12v power soure help
04-07-2013, 02:08 PM
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12v power soure help
I'm hook in up piaa lights and im supposed to splice into a 12v power source that's on when the engine is on, I'm clueless, any ideas?
04-07-2013, 02:10 PM
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If you're just looking to run extra lights. "From the lights " Run the red to a relay, black to a ground, "From the Relay" run the relay to the battery red, black to ground. then red from battery to swith, red from switch to relay, black to ground. then the lights are hot all the time, which means you can turn them on without the vehicle running. And running them from a relay will keep the switch from over heating. It's the easiest thing to do without splicing.
Last edited by RMucho; 04-07-2013 at 02:13 PM.
04-07-2013, 02:15 PM
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If you're just looking to run extra lights. "From the lights " Run the red to a relay, black to a ground, "From the Relay" run the relay to the battery red, black to ground. then red from battery to swith, red from switch to relay, black to ground. then the lights are hot all the time, which means you can turn them on without the vehicle running. And running them from a relay will keep the switch from over heating. It's the easiest thing to do without splicing.
04-07-2013, 02:51 PM
#6
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The "hot" or positive lead to the relay could go straight to the battery (although I ran the lead to my Piaa relay through a fuse block).
But to trigger the relay (using your switch), you have choices.
Do you want to be able to turn on the Piaa lights regardless of whether or not the ignition switch is on?
Do you want to be able to turn on the Piaa lights only when you have either the aux or the headlights on?
In my case, I decided I only needed the Piaas if at least the aux or headlights were on, so I tapped into the side aux lights that are in the front fenders. I did this, rather than tapping into the turn signal or headlamp because I didn't want any risk of messing up the CAN BUS system (seen too many posts on this subject), and those side lights are independent of the CAN BUS monitoring system (I believe). Also, they're easy to get to; you don't have to remove anything. But there are other sources of either constant power or ignition power that are also independent of the CAN BUS system.
You only need a very small amount of power to run through the switch to trigger the relay, so going to the battery seems like overkill to me. In either case, I'd still have a fuse between your power sources and the switch and also between the relay and the power source.
But to trigger the relay (using your switch), you have choices.
Do you want to be able to turn on the Piaa lights regardless of whether or not the ignition switch is on?
Do you want to be able to turn on the Piaa lights only when you have either the aux or the headlights on?
In my case, I decided I only needed the Piaas if at least the aux or headlights were on, so I tapped into the side aux lights that are in the front fenders. I did this, rather than tapping into the turn signal or headlamp because I didn't want any risk of messing up the CAN BUS system (seen too many posts on this subject), and those side lights are independent of the CAN BUS monitoring system (I believe). Also, they're easy to get to; you don't have to remove anything. But there are other sources of either constant power or ignition power that are also independent of the CAN BUS system.
You only need a very small amount of power to run through the switch to trigger the relay, so going to the battery seems like overkill to me. In either case, I'd still have a fuse between your power sources and the switch and also between the relay and the power source.