worklights on 4510

[bjcsc]

Well, I don't to beat this to death...but in the original wiring the relay is not switching a high current load; the switch is (the load is fed by the switch, not the relay!). The relay is not taking the load off of the factory wiring, the new 10ga wire is. The relay does nothing other than open when the ignition is turned off. You could accomplish the same thing by just running the 10ga wire directly to the switches, except the circuit would always have power (just like the other light circuits do) and you would have to remember to turn it off, just like the other lights. In the original wiring the relay is only acting as a "battery saver"...

 

[canoetrpr]

Bigballer, Kennyd:

What are the switches rated to in your setup?

 

[kennyd]

Bigballer, Kennyd:

What are the switches rated to in your setup?

Mine are rated for 20 amps @ 12vdc

 

[bigballer]

i don't recall exactly but i know they are at least 20, might be 30..

 

[bx24]

I agree w/bjcsc, put the switches before the relays. This does two things:

1- you are not loading the relays unless they are being used
2- (as bjcsc mentioned) you are switching the low amp side of the circuit instead of the high amp side. This is the way it is done in cars etc. A good example of this is a winch line. You would never have it going through a relay first and trying to switch 200 amps - that is the whole point of using the relay

pics .... we need pics

 

[canoetrpr]

Gentlemen:

I am in the middle of a worklight project as inspired by those of you who have taken the time to detail your installations.

I was getting all ready to hook up the relays and realised that it is a 5 pin relay. There are two 87 pins: 87 and 87a. I don't think I have seen what the rest of you do with 87a.

From the figure on the relay itself, best I can tell is that 87 is closed when there is voltage applied at 86. Howevert 87a is always closed (regardless of whether trigger voltage on 86 is there or not)- a pass through for 30 - the power in.

Since I am using two relays I was thinking of using 87a of the first one to 30 of the second one. The 87a of the second one would just be terminated with a butt connector.

Is this correct? If not - what should I do with the 87as?

 

[kennyd]

Gentlemen:

I am in the middle of a worklight project as inspired by those of you who have taken the time to detail your installations.

I was getting all ready to hook up the relays and realised that it is a 5 pin relay. There are two 87 pins: 87 and 87a. I don't think I have seen what the rest of you do with 87a.

From the figure on the relay itself, best I can tell is that 87 is closed when there is voltage applied at 86. However 87a is always closed (regardless of whether trigger voltage on 86 is there or not)- a pass through for 30 - the power in.

Since I am using two relays I was thinking of using 87a of the first one to 30 of the second one. The 87a of the second one would just be terminated with a butt connector.

Is this correct? If not - what should I do with the 87as?

The 87a pin is NC (normally closed) and is opened when the relay is powered.
The 87 pin is NO (normally open) and is closed when the relay is powered.

If your 87a has power all the time-it's a configuration that I am not familiar with.

HERE is another good diagram of the pinouts, but it doesn't show the 87a pin.

 

[bjcsc]

kennyd is correct. Most of the time, 87a and 87 are always opposite (one closes when the other opens and vice-versa). Some relays, however, 87 and 87a are switched together and have the same function. These are not common, though, but they do exist.

If you wire it as you described, your second relay will always have power until you apply power to the first at which point it will have none.

Here's a trick with relays, too. If you look at the blades, the outside ones are all parallel with the relay case except one that is perpendicular. That will be the power input, 30 (sometimes labeled 51, too). The one directly across from 30 will be the power output, 87. To either side will be 85 and 86, interchangeable as ground and trigger (although most people use 86 for the trigger) and in the middle the seldom used 87a...

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks kenndy and bjcsc. Good thing I didn't wire it up that way then. I will simply terminate both of the 87a and feed both relays directly to 30 with the 10 guage wire from the battery, 30A fuse.

I'll continue on the project tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

 

[canoetrpr]

Folks:

I can't thank you enough for all the time you have all spent answering silly questions about this stuff and for posting your own projects. I sucessfully wired my worklight circuts with 2 30A automotive relays as per bjcsc's modified diagram. I was able to use my brand new multimeter ($14.99) which I bought for this project to test everything out. Everything works well.

Here is the thread that details my project.