greetings everyone! i'am new here. i'am waiting to recieve my OEM D2R HID kit within the next week. it will be going in a H4 headlight with a H4 adapter. the thing i need to know is according to this picture/diagram:

it recommends 12gauge wiring. the thing is i have some 8 gauge MONSTER CABLE from an amp kit. i have around 15feet of it. i was wondering would it be okay to use the 8gauge wires? especially wires that are SUPPOSE to be for "audio" will it be sufficient enough to power my HID setup without a problem?

also for the "fuses" that are suppose to be connected to the wiring. what kind of fuses are you guys using? INLINE FUSES like the one pictured here:

Is there any other way that i can SAFELY TAP a fuse into the lines without having to solder the inline fuse on? i don't want to do this because than MY wires and teh "inline fuse's wires" will be different kind. like maybe i can TAP a fuse in MY wires?

PLEASE help me out because i would like to do the wires correct the FIRST time around without frying or hurting my HID setup.

I sincerely would like to thank you in advance for ANY kind of input.

thanks!!

Steve

Nothing wrong with electrical capabilities of an 8 gauge stereo wire. An HID system is not as picky as a high quality sound systems are. Downside with the 8 gauge wire is of course that they are difficult to handle in modern cars crampy underhood layout. Also, most HID ballasts are designed to use short length 14 or 16 gauge wires, so cramping in a 12 gauge wire into connector is a little time consuming, but doable. Do not expect to get an 8 gauge wire into a ballast connector. It would be like sticking uncooked spagetti through windshield nozzles

For tapping point (in blue) in above diagram: the tap point is normally not available in the fusebox. Get the wiring diagram for ur car to find out.

thank you very much herman!
now that you have mentioned that an HID system isn't as picky as a sound system i'll probably be going with some no brand 10 gauge i have lying around from an amp kit. now all i need to know is what kind of relay should i use? preferably one i can get at Kragen, Autozone, Pepboys, or RadioShack maybe?

thanks!! this forum rocks!!!

Steve

I'd recommend one of the 2 top residing relays here: http://www.route66supply.com/store/page94.html

alright alright.... I am not in a cheap mode today

please go back to being cheap LOL.

so what specs would i "specfically" need to look for when making sure i'am purchasing the RIGHT relay for my HID setup? everything is pretty much set minus the relay.

thanks herman!!

okay i was looking through the garage and found these 2 relays they seem to be in good working condition:

the BOSCH one is rated at 20/30AMP and the SIEMENS on is rated at 40/30AMP. they both have the same "pin/schematics wiring" as each other (referring to the 2nd picture)

could i use any one of these for the relay?

according to this chart:

i will only have to hook up the following PINs: 87 (power from ballasts) 30 (power to battery) and 86 (power to switch im guessing?) leave "85" untouched? in the chart above that show me how to power the HID on my car, it says "pin 87" but on my relay there's a "87" and an "87a" im assuming that i use the "87a" one?

so which relay would YOU guys use?

THANKS!!

Steve

Use the 87 terminal, NOT the 87a. 87 is off until triggered, while 87a is on until the relay is triggered, and then turns off.

thanks got ya!

So should i use the 20/30AMP BOSCH or the 40/30AMP SIEMENS one?

also my friend said he SOLDERED the wires ONTO the relay prong thingys, is