PLEASE Help me with this f#$@%$ relay!!!!!!!!

Ok im at my wits end. Ive been trying to wire up a pair of KC lights for days but to no avail. Im doing everything the instructions say and this is the end result

When the car is off and the switch is off, the lights are off but the light on the switch is lit up! And when I have the lights on, the light on the switch goes off. WTF?! I tried every combination and have been blowing fuses out the ass. This is how everythigns wired

-Relay-
Power from Battery to relay
Power from light to relay
Ground from lights to body
Ground from relay to body
Yellow (86) wire from relay to switch

-Switch-
The switch has 3 prongs (one for ground, acc. on, and supply volts.)

I have tried...
Ground to body
Yellow wire from relay to acc. on
12v from radio to supply volts

When I do all of this, the light on the switch stays lit when the KC lights are off and thats gonna kill the battery if its on all the time. Why is the switch being lit when its off! Its suppose to be lit when the KC lights are on! I tried switching the acc and 12v lines and blew a fuse.I cant get it to work in reverse like its suppose to and im afraid to try anymore b/c im on my last fuse (literally).


What am i doing wrong??? This is such an easy task but its taking forever and pissing me off to no end. PLEASE help me!!!!!!

 

[williecume]

does your relay have numbers on the bottom? if they do then wire like this (if you haven't already):

85 is ground
30 is yellow wire (12 from battery with a fuse)
86 is green going to the center prong on the switch.
87 is red that goes to the power wire for the lights.

if your switch led stays on while everything is off then move the two wires, looks like your switch is wired correctly.

 

[wired_af]

or mabey u can goto autozone and get a different switch

 

[williecume]

if you dont have numbers on your relay.


_ 87

l 86 l 85

l 30

this is from the diagram from my kc lights. looks like you have the yellow wire going to the wrong place.


sorry i reread your post and i just typed everything you have done.

you said you are using the a radio wire as your source to turn on the lights? if the light on the switch stays on it sounds like you have tapped into the constant 12 volts from the battery instead of using the ign on supply.

might double check that.

 

[Alec]

Also try getting supply power for the switch from a different source.

What fuse are you blowing? The main light fuse, the radio fuse, or the switch's power fuse?

 

[LiKuiD]

I tried both the 12v constant and 12v acc/ignition from the radio. I'm not sure what fuse I was blowing cuz it was in the mass of fuses in the fuse panel on the drivers side.

Would this be causing any problems? The lights are bolted to the brush guard which is to the body which is grounding them without using the neg wire from the lights. If I hook up just the pos wire from 1 light to the battery the light goes on w/out having the neg wire hooked up. Could this be causing something wrong? Just a thought.

When I switched the two wires on the switch to each others places, I blew a fuse on the fuse panel causing my radio to go out. So im guessing that means they were in the right place to begin with, but the light on the switch was just coming on at the wrong times. Maybe I'll try another switch? arghhhh

 

[williecume]

try another swithc, but if you still blow wires try using another source to wire the switch into.

i'll be putting mine on in a few days and will be using the high beams as the source for the switch.

 

[Alec]

Try another power source, you're overloading the radio.

 

[Guy Groves]

The purpose of the relay is to isolate the switch from the load. That is the switch can run off power through a 10 amp fuse, while the lights run off heavy wire using a 30 amp fuse. The switch turns "on" the relay, which turns on the load, lights in this case.


The relay may have 4 or 5 posts. If it is a 5 post you can ignore the center post #87A. The center post is energized "hot" when your switch is OFF.

You can look at as being two circuits (they are).

A) The switch side:
("Thin" wire - no significant load)
Line 1)
From a power source (fused) ---> power "supply volts" side of the switch.
(You can use a power source that has power all the time, power on run & accessory, or power on run only. Your choice - my recomendation as the lights go out when the ignition is off - power on run only).

Line 2) Switch ground ---> Body ground.
(This only completes the ground side of the switch light)

Line 3) Switch Load "acc on" ---> Relay post #86

Line 4) Relay post #85 ---> Body ground.
(Note: relay posts #85 and #86 can be reversed - does not matter in most cases unless it is an older relay that has a diode in it. Then you MUST wire it as listed here.)


B) The LOAD (lights) side.
("heavy" wire to cary load)

Line 5a) From battery Positive ---> Light fuse.
Line 5b) From light fuse ---> Relay post #30

Line 6) Relay post #87 to Load (lights).

Line 7) Light ---> Body Ground
(Lights might only be "one wire" in which case the the light body is grounded).

 

[LiKuiD]

Guy, Im doing everything that you listed. When I do all that I end up having the lights work with the switch but when the lights are off when they are suppose to be, the switch lights up and when the lights are on, the switch light goes off...any idea why that does that?

 

[Bill Kemp]

I. Make sure the correct wire is going to the correct relay terminal.
2. Not useing the switch, just touch the wires at the switch together and be sure the lights work OK
3. Be sure the switch is grounded on the proper terminal to a good ground screw.
Sounds to me like the ground is not right on the switch if all else above is OK.

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by LiKuiD
Guy, Im doing everything that you listed. When I do all that I end up having the lights work with the switch but when the lights are off when they are suppose to be, the switch lights up and when the lights are on, the switch light goes off...any idea why that does that?

Your switch sounds like it's wired backwards. You have the light wire and the +12V wire backwards. Swap those two wires, and it should work. Been there, done that before

Your switch looks like what is below: Ground is terminal #1, the /\/\/\ is the light bulb in the switch, terminal 2 is for the lights and terminal 3 is for the +12v. The rocker is between terminals 2 & 3. If you have the power reversed between 2 and 3, the switch light will light up when the lights are off, and the switch will go dark when the lights are on....... Sound familiar??

1/\/\/\/\2_______3

 

[LiKuiD]

Yea makes sense....but when I switched the wires I blew a fuse. But when the wires are where they are now and the switch lights up when the KC's are off, I dont blow a fuse or anything.

 

[Alec]

Have you tried using another switch? Like from Autozone?

 

[X~FACTOR]

Hey Steve. I'm sorry you are having so much problem with the switch. If it's not too late try to get a switch that only has 2 prongs in the back. The ones that lights up is very distracting at night anyway. Hope the 2-prong switch idea helps. Either that or just use 2 of the 3 prongs in the back of the switch.

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by LiKuiD
Yea makes sense....but when I switched the wires I blew a fuse. But when the wires are where they are now and the switch lights up when the KC's are off, I dont blow a fuse or anything.

Well, if you smoked a fuse after switching those two wires, I'd say you have a ground wire in the wrong place somewhere. My guess is that somewhere, you have one of the wires hooked to the wrong terminal, and you're just not seeing it (unless you have a bad relay or switch). Take a break and look at it again later. I've had that happen before too. Ya look at something long enough, and it looks right even though it's not.

 

[LiKuiD]

Yea, im giving up on it for a week b/c I move back into school tomorrow and I dont have any time. I just think b/c ive been so stressed and rushed recently I havnt had time to think straight and logically. I mean come on, this is a simple wiring job! I'll buy a new switch and give it a go. I mean I literally have checked over every connection tons of times and I still get teh same results. I'll just start fresh one day when I have the time and im not trying to do 300 things at once. It will prolly only take 5 min and will all work out the way its suppose to!

Thanks alot guys!!