Bed light wiring. Please educate.
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Update with Questions post install....Bed light wiring. Please educate.
2000 Super Cab 4x4 5.4L
I am in the process of wiring bed and tool box lights in my truck. Both lights will be wired together. I want them to come on via a remote switch mounted in the tool box and also whenever the cabin lights come on ie... When the doors are remotely unlocked, opened, or when the cabin light switch is on. Can anybody draw me a wiring diagram. I expect that I will have to wire the lights from the battery and off the cabin light relay. How do you wire into an existing relay? I probably seem like a moron. Thanks for the help guys.
- Dave
___________________Update______________________
So I finally got around to installing and wiring these lights. They are led strips with 60 LEDs.
Input voltage： DC12V
Power: 14.5W(0.24w x 60)
Lumen： 15 lumen / led
Below is a diagram I drew showing how I have it hooked up. I followed Pizzaman's suggestion listed below in this thread(thanks again for the advice Pizzaman). There is also a picture of a diagram I pulled off the interwebs to hook up the relay, and a picture of the relay I used. I just noticed that the relay I used says 14VDC and 60 Amps so I question whether or not I am using the correct relay.
My issue...
With everything hooked up and the cab lights off, the lights function fine using the switch I've wired in, However, when I engage the cab/cargo light, I blow my in-line fuse. I started with a 15 amp fuse, then a 20A, and then a 30A...they all blew. This happens whether my switch is in the on or off position.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
-DD
Pictures...
I am in the process of wiring bed and tool box lights in my truck. Both lights will be wired together. I want them to come on via a remote switch mounted in the tool box and also whenever the cabin lights come on ie... When the doors are remotely unlocked, opened, or when the cabin light switch is on. Can anybody draw me a wiring diagram. I expect that I will have to wire the lights from the battery and off the cabin light relay. How do you wire into an existing relay? I probably seem like a moron. Thanks for the help guys.
- Dave
___________________Update______________________
So I finally got around to installing and wiring these lights. They are led strips with 60 LEDs.
Input voltage： DC12V
Power: 14.5W(0.24w x 60)
Lumen： 15 lumen / led
Below is a diagram I drew showing how I have it hooked up. I followed Pizzaman's suggestion listed below in this thread(thanks again for the advice Pizzaman). There is also a picture of a diagram I pulled off the interwebs to hook up the relay, and a picture of the relay I used. I just noticed that the relay I used says 14VDC and 60 Amps so I question whether or not I am using the correct relay.
My issue...
With everything hooked up and the cab lights off, the lights function fine using the switch I've wired in, However, when I engage the cab/cargo light, I blow my in-line fuse. I started with a 15 amp fuse, then a 20A, and then a 30A...they all blew. This happens whether my switch is in the on or off position.
Thank you for your help in this matter.
-DD
Pictures...
Last edited by DumpsterDave; Jun 27, 2012 at 01:58 PM. Reason: Update
You'll need to add a new relay. It'll have 4 pins on it, one pin is to ground out the relay, one for a power wire from the battery, one for a power wire to the lights (which will also need their own ground), and then the last pin is for a switch.
Which here you have two options since you want them to come on with the cab lights all you need to do is run a t-tap off a wire that is hot when the cab lights are on such as tap into one of the wires for the door lights, and you won't need to touch the old relay. However since you also want to be able to switch them on independently without the lights in the cab it'll get a little tricky, you can run a bridge wire from the hot pin on the relay to the power out pin on it with a switch in between to bypass it so you can overide the relay and turn it on anytime.
Second option would be to use a second wire from the battery to a switch to the lights with a switch inbetween or a second relay depending on current draw of lights but I think this way would be a lot more messy with extra wires.
Also don't forget to fuse the hot wire close to the battery.
I hope this helped some man.
Which here you have two options since you want them to come on with the cab lights all you need to do is run a t-tap off a wire that is hot when the cab lights are on such as tap into one of the wires for the door lights, and you won't need to touch the old relay. However since you also want to be able to switch them on independently without the lights in the cab it'll get a little tricky, you can run a bridge wire from the hot pin on the relay to the power out pin on it with a switch in between to bypass it so you can overide the relay and turn it on anytime.
Second option would be to use a second wire from the battery to a switch to the lights with a switch inbetween or a second relay depending on current draw of lights but I think this way would be a lot more messy with extra wires.
Also don't forget to fuse the hot wire close to the battery.
I hope this helped some man.
Last edited by pizzaman711; May 23, 2012 at 02:49 PM.
Recheck the relay ground, and make sure it didn't pop the relay also. Also try and get the right relay rated for the right amps, it'll make a second fail safe like the fuse.
And for the switch to simplify things all you need to do is a run a second wire inbetween pin 30 and 87, to bypass the relay and have the switch in the middle of that wire. It'll prevent it from trying to draw too much current. And make sure the switch is rated for the amps that the lights pull, otherwise it can blow the switch and leave it in the closed position all the time.
And for the switch to simplify things all you need to do is a run a second wire inbetween pin 30 and 87, to bypass the relay and have the switch in the middle of that wire. It'll prevent it from trying to draw too much current. And make sure the switch is rated for the amps that the lights pull, otherwise it can blow the switch and leave it in the closed position all the time.
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Pulled out the ole Multimeter and checked everything then I took the switch out of the equation and the relay works as it should. No blown fuses. Lights come on with the cab/cargo light. So it seems like it's back to the drawing board for incorporating a switch. Any ideas. FYI...I was using a spst switch. Also, should I have incorporated a diode in somewhere in my original diagram?
For the switch you could just tap into something that's always hot to go into one pin (such as the battery or the power point fuse) of course fuse that wire and then run the wire off the other pin of the switch to pin 86 on the relay, so basically it'll act the same way as when the cargo lights come on, only difference is you control it.
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Thread Starter
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From: Alabama
For the switch you could just tap into something that's always hot to go into one pin (such as the battery or the power point fuse) of course fuse that wire and then run the wire off the other pin of the switch to pin 86 on the relay, so basically it'll act the same way as when the cargo lights come on, only difference is you control it.
Wired it up this way over the weekend and still had some issues. Now instead of the inline fuse coming from the battery blowing, the #14 fuse in the passerger fuse compartment is now blowing. I did put that diode on the wire feeding power from the cargo light. This fuse is for interior lights and power windows. Funny thing is that it started raining and I couldn't roll my windows up. I had to haul *** to a nearby bank, pull under the covered drive-through area and then trouble shoot the blown fuse..haha
I will get this working the way I want to one of these days. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
Thoughts?