wiring in PIAA lights

[jeeptorino68]

hi guys, i have a question about wiring in some PIAA 500 series lights.
i have the PIAA wiring harness, and i could just hook it up as stated, it is complete with relays and all that stuff, and i am familiar with the standard wiring procedure for off road/aux lights.

what i want to do it:
wire them in so that i can either use the PIAA provided on/off switch, or have the jeep high beam lever activate the PIAA lights...
so i am wondering, how exactly i would do this?
would i need a second relay?
can i just splice into the high beams and run that as a trigger to the PIAA relay?

 

[tjkj2002]

Just tie in the power wire that triggers the relay to turn on the lights to the high beam wire instead of connecting to a switch.The instructions should show how to do that via the highbeams as most offroad lights instructions do(well KC and Hella does).

 

[jeeptorino68]

i guess i meant can i wire it in such a way that it does both, trigger by the high beams, and trigger by the PIAA switch

 

[decibelchild]

easy... wire it to the highbeams but have a second lead strait off the on/off switch from your accessory or main (whatever you choose). the switch will run if your hi's are off with the switch on. and when the switch is off the hi's will fire your fogs. hope that helped a little

hope you understand what im saying. sometimes im bad at explaining but im just saying that a lead goes to your lights spliced from your hi-beams and a seperate lead is spliced off of your switch. should cause independent operation. shouldnt cause too much trouble if you run both switches on or off due to the fact they are both off the same battery and there is no chance of overloading or anything funny like that.

 

[piaa_nissan]

If you run the switch and piaa relay together like that without a diode to separate the power your going to have big issues. You'll find anytime you power up your lights with the switch it will back feed and power on the headlights or vice versa and overheat the circuit causing a fire because of the extra draw. You'll never find anyone besides a shade tree mechanic who would wire that improperly.
Go with what Tjkj posted.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[martin_metal_88]

If you run the switch and piaa relay together like that without a diode to separate the power your going to have big issues. You'll find anytime you power up your lights with the switch it will back feed and power on the headlights or vice versa and overheat the circuit causing a fire because of the extra draw. You'll never find anyone besides a shade tree mechanic who would wire that improperly.
Go with what Tjkj posted.
Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

No. Since the power come from the same source it will work just fine. If it would come from 2 separated battery then you would have problem.

 

[piaa_nissan]

You wired this way a lot then?

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk

 

[tjkj2002]

No. Since the power come from the same source it will work just fine. If it would come from 2 separated battery then you would have problem.

No you will be sending power to the high beams also even with the switch off.

 

[martin_metal_88]

Read the edit

I agree with you here is where the three of us misunderstood each other.
He could wire it the way I said, it will work, but he wont be able to use only the PIAA, the 2 set will always light at the same time. My point was that it wont blow or overheat the circuit. Hood 2 wire to the same pole of a car battery and put your probe on each wire, you will read a big 0, some cheaper multi-meter can say that there is some voltage but that's another story. Also, the Amp from the relay solenoid is usually to low to overheat a wire.
I should have highlight the part where you say that it's gonna cause fire, very unlikely. You said that no one could wire anything like that, but as an electrician I can tell you that a lot of system are designed this way so you still have power everywhere if something happen to a cable. Just look at most of the high tension power cable.

For the rest, you are right, a simple diode will fix the issue.

Edit : I was assuming that he meant splitting the wire that feed the solenoid but after a re-read seems he wanted to power the relay with the power for the light ( my bad ) then problem will occur, but again a diode would fix the issue. It's just not the way to do it.

 

[Ohio-white-kj]

You need a double pole switch. You flip one way the feed from the HL goes to the PIAA, other way power from DC source goes to the PIAA. You can also get a center off. Can't use the PIAA switch - just use a replacement.

I've wired almost every add on lamp this way - that way you can have just the one on for aiming, also a fail safe if you ever have a HL switch fail.

Best example is high powered driving. In remote or off road I just want it on whenever I run the HL - maybe not elsewhere.

 

[jeeptorino68]

since this was brought back up again...
where is the best location to get wires from the cab to under the hood?
is there a grommet i can squeeze more wires through? or a good spot to drill?
thanks

 

[Snail Farmer]

Yes there is. Lift your carpet up on the driver's side. You'll see a weld seam. Follow that seam up the firewall and you'll see a black plastic plug. Just knock the plug out with a screwdriver. It might be difficult to get out because there's usually some sealer that covers up part of it, but it's the easiest way through the firewall.

 

[jeeptorino68]

does anyone have a good source under the dash for key on power? i found plenty that are hot all the time on the fuse block. looking for key on only.
something easy to tap into for the relay trigger

 

[profdlp]

does anyone have a good source under the dash for key on power? i found plenty that are hot all the time on the fuse block. looking for key on only.
something easy to tap into for the relay trigger

It is very easy to pop the radio out and tap in there. There will be two power wires in the harness with juice. One is "always hot" to keep the settings, the other is "key-on" only. I did something similar a year ago and used a tester to figure out what's what. Sorry, but I can't remember the color of the wire for either.

 

[jeeptorino68]

just fyi for anyone else
on the 2002 at least there is a heavy gauge tan wire off the ignition that is power when the key is on.

also look at the link here for a good firewall penetration spot:

Jeep Liberty/Electrical/Firewall Penetration - Wikibooks, open books for an open world