hella lights (wiring)

Rommelx3 · #1 03-29-2011, 02:34 PM

ok so first I’d like to apologize if 1) this this information that can be found elsewhere, and 2) if this is a noob question (I've never done this before) I searched around the forums but couldn’t find what I was looking for.

I just bought a pair of hella black magic lights and i’m trying to set up the wiring so that I can operate the lights independently from high/low beams.

this is the wiring diagram:

so what I’m unsure of is 1) how to ground the lamp wire, & 2) where is the parking lamp wire located so that I can operate the lights independently from my high/low beams?

Thanks for any help, I appreciate it. I was lazy and I didn’t want to do this so I called a place by my house and they wanted 255 bucks for wiring them up for me lol

doyouquaxu · #2 03-29-2011, 02:35 PM

do you want them to come on with your hi beams at all, or completely separate? and do you want to use the relay or just the fuse?

Rommelx3 · #3 03-29-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyouquaxu

do you want them to come on with your hi beams at all, or completely separate? and do you want to use the relay or just the fuse?

Completely separate is preferable, I have a relay for it

doyouquaxu · #4 03-29-2011, 02:42 PM

here you go:

buggman · #5 03-29-2011, 02:46 PM

This might help...

The colors will be different, but the basic circuit is the same.

You can either ground the light wires by their mounting brackets.. to a metal surface using a ring terminal OR you could run the light grounds up to where your relay is grounded & have everything grounded at one spot.
Most people use the mounting brackets for their ground, while I prefer to run my grounds to a central location. Both will work, it's more personal preference.

I wouldn't even bother with the OEM wiring for the parking lights, just use the switch that came with the kit to control your relay under the hood for the lights. You may need to find a wire that is "KEY SWITCHED" meaning it ONLY has power when the truck is running to tell the relay it's ok to come on when you hit the switch. That way, if you leave the light switch turned on when you turn the truck off, the lights will go off & not run down your battery.

PS: ALWAYS use a relay for heavy loads like fog lights, etc.

Hope that helps

FireRanger · #6 03-29-2011, 02:59 PM

Connect the green wire from the switch to the brown wire behind the headlight switch. This will power your switch from the parking light circuit. Result being, the off-road lights will not work if the headlights switch is off. You can use one of those little blade tap-in connectors and make sure you put a 2 or 3 amp fast acting inline fuse on that green wire.

The other option as Buggman said is to tie it into any other ignition switched circuit. That would allow you to turn the lights on anytime the key is on. The best way to do it is one of those fuse-tap gizmos and use a fuse such as the turn signals or stereo. Again, this should still have its own 2-3 amp fast acting inline fuse on it.

To ground the lights, you just tie the wire into an existing bolt on the body, the light's mount if it is metal, or to the battery's (-) post.

This may also help you:
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/exter...ht-wiring.html

Black Widow · #7 03-29-2011, 03:29 PM

ok what you do is take the wire that gos to your hi lo beams and conect it to the + side of your wiring that comes off of the battery and that will have you goin i did it to mine

FireRanger · #8 03-29-2011, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Widow

ok what you do is take the wire that gos to your hi lo beams and conect it to the + side of your wiring that comes off of the battery and that will have you goin i did it to mine

Ok no, don't do that. That's totally incorrect and doesn't even make sense. Do as I or buggman have described in actual detail. It will actually work correctly and actually not burn your truck to the ground.

buggman · #9 03-29-2011, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireRanger

Ok no, don't do that. That's totally incorrect and doesn't even make sense. Do as I or buggman have described in actual detail. It will actually work correctly and actually not burn your truck to the ground.

Ditto.

Rommelx3 · #10 03-29-2011, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buggman

This might help...

The colors will be different, but the basic circuit is the same.

You can either ground the light wires by their mounting brackets.. to a metal surface using a ring terminal OR you could run the light grounds up to where your relay is grounded & have everything grounded at one spot.
Most people use the mounting brackets for their ground, while I prefer to run my grounds to a central location. Both will work, it's more personal preference.

I wouldn't even bother with the OEM wiring for the parking lights, just use the switch that came with the kit to control your relay under the hood for the lights. You may need to find a wire that is "KEY SWITCHED" meaning it ONLY has power when the truck is running to tell the relay it's ok to come on when you hit the switch. That way, if you leave the light switch turned on when you turn the truck off, the lights will go off & not run down your battery.

PS: ALWAYS use a relay for heavy loads like fog lights, etc.

Hope that helps

great, thanks for the help on grounding the lamps.
So I do plan on using a switch to control the relay but
I have no idea what wire to tap into for powering the switch, can it be anything that comes on when the key is turned? can I tap into the cigarette lighter for powering the switch? I'm not worried about leaving on my lights. Thanks again for the help guys, I plan on knocking this out Friday morning, I'll let you guys know how it goes!

and looking at the diagram: #1: Controlling lights with a switch
wouldn't I need to ground the switch too?

doyouquaxu · #11 03-29-2011, 08:23 PM

you can find an open spot on your fuse block in the cab or in the engine bay to pull power from. i wouldn't tap into the cig lighter wiring, it barely has enough power as it is, and you risk blowing the fuse all the time.

on mine, i have the stock hella 500 switch. i pulled power from my battery (fused) and ran it direct to the switch. i have the switch tapped into the ground for my head unit, which has worked for 3 years. the other prong of the switch goes to the relay to complete the circuit when the switch is in the on position.

buggman · #12 03-29-2011, 08:48 PM

If your cig lighter ONLY gets power when the truck is running or in the ACC'Y position, if might be ok... but if you have a ton of stuff plugged into it all the time, I'd avoid it.

If not, you could tap into the radio power (the one that's hot when the key is on). The switch only needs enough power to light up the switch (if it's a lighted switch) and to send the signal to the relay to tell it to come on.

I did something similar for all my accessories that I want to have power when the truck is running... I tapped into the radio's power that triggers a relay that sends 12v to my accessories. Everything is fused so there's less of a chance of any issues.

Oh, you will need to ground the switch, especially if it's a lighted switch.

Good luck, just take your time & you'll be fine.

FireRanger · #13 03-30-2011, 04:04 AM

My diagrams don't include switch grounding because that is only applicable in a lighted switch. It's rather self-explanatory too, just ground the one that says ground.

It's very simple work. Just like I said, the wire powering the switch gets tapped into whatever ignition switched or light switched source you want to use. And put a 2 amp fast acting fuse on it.

Rommelx3 · #14 04-10-2011, 11:59 PM

so I never got around to posting up the end result. Here it is, thanks again guys for the help! much appreciated.