4 replies to this topic

[petwar]

ive bought a large reversing light with a 55w bulb, am i right in thinking that i will need to run it through a relay ect or will the original reversing light wiring be ok?

[SolarB]

ive bought a large reversing light with a 55w bulb, am i right in thinking that i will need to run it through a relay ect or will the original reversing light wiring be ok?

What you've bought isn't a reverse light if it has a 55w bulb. Reverse lights are limited on wattage as are all lights and have to carry an E mark if fitted to a car of a certain age or younger. I'm sure there will be someone here along in a minute who knows more than me.

Anyway, if you were to fit it with a 55w bulb it will draw 3 amps. That will be pushing it for the original wiring.

[cobblers]

You'll need to run a relay - take a live from the battery, and a ground from wherever. Use the existing reverse light feed to power the relay coil.
Most automotive relays will suffice.


Oh, and if you are running a spotlight as a reverse light it might be a bit too tight of a beam - If you can make the bulb move slightly further into the reflector, this should spread the beam a little.

edit:


Pin 85 goes to the reverse light feed, 86 and 30 to the battery (ideally through a 5 am inline fuse as close as you can to the battery) and 87 to the positive terminal on your spotlight. This is assuming the revrse light runs a switches ground not a switched positive (not that much experience with minis, so feel free to correct me!)

Edited by cobblers, 24 October 2009 - 03:13 PM.

[MRA]

You will need to break the circuit somewhere between the pins 85 and 86 for a manual OFF switch, and the reversing switch, A) to stop you from driving down the road with said reversing lamp on and B) to stop you getting "nicked" by mr plod, as the wattage is illegal on the road and you may be needed to demonstrate that it is not "wired up" ..... you know like "no officer it's only for show" short of thing

Of course it might be for historic rallying in which case the switching will still be needed..................

So to recap...

The reversing switch has a live feed, which then goes to the reversing lamp, between these two you will need to take a feed to a switch mounted somewhere on the dash or hidden close by..... and from the switch to PIN86 on the relay, which can be mounted in the boot, thus taking a live feed from the battery for PIN30 as per cobblers piccy above......

Substitute 55w spotlamp for "Headlamp, Horn, Fuel pump, Fan, ETC.............

The main fuse onto pin30 can be a 10A one with a minimum wire size of 1mm2 ........ 55w = 4.58A so 10 is ok for load, and 1mm2 wire will carry betwen 10 to 16A safely as long as it isn't within a large wire bundle..... for safety err on the larger wire size of 1.5mm and do NOT use household wiring as it is not designed for the vibration that you get in a car

The fuse is there to protect the wiring and NOT the item it can look after itself

PS, it's a switched live.

Edited by mra-minis.co.uk, 24 October 2009 - 05:33 PM.

[petwar]

thanks for that guys! im pretty sure its a proper reversing light rather than a spot light but im thinking maybe someones put a larger wattage bulb in? I think ive got a relay kit somewhere in the garage already!