current from existing wiring to power the relay or lights. I would always take a new feed from a fuse box to the relay but that's just me.
I know a few guys that have ran the extra wire from the fog switch to spot without a relay and some that have added a relay and none have had issues.

If a fused feed was taken direct from the battery via swich as orig planned you wouldn't need a relay in the circuit as the voltage drop would be minimal.

K

Post by **ELVIS** » 17 Jan 2008, 21:47

ok chaps , after checking haynes etc etc etc have sussed out my(all?) fuseboxes have a fuse for front fog lights (rear appears to be on a seperate single fuse)
have also sussed out today(im a mong BTW) i have a three way switch!!!!! (cheers kev for making me look) so all wiring is there already , safely installed by VW

so , wire driving lights to fog lamp fuse in box and earth lights and bobs ya aunties live in lover

i DONT want them to be able to be operated by main beam stalk as i want them to be able to be used in conjunction with dipped beams for 'short distance' lighting for driving in the lanes.
will sort them on saturday and if they are to$$ will put a relay in.
thanx for piccies -makes it clearer

how does me new plan sound ?

Post by **kevtherev** » 17 Jan 2008, 22:19

Get on with it then!

what style you putting on Elvis...round or *spits* oblong.

I have blongs and I hate them like.

Post by **ELVIS** » 17 Jan 2008, 22:27

roundy roundy ones - mate had a set of oblong ones and held them up next to front and just dont suit! gonna attach em to A bar

[IMG:640:480]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f262/ ... cs1027.jpg[/img]

Post by **kevtherev** » 17 Jan 2008, 22:42

like this or on top?

[IMG:640:480]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c229/ ... cs1027.jpg[/img]