Need a little wiring help

[AggieJustin]

OK all you electrical wizards, I need a little wiring advice...



I've got an auxilary set of lights at the rear of my truck fed through a relay that is activated when the truck is put in reverse (tapped the reverse light circuit to trigger the relay) This works great, but now I want to get a little more creative. I'd like to put a switch in the cab so that I can turn on the lights in the back without having the truck in reverse.



How do I go about adding this switch to the circuit? Is there a relay that supports getting triggered by one of two sources? Or is there an alternative wiring scheme I haven't considered?



TIA



Justin

 

[Evan A. Beck]

Simple. Just connect a switched 12V+ wire to the same pin on the relay that the stock backup light wire hooks to. This will give you control with the gearshift or a manual switch. It's how I have mine. Make sure everything is fused, and make good connections--that is, don't use those chinsy Scotch-Locks. You'll have problems later on down the line if you use them... They tend to vibrate loose after time.

 

[Archive]

They are not "chinsy"... they are "pesky".



Since I can not solder worth a darn, I have used them many times. Never, ever had one vibrate loose. Did have a few get moisture in there and help to short out on my trailer wiring, tho.



If they are so bad, why do most trailer manufacturers use them? Cheap? Yes, thats a good reason, but if they were so bad, lots of trailers would be going back to get fixed, and they would have eventually started soldering!

 

[Cooker]

I have been using them for years inside the vehicle for car audio and alarm install and also ouside the vehicle (the shrinkable ones are excellent for this) for whatever needs to be done.



I have only had a problem one time with the "connecter" type scotch locks and this was mainly due to the individual who's vehicle I was working on used the wrong size connector for the wire? Duh!



I agree soldering is the "ultimate" way to go. but for some of the soldering "challenged" individuals, the crimp connectors and scotch locks are fine, as long as you are using the correct size.





JMHO

-Ryan

 

[AggieJustin]

Thanks Evan.



I had thought about this, but I was concerned that it would cause problems since it would pass +12V to the load side of the switch that was not on (i. e. in reverse, it would energize the load side of the manual switch and vice versa).



Does this not cause any problems? I thought that I remember a friend of mine having trouble with this setup before. Does it require any special switch or other items inline to prevent the backfeed?



Thanks again,



Justin

 

[Evan A. Beck]

Aggie, the solution is to install a diode between the factory backup light wiring and the relay. This will prevent a backfeed of 12V+. Not really needed, but you could do it if you wanted to. I don't have one installed on my truck, and have had no problems at all.

 

[Archive]

"chinsy"... . or is it "chintzy"?