Electrical Q | LED Halos plus LED strips & parking lights | 3rd Gen

[BrianSD_42]

What is the best way to wire together 4 low draw LED lights onto the same switch?

I've searched and I read these threads but I'm not sure if what I would like to do will work.

Best way to wire 4 offroad lights into one switch? - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

I don't plan to do this but I found it interesting
How to Wire Relays - One Channel to Multiple Outputs


What I would like to do is use a relay connected to the circuit that lights the parking lights (aka corner lights) and then from that separate relay power several lower wattage LED lights (1 set of corner LED bulbs, 2 sets of XB Halos, 2x 6" Amber LED strip. All of these are low current LEDs. My main concern is that I planned to connect them all in parallel off the relay.

Need a single circuit relay to trigger powering:
2 sets of Amber 100mm XB LED Halos from TRS
2 sets of Amber 6" XB LED strips from TRS
2 bulbs for my corner lights using Amber LED bulbs

The idea is my parking lights circuit will trigger the relay and then all of these low wattage LEDs will come on together.

Will that work?

 

[jgue467]

I think so. The relay will get its signal to turn on from the corner light circuit but will it get power (for the added lights) from that circuit or have its own directly to the battery? :cowboy:

 

[BrianSD_42]

I think so as well.

My main concern is the fact that I will be hooking up these additional LEDs in parallel (off the relay) and I believe that will lower the impedance A LOT.

 

[gamefreakgc]

I don't know if that relay diagram is quite what you are looking for. You would only need one relay.

The question is can you wire them together in line (daisy chain) or do they have to be wired separately from a single source. Usually the deciding factor is power consumption but because LEDs take so little, I don't think that's even an issue.

I've daisy chained the dome lamps in my rig together with no issues at all. Granted these are low wattage, but I think the same principle can apply.

You could just do some quick wiring without them mounted and run a power source from your battery through all the components and onto a ground in your vehicle first to see if they work daisy chained or not.

 

[D Farms]

What is the best way to wire together 4 low draw LED lights onto the same switch?

I've searched and I read these threads but I'm not sure if what I would like to do will work.

Best way to wire 4 offroad lights into one switch? - Toyota FJ Cruiser Forum

I don't plan to do this but I found it interesting
How to Wire Relays - One Channel to Multiple Outputs


What I would like to do is use a relay connected to the circuit that lights the parking lights (aka corner lights) and then from that separate relay power several lower wattage LED lights (1 set of corner LED bulbs, 2 sets of XB Halos, 2x 6" Amber LED strip. All of these are low current LEDs. My main concern is that I planned to connect them all in parallel off the relay.

Need a single circuit relay to trigger powering:
2 sets of Amber 100mm XB LED Halos from TRS
2 sets of Amber 6" XB LED strips from TRS
2 bulbs for my corner lights using Amber LED bulbs

The idea is my parking lights circuit will trigger the relay and then all of these low wattage LEDs will come on together.

Will that work?

Yes, im actually running my led switchback tubes off of just the parking light plug without a relay. the draw is like 12 watts or something so it should be fine. also i have mine set up to stay on orange and do the turn signal in phase by wiring the output of the drl part of the switchback circuit to the orange leds that do the turn signal.

I believe the stock bulb is 5 watts, but its such a low draw that it cant do any harm. btw led strips generally "daisy chain" in parallel because they have a bus, however since the trs strip are usually cob, they will just have a positive and negative, and theh probably need a driver circuit, which will require 13.8 volts. therefore they must be done in parallel. anyways if you still want to run a relay you just splice in a connector on the positive wire of the parking light. thing is though the relay will take some energy as well so depending on what you want to switch it may or may not be beneficial.

 

[IBallEngineer]

I think so as well.

My main concern is the fact that I will be hooking up these additional LEDs in parallel (off the relay) and I believe that will lower the impedance A LOT.

I'm not sure what daisy chaining means, but a parallel circuit will not change the impedance on any of the individual circuits. See this link for a good explanation.

Parallel Circuits

Wiring in series changes amperage draw, but I'm not sure how. I plead a little ignorance here. But in a parallel circuit you'll have no problems doing what you described as long as the relay can handle the total amperage draw, and it is fused properly.

 

[BrianSD_42]

[MENTION=102597]IBallEngineer[/MENTION]

thanks. I had considered mentioning you but i figured you would show up.

I did take electrical theory in the Navy but that was in 2000 about 15 years ago. Clearly its time for a refresh.

 

[SparkEE]

The ideal situation would be to get a relay with enough contacts to wire each light to its own contact.

A good alternative would be to wire the LEDs in parallel off of a single contact. The load is small enough that the relay would not be affected. Do not wire the LEDs in series. This will lower the voltage across each one and maybe enough to keep any from working where as in parallel, each LED gets full voltage. I assume you have considered resistors or the LEDs have them built in and are rated for 12 volts. Your circuit should also be fused, before the relay is good. Totally optional probably overkill to fuse each LED circuit after the relay individually but doable.

Hope this helps