burbingus

Hey guys,

I have a quick question for you. I have some lights I want to mount on the Jeep, but I don't want to use the harness that came with the lights. I plan on wiring the lights using a switch in the compartment to control a relay under the hood. Here's the question: what power source do you recommend to go between the switch and relay?

Thanks,

Micah

Bmorejeep08

Run a seperate fused circuit from the battery to the switch. Determine wire size and fuse size by whatever the wattage output of the intended lights are. DO NOT tap existing wiring in a Wrangler to feed the intended circuit. All lighting is controlled by the computor and can fry.

burbingus

Thanks for the reply. I understand that the circuit actually powering the lights needs to be isolated; however, the circuit from the switch to the relay is relatively low power (<5 watts, 500 mA). I understand that it still may be best to run a separate power source for that, but I was under the impression that the relay coils generally pull a max of ~5 watts. I was thinking there might be a good tap inside the compartment that can provide 500 mA while the switch is pressed. Thoughts?

Micah

JK-Ford

If you cigarette lighter circuit is on with the accessory power, then that would be fine. As long as you do not connect a lot of different accessories to this circuit.

Bmorejeep08

Yes, that is what I did to power the relay. That way, you get pwer to the relay only when the key is turned.

RckyMtnGoat

You can if you look to actually use an "add-a-circuit" if its an available space in the fuse panel. If you plan on doing some wiring mccurdy has a great write up when he was powering his switches for his in cab winch controls, read about half way down you will see where he talks about tapping into the fuse box to power his switches.

Awesome Switch panel Write Up

ronjenx

Look at these two threads:

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...d-Power-Source

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/show...y-Power-Source

burbingus

Thanks for the input guys. Those write ups are really informative. I think for the time being I'll go ahead and tap into a fuse. Eventually, I'm going to consolidate all of my switch wiring within a single module. It probably won't be for a while, but I'll do a writeup on that as I get it together.

Micah

69mach1

I went with Cibie Z beams for headlights using relays powered by the headlight wiring with the main power to the relays coming from a fuse block hooked direct to the battery. Yes the relays were chattering with the motor running(all quiet with the motor off) As it turns out the headlights are run with a slightly AC voltage instead of straight DC. When the headlights are normally on, the load of ~ 4 amps filters the AC voltage to a DC voltage and the computer knows the headlights are good, when a headlight burns out the computer senses an AC voltage at the headlight and puts a flag up that a headlight is out. Nice safety feature To get around the relay chattering I installed a 10uf 35V cap across each relay coil, this filters the AC voltage to a DC voltage and Wha-la! no more relay chattering

ronjenx

The normal power to the headlights is pulse width modulated DC. It is modulated to send power to the headlights about 80% of a given time period. It is supposed to prolong bulb life without reducing light output.

But then, if you have something that describes it as having AC power, can you post it or a link to it?