....so i recently ran head first into a pointless conversation with a friend about some of my interior lighting. I have two 15" blue neons hidden near my center console. They are wired up to a rocker switch which is pulling power from the constatnt 12v that i pulled off of the cigerett lighter...(the lighter is still conected, lead simply spliced in for accessories) I also have the switched 12v source for my HU tapped onto this power source via another switch...(so i can turn my radio on and off without the ignition)...and finally my remote turn on is connected to the same switch as the radio. Now we began discussing the benefits of running a relay on this circuit because im drawing to much current? Is this true, im just beginign to learn about relays and i dont fully understand the concepts behind them. So i guess my question is should i run a relay and if so how do i go about connecting it in such a fashion where evrything remains functional? thanx in advance
Yes you should run the lights, the radio, the lighter seperate you can find the diagrams for the relays in our FYI section under Basics then under relays.
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Thanks sneakycyber. I have already reviewed the relay diagarams, yet i dont see one which pertains to my particular aplication? Should i be using a set up similar to the adding accessories to a remote turn on wire diagaram, or do i need a seperate relay for each individual accessory? Like i mentioned before, im very green with relays so im going to need a slight bit more detail. Thanx again
Are you using your HU's internal amp? If you arn't using it you may not need a relay. Your neons will draw roughly 0.3A a piece, your remote wire will draw at most 0.1A (0.7A total) Your HU is where it gets tricky. If you don't have any speakers (loads) attached to it I would guess (total guess, actually) that the current draw would be very low (3A perhaps). Once you hook speakers up to the HU the load will increase significantly (based off of total possible power).
If you are using an external amp it will be drawing power directly from the battery, so no relay should be needed.
If you are in doubt I would just rewire the radio to:
85: Rocker switch --> (3A fuse) -->12vdc
86: Ground
30: (10A fuse) -->12vdc
87: Output to radio
I would leave the neons on the cigarette lighter, unless you really want to add another relay to the mix.
Oh, and this may be a crazy idea, but why don't you hook up your remote wire to your HU so that whenever the HU comes on the amp turn on turns on (assuming this isn't a stock radio!) That would eliminate once connection completely
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Kevin Pierson
i think i am going to end up connecting the remote turn on to the HU. I had it on the switch beause the radio i had in the vehichle before did not have a remote turn on lead, and i wasnt to sure if it was safe to just use the acc line, but once i remove the remote wire, should i still use a similar relay setup on the neon lights despite the fact they have a very low draw? Thanx