wiring help...one more time

[revjim]

Okay...I have my toggle switch...I am wiring my front spot lights...They have one positive white wire coming out of each...the ground wire is aready nutted down in the light. I have two spots on the front...do I combine them and take the to the toggle...and then take another wire from the toggle to the positive on the battery??? Thanks guys!!

[sunnbobb]

Hey ya Jim,

you might consider putting a relay in that circuit. It really cuts down on the current draw, and is really easy to do. The basic idea is your hand operated switch operates a switch that turns on the light circuit for the lights. (think remote control) The light circuit is direct between the battery and the light that way and does not have to go through your hand switch.

[rcmatt007]

put a fuse

[Whiskerfish]

Yes Jim your hot wire goes through the switch to the battery. As Rodger recommends a Fuse in line close to the battery is a good safety to prevent a chaffed wire killing your bike in the future.

[revjim]

okay...so from my toggle to the battery the sequence is this....TOGGLE> RELAY or FUSE> BATTERY....
good???

[sunnbobb]

You got it toyota. in the following diagram, you would run the "switched power" to your toggle and then back to the battery. This is the right way to wire a set of fog lights. The relay switches the heavy current to the fog lights with big wire, while the dashboard switch wiring can be very small. This keeps high current and large wires out from under the dash and in the engine compartment where they belong. A typical set of 55 watt lights will draw about 8 amps for the pair. The dash switch will pull only about 0.3 amps to operate the relay.





Why use a relay?

There once was a little man named Jon whose job it was to lift a weight of 50 lbs. He could do this all day long with no trouble. But, one day the boss came up and said that Jon now had to lift 200 lbs. But Jon knew he could not lift 200 lbs without eventually breaking his poor little back. So, he got his friend, Hercules to lift the 200 lbs each time that Jon tapped him on the shoulder. So Jon was able to lift the extra weight through Hercules' strength and Jon did not have to lift any weight at all.

[rcmatt007]

the line from my battery to my horn relay is as such + terminal->fuse as close to + as possible->line to relay...

anytime you run a line off the positive terminal fuse it as close to the battery as possible in case it shorts some where

[donspicer1]

battery + > fuse > toggle switch > lamps. tie the lamps together, then connect to that jumper wire.

[puffy75]

I have mine wired to the relay sunnbobb referred to and I have the toggle wired to the black curcuit (hot after ignition) This keeps anyone from turning on the lights when the key is off or in your pocket. Nice diagram sunnbobb

[revjim]

what if I didn't want to wire to the fuse box from the toggle...what if I could just turn it off and they would be off from the toggle or on from the toggle...thanks.

[revjim]

do I really have to use a RELAY? Would it hurt the bike not too...

[donspicer1]

I don't follow your question.

lots of grey hair.... balding too - pre-Elmer. I keep muttering 'Be vewy, vewy quiet' to the dog, my best audience. i feel guilty, the flies have nothing to grab when they land, skid off, and hurt themselves.

[rcmatt007]

I use a relay on my horns as they draw more power than the stock horns, so rather than shunt more power through the horn switch (causing it to burn out earlier) I shunt the power through a relay.

however, if you are just toggling on and off the running lights and they are on dedicated wiring, you don't need a relay

[CYBORG]

rcmatt007, i understood he was running "spot lights". i'm a big fan of relays for most all circuits, but i think in the case of spot lights[which i consider to be those big bright ones on the front],a relay and the proper size wire are a must....not an option. just my 2cents

[rcmatt007]

certainly if they big draw lights, I agree