Hello all!
This should be an easy one but it has me scratching my head. This question is for an older Fiat, but applicable to most cars. I need to power relays for high output low and high beam setup. Easy enough, but I want the option to keep the low filament burning when switched to high beam (via toggle in cockpit). Normally when the high beam is activated, the low is off (unless using the high beam flash). I have burned out two coulum switch asemblies running high output ligts, so this will solve several problems!
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"The tounge does not make a good test light..."
Connect one side of your toggle switch to the output of the relay powering your high beams. Connect the other side of the switch to the coil of the relay for your low beams. When the toggle switch is in the on position and your high beams are on, your low beams will be on. When the toggle switch is in the off position, your low beams will operate normally.
To prevent power from going back to the switch, diode isolate the two leads going to the same side of coil of the
relay powering your low beams.
~~wirewise~~
Okay, I've sat down and drawn this all out. This would work well, if I was using two relays in the cockpit next to the fuse box. But I have had issues and don't trust the factory wiring. Not to mention lack of a good high-power feed in this area. I am gonna be using four relays, two per side right next to the lamps and taking power from the starter + side. In thinking about your coments, I saw another solution while staring at the factory electrical manual. I think I can do the same thing in effect by tapping into the conveinant empty spaces on the back of the fuse box. Take a lead frm the high beam side power and run it to the switch. Plug one of those handy BMW diodes into the low beam side of the fuse box and plug the other side of the switch into that. This would also save about 10 ft of wire!
Does this option sound safe to you? Nothing else is on the headlight circuits except the power to my fog light relay. So this will remain a low power circuit.
Now if I can only keep from popping fuses on my alarm when I leave the lights on... I had fixed it by isolating the park lead from the alarm and the marker lead from the headlight switch. Worked good, until the diode burned out tonight while i was diving! Hopefully the lower power consumption with headlight relays will prevent this from happening next time. Any idea where I can get more of the plug in style diodes? Ones that will handle more power...
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"The tounge does not make a good test light..."