Ignition wire color and location.
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Member
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Glen Burnie, MD
Ignition wire color and location.
I need to find the ignition wire so I can hook up an led. does anyone know where that is and what color i'm looking for. I need a 12 volt current.
Thread Starter
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Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 59
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From: Glen Burnie, MD
I'm hooking up a led scanner. i have a orange black red and white wire. black is ground, red is power, white is a network of scanners but what is orange.... what do i typically hook that to...i want it to be insync with my red light when i turn my truck off...
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 186
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From: Pennsylvania
relay
Dear TysTonka Anytime you need to hook up an additional curcuit use a relay to isolate that new curcuit from any other electrical system. You can buy 12 volt relays cheap, for under $5 from any Auto Parts Store. A relay is a 12 volt coil that moves a contact either from a normal on. or a normal off curcuit. You hook up a 12v + from the ign to the coil connection of the relay, and a 12- on the other coil connection. Then u can run a fused battery + wire to the switching part of the relay, and the wire to the other side, the common to power ur LED. The relay will have a diagram on it to show you the switching connections, the open side and the closed side, wire it to the open side, when its hooked up, and u have 12v+ and 12v- to the coil side, the coil will move a bar with contacts that completes a curcuit between the open side switching connections. This is the right way and the safe way of wiring in any additional curcuits. You can also use diodes in the curcuit for added protection, a diode only allows a curcuit to flow one way, like if ur LED shorts out, the short curcuit won't affect ur other curcuits in ur truck, like a $800 ecm. Ur local Radio Shack can sell u a 5 diodes in a pack for $1.29. The white stripe on the diode is the direction of flow,
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Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Wisconsin
I don't follow, why would you recommend using a relay to hook up a LOW current device with a diode? Isn't a fuse sufficient?
How is the LED unit going to reverse bias? Stereos, alarms and RS's don't diode their stuff we're not talking door triggers and REM modules.
How is the LED unit going to reverse bias? Stereos, alarms and RS's don't diode their stuff we're not talking door triggers and REM modules.