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Spot light wiring - Lee Celtic & Thermidorthelobster... help please!

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LiftedDisco:
Hi All

I know that there are various topics on here about wiring light bars and such like and believe me, I have done the search and then read most of the resulting threads...

I currently have two spots on the A bar and now have a further four x 55w on the light bar on the roof - these are all linked into a relay and come on with main beam...

Questions...

I want to switch the roof lights independently so need a three way switch - On with main beam, off and on 'solo'  Lee, you have referred to a three way switch, but where did you get this... I have trawled the web with no luck.  If Land Rover do something that would suit, this would be ideal as I have spare switch positions...

And now to Thermidorthelobster...
You mentioned including a diode so that you are not running main beam down the actuator wire...   :huh:

How, what, why - preferably in words of one syllable!!!  I have wired the roof lights up in pairs (also using artic cable so running one supply to outer pair, other supply to centre pair and using the earth as return), so will end up with three relays - one for everything on, and then one for each pair of switched roof lights....

Anyone else is also welcome to pitch in with thoughts and comments - pic shows Disco before addition of roof lights

Many thanks

Jake:
Click Here for a on/off/on 3 position switch
The entire range is avalible from here too
http://www.mudstuff.co.uk/Carlingswitches.html
 :D

Frankie-Boy:
Rob,

You could try here for your switch http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/switches/modular.php just scroll down for the one you want.

thermidorthelobster:
My spotlight relay is switchable so I can either run the relay off a dashboard switch, which feeds the relay exciter wire 12v, or I can switch it with full beam.  I used a nice easy way of doing this - instead of bothering tracing the switch wiring for the full beam switch, I patched straight into the 12v main beam feed.  So when the lights are on full beam, a tiny current from the feed running to the headlights is diverted off to switch my spotlight relay on.

However, I didn't use a 3 way switch;  I used two normal on-off switches.  Because of this, if both are switched on at the same time, both the dashboard switch and the 12v feed from the full beam headlight wiring goes into the relay at the same time.  The problem here would arise if I switched the headlights off full beam;  all of a sudden, instead of the headlight wiring supplying 12v to the relay, the dashboard switch would be trying to supply 12v to the headlights, and it'd either fuse it or melt the wiring pretty quickly.

So I put a diode in where I took the feed from the headlight wiring, so the current can run from the full beam wiring to the relay, but not from the relay to the full beam wiring.

It's sort of hard to explain really...  If you use a 3-way switch, you shouldn't need to bother though!  I didn't, because (a) I wanted to use switches that fitted into the spare slots in the binnacle, and LR don't do a 3-way switch that fits, and (b) I didn't get around to putting the second part of the circuitry in until after I'd done the first bit.

Maybe the attached sketch will help.  It shows how the diode stops the low-current dashboard switch from accidentally trying to power the full beam headlights if both dashboard switches are in at the same time.

mentalmoshio sophs V8i:
arent roof lights banned for use on the road .  :-k

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