Lightbar Wiring to On/Off/On Switch

[Brad74]

Hey guys, I've just picked up a 22" LED light bar.
My plan is to wire it to a switch in the car using an on-off-on switch which will have it wired to the high beams, so only on when high beams are on, and one to the battery so I can have it turned on at any time.
Is there anyone on here electrically minded that can help me out with how to wire this up? I figure I need a relay (or 2?) and some fuses but that's about it. Any help would be great thanks!!

 

[Old.Tony]

Fairly easy to do. Items required:

2x 20A automotive switches
2x 30A+ 4-pin 12V relays
1x 20A fuse
Electrical cable (red and black) and spade connectors

Connect the fuse to the positive terminal of the battery then run it in to pin 30 of BOTH relays. Connect it to pin 85 of "Relay 2" as well. Connect pin 87 of BOTH relays together and connect pin 87 to the RED wire of the light bar as well. Connect a decent sized black wire from the light bar black wire to the battery negative.

Almost done! Connect pin 85 of "relay 1" to the high beam wire. Now connect the two switches inner pole to an earth point inside the cabin. Connect the outer pole of switch 1 to pin 86 of relay 1. Connect the outer pole of switch 2 to pin 86 of relay 2.

How it works:

Both switches off: light bar off regardless of the high beam setting.

Switch 1 on, switch 2 off: light bar off until high beam is active, then light bar comes on.

Switch 1 off, switch 2 on: light bar comes on regardless of the high beam setting.

Switch 1 on, switch 2 on: light bar comes on regardless of the high beam setting (because switch 2 and relay 2 are providing it with power).

You do NOT have to double up the fuses because there's only one light bar, the difference is that now you have two switching mechanisms for the same thing.

 

[jonney]

Brad, grab a wiring harness off Ebay [ approx $12 ] comes with the relay and all needed wiring including a switch that you will cut off and use your better one. its very easy to wire up as i did it and thats saying something mate.

 

[bods]

If you want to use a 3 way switch you will get away with just the 1 relay.

Depending on the switch you get, it will have 3 or 6 terminals on the back (if you are just using one of the metal toggles ones). I'd make the centre pin the output of the switch, wire this to pin 85 on the relay. The top pin of the switch make the input from the high beam wire. The bottom pin, if you want to be able to use the light bar with the key off (or removed from the ignition) simply wire this to a constant 12v from inside the cab. The other option here is use twin core from the switch to the relay and use the second wire straight from the battery (if doing it this way I'd recommend fusing it, a 5a would be fine, in case it rubs anywhere going into the cabin).

As for the relay, as above will work fine. I normally make 85 the switch input, 86 earth, 30 the +12v fused input from the battery and 87 the output. Some relays have diodes between 85 and 86, requiring it to be wired that way or it won't work, but if it hasn't got a diode, the other way will work fine too.

Wired that way, with the switch in the "down" position, the light bar will come on with high beams. In the "up" position it will be on all the time. If you want this reversed, just swap the top and bottom wires around.

 

[Wallaby2407]

Mate all of the above....

If you are not that electrically minded you can get a wiring loom from Nissan that is plug and play you just need to mount the switch in the cab.

Cheers

 

[karlos_1984]

I'm in the same boat here. My light bar should arrive tomorrow and I want to wire it up to one of these switches and still have it come on with high beam. I'll rarely turn the light bar on otherwise but the switch will purely be there for legality reasons. Can the harness that comes with the light bar achieve this?

This is the switch I want to use:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291394120705?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[bods]

I'm in the same boat here. My light bar should arrive tomorrow and I want to wire it up to one of these switches and still have it come on with high beam. I'll rarely turn the light bar on otherwise but the switch will purely be there for legality reasons. Can the harness that comes with the light bar achieve this?

This is the switch I want to use:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291394120705?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Not quite sure what you're trying to ask. I have one of those switches in my d22. The high beam triggers through the switch to the relay. Switch off and high beam on, light bar off. Switch on and high beam on, light bar on. I don't have any need to have it on without the headlights, so only have the switch because I have 2 light bars and 4 spot lights, so I can choose what I want to have on with the high beams...

 

[karlos_1984]

Sorry for the confusion. Basically I'd want a switch to turn the light bar on manually if needed, without having the headlights (hi or low beam) on at all. However I want the light bar wired to come on with the high beams without having to use the switch. Does that make sense?

 

[bods]

Yep, that's better lol. That's what I thought you were getting at, but wanted to make sure. In your case, go with what "old tony" has mentioned above, except just leave out one of the switches. Just wire the high beam trigger wire directly to the first relay. Then constant power in through the switch and out to trigger the second relay.

 

[Brad74]

If you want to use a 3 way switch you will get away with just the 1 relay.

Depending on the switch you get, it will have 3 or 6 terminals on the back (if you are just using one of the metal toggles ones). I'd make the centre pin the output of the switch, wire this to pin 85 on the relay. The top pin of the switch make the input from the high beam wire. The bottom pin, if you want to be able to use the light bar with the key off (or removed from the ignition) simply wire this to a constant 12v from inside the cab. The other option here is use twin core from the switch to the relay and use the second wire straight from the battery (if doing it this way I'd recommend fusing it, a 5a would be fine, in case it rubs anywhere going into the cabin).

As for the relay, as above will work fine. I normally make 85 the switch input, 86 earth, 30 the +12v fused input from the battery and 87 the output. Some relays have diodes between 85 and 86, requiring it to be wired that way or it won't work, but if it hasn't got a diode, the other way will work fine too.

Wired that way, with the switch in the "down" position, the light bar will come on with high beams. In the "up" position it will be on all the time. If you want this reversed, just swap the top and bottom wires around.

