4 pin relays

[corollaart]

Question lads or Banjo.

So I;m wiring up son inlaws rally car for driving lights x4 in a pod set up ,I;m going to use a trailer plug so that we can still open the bonnet (7 pin)

I;m going to use two 4 pin relays and wire them as 2 seperate circuits.

Can i use pin 87 to run two driving lights?or use a 5 pin and hook each light to 87 and 87a ?

rob

Edited May 28, 2017 by corollaart

[Medicine_Man]

You need a relay with 2 x 87 terminals, if it has 87 and 87a it is a change over relay with a normaly closed and normally open contact.

you can run a single pair of driving lights off one relay with no dramas.

[corollaart]

Thanks Justin,so the best way would be to grab a couple of 5 pin relays with 2 x 87 only pins.

No 87a .?

I'm using heavy 7 core wire and plug to connect the pod to car ,your thoughts on this?

Thanks again for help as always Rob

[Medicine_Man]

yeah, as long as it is 4mm 7 core you should be fine. Trailer plug should take the load fine!

[Banjo]

Hi Rob,

           Sorry missed your post over the weekend, as I was away.  Quick question !  The four (4) off driving lights in the pod.  Are they all identical ?  Are they LED, or conventional ones ?   What is the DC current draw on each of them, with a 12-14 volt supply ?   How close is the battery to the front of the car, or where the lights are to be located ?

Eliminating possible voltage drop is always the most important element in this particular exercise.  I've done a couple off these previously, for rallying applications, and have found that multiple relays are best, where there are multiple driving or fog lights. The reason being, is that when rallying, you definitely do not want your driving lights droping out, as you crest a hill at 100 klm/hr, in a dark forest. There are a lot of the standard 30A automotive relay around that originate from China, that are not of the highest quantity.  I use them myself, but do take precautions.

Primarily, many of them are not sealed & water ingress at the front of the car, from splashes on water crossings during rallying, could be an issue. The direction of mounting the relay, can assist, and you can seal them with a bit of Sealastic or similar.  Just never mount them with the spade terminals facing up, or towards the front of the car, behind the grill !   Shock proof mounting them, also relieves the chance of a rough road resulting in a relay dropping out temporarily.  If you have one relay per light, (or per 2 lights), then if a relay fails, whilst driving, you won't be in the dark. Likewise, I like to fuse them separately for the same reason, so if one light, or it's lead causes a s/c, it doesn't take out all four lights.

Cheers Banjo

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2017 by Banjo

[corollaart]

Hi Banjo

The lights will be convention type not led or any thing to expensive ,because we no what could happen to them !!

The battery is in the front of car still very close to lights .

I was just bit stumped about the relays with 87a and 87 but Justin sorted me out on that .

If you look on epay heaps of relays for cheap but they don't tell you that most are change over relays not normally open so you would

buy 10 five pin relays that would be in reallity only be able to use as 4 pin.as 87a would be useless.? (MY TAKE ON IT ?)

This is not on the corolla but a mighty excel!!!! the corolla is put away for the winter.

cheers any way banjo

[Banjo]

Hi Rob,

            I think the relay you  are referring to is the NARVA   P/N 72386.   It has five (5) connectors, but is not a "changeover" relay, like many others. There are 2 off output  N.O. terminals called 87, that are the same point, so presumably two (2) loads can be easily connected to the one relay.

These are a high quality European relay, and I would think, not cheap.  You could probably purchase a pack of five (5) "China" 12V Auto Relays for less that 1 off NARVA relay.

Here is a circuit you could use to wire up 4 off Driving Lights using 2 off NARVA relays.

I would suggest 2 off fuses, so a light failure causing a blown fuse does not take out all the lights.

I would also suggest that you wire them straight back to the battery +ve terminal, which you advised is not too far distant.  A 60A Maxi in-line fuse connected to the terminal, will portect the wiring between battery & relays/fuses.  This will minimise voltage drops between battery & lights.

If you choose to go the cheaper "China" auto relays, I would suggest using the ones with the built-in 30A blade fuse.  For less than $ 20.00, you can get 5 off relays, with fuses & leads/tails, delivered free.  These relays mean you don't have to worry about installing an inline or mounted fuse block.

 

Let us know how it all pans out.

Cheers Banjo

 

Edited May 29, 2017 by Banjo

[B.L.Z.BUB]

You can buy premade headlight relay kits on ebay for about $20. Might be worth a look. All you need to sort is a trigger. They work out cheaper than buying relays and plugs. 

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/122121990123

[Banjo]

They look like a good alternative solution, except they are designed for plugging directly onto an H4 headlight bulb, rather than an external driving light.  I guess Rob could always cut off the H4 plugs on the harness/cable, & directly connect to the trailer plug he was considering using, so that the driving lights, pod could be moved, to open the bonnet.

Has anyone used these ebay harnesses ?  Would be nice to hear from someone, as to their quality.  They certainly are cheap !

Cheers Banjo

Edited May 31, 2017 by Banjo

[altezzaclub]

Yep- I've got two sets, one for each KE70, and three other sets spread around the farm.  Ours were the $30 ones with blue and white plastic from a year or three back, but a vast improvement over stock lights and no troubles with them yet.

My original home-made setup I did years ago when we bought The Girls KE70 was replaced by one set, then the original relays were used in the 4AGE conversion

[B.L.Z.BUB]

If you can wait the exact same kits can be bought from china for about $9 delivered. 

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Vehicle-H4-Halogen-Head-Lamp-Light-35W-Wiring-Harness-12V-40A-Relay-Fuse-Kit-/271911036995?hash=item3f4f292843:g:oUEAAOSwLVZVilJy

[Banjo]

Wow !  If they were any cheaper, they'd be giving them away.  Thanks for the feedback.  I know a little KE20 around here locally, belonging to a Rollaclub member, with rather dim headlights, that could well benefit from one of these.  I'll put her in the know.

Cheers Banjo

[B.L.Z.BUB]

I just buy HID kits now. Probably the same price its ridiculous. 

[corollaart]

Thanks guys for all the input so far,things are going ok so far !!

The next question is we are going to run 2 switches one for each set of lights (2spot 2 broad beam)

We need to be able to turn off the spot beams if need be (fog etc) and from memory this a road worthy thing.

The question being can i pick up the high beam power from inside the car ?and run to switch then back to relay?

Or run it from the back of head light in thru the fire wall then back to relay?

Or find high beam power in the factory fuse box then run it thru the switch?

Remembering we will be doubling up on any choice.Not sure if this circuit will have a huge load on it ??

Meaning can i jam 2 wires on the back of the head light hi beam or where ever we get the high beam power from?

HATE WIRING !!! going to drink beer now 

Rob

[Medicine_Man]

Best off grabbing the high beam trigger direct from the headlights and mount the relays close to the battery.

Basically you just use the 85 and 86 pins to control the relay turning on via high beam. interrupt it with a switch so you can also turn it off when you don't need them (how aftermarket spotlights are legally are required to be wired)