Thanks bods. I've attached images of the on-off-on switch I've got. This actually has 7 pins on it.

Any chance you could draw up a diagram for me? My mind works a bit better if I can see it visually haha.

If I only need one relay, do you think I could get one of the lightbar relay kits off eBay and adapt it to what I need here?

 

[bods]

You can get away with just using 1 side of that switch, so pins 1, 2 and 3. 7 is the earth for the light inside it. You can use a wiring loom from eBay if you aren't comfortable making your own. I usually make my own, that's all...

EDIT
Just looking at the pin diagram again... those switches with leds in them now are a pain in the butt... there's not really any easy way to have the lights inside the switch working in both positions....

You can have 1 of the lights in the switch working, the catch is it will work in either position though, so at least you have a telltale that the switch is on.

I'd wire it like this

Pin 2 is the high beam trigger input.
Join pins 3 and 4 together, then run a single wire into the engine bay, this will be your output for pin 85 on the relay.
Pin 5 is your constant 12v input, you can tap into the ignition wiring for this one.
Pin 7 is the switch earth, just earth it inside the cab somewhere.

This way, you will push the top of the switch in and your light bar will be on with the high beams. Push the bottom of the switch in and the light bar will be on without the high beams. This way, only the upper light in the switch will work, but it will work in either position...

Hope that makes a bit more sense. Let me know if you need any more help.

 

[Brad74]

Yeah I'll see how I go. I may just resort to simply wiring it into the high beams only, I can't see many reasons I'd need them on in any other circumstance. I'll have a crack and see what happens. Cheers.

 

[bods]

No worries. Good luck with it

 

[karlos_1984]

let me know how u go with this Brad I will probably follow this guide from Bods as well, if my light bar ever turns up...Auspost apparently can't read post codes too well and sent mine across the other side of the country.

 

[karlos_1984]

I picked up my light bar this morning and it comes with the basic wiring harness/relay with the simple on/off switch.
I've attached a diagram of how the relay is wired/connected so hopefully someone can just clear a couple things up. The switch obviously has ground, but has a blue and white wire and I just want to know which of these wires does what. (The green in the diagram is actually a white wire)
I'd like to make use of this harness but cut off the switch and wire up a 3 way rocker switch instead, so when the switch is in the up position the light bar comes on only with high beam; in the centre position is off, and in the down position the led bar is on (manually, for when vehicle off, camping etc).

Could anyone explain how I could achieve this with the diagram attached and how/where to wire into the high beams. I'm still learning with this sort of thing. Thanks.

 

[Old.Tony]

The white wire is positive power for the switch which when turned on, provides positive power via the blue wire to pin 85 of the relay, turning on the relay sending positive power out through pin 87. Because the on/off switch also has a negative input connected to pin 86, the switch can light up - and it can have two separate lights inside, changing colour if desired for the different states (eg red = off, green = on).

Wiring the light bar up exactly like it is drawn is going to make the switch the only control for the light bar - high beam doesn't come into it. To introduce high beam control in the fashion you're asking for isn't difficult.

The three-way rocker switch will have three 'pins'. Let's call them centre, top and bottom. The bottom pin is connected to the centre when the switch is pressed up. No connection when the switch is in the middle and when the switch is pressed down, there's a connection between the centre and the top pin.

Connect the white wire from the on/off switch in the diagram (disconnect it from the relay) to the centre pin of the switch. This will mean that when your 3-position switch is in the middle "off" position, the internal light in the on/off switch will not work at all.

Now connect the BOTTOM pin of your 3-position switch to the high beam of your headlight. Pressing the switch 'up' means the relay is actually fed power from the high beam circuit.

Connect pin 30 (or a separate fused positive source, it doesn't matter where it's from) to the TOP pin of the 3-position switch.

That should see you working. You can turn the light bar off also by turning off the "on/off switch" in the diagram (which really isn't needed). To remove that switch from the circuit altogether, connect the CENTRE pin of the 3-position switch to pin 85 of the relay directly and chuck the "on/off switch".

 

[karlos_1984]

Thanks Tony, always a great help. My intention was to always remove the cheap n nasty on/off switch. That being said, what would the best way to approach it be? forgive my ignorance but I'm not quite sure how the blue wire would come into play with a 3 way rocker switch.
I know it's a simple job for an auto sparky to do but I'd like to have a crack myself to learn what's involved so i can wire up some other lights down the track.

 

[Old.Tony]

Don't worry about the blue or white wires. Last paragraph in my previous post replaced both of those wires. The white wire is where the switch sources its power and the blue wire is the feed to the relay. By connecting the centre pin of the switch to the relay, you've effectively replaced the switch. Just toss it out.

 

[bods]

Karlos, have you got a 3 way switch yet? If you are using a basic toggle switch, for ease of wiring, I'd chop the blue and white wires off your current switch, connect the white wire to the top pin on your new 3 way switch, the blue wire to the centre pin of your switch and the bottom pin, tap into the highbeam wire inside the steering column and feed that into the bottom pin.

Wired this way, up on your new switch will have the light bar on with the highbeam. Centre will be off and the lower position will be on at any time. If you want to use a 3 way carling type, just follow as was mentioned previously. With one of those, without 2 relays you won't be able to have both upper and lower lights inside the switch working, unless you can open it and reverse the polarity of the leds inside it...

 

[Henrik]

I have this exact solution on my Qashqai, but I'm at McDonalds with my son who is all over the place at the moment, can upload some pictures later on how I solved it, if necessary?? (I haven't read all comments thoroughly, so don't know if needed). But I only used 1 relay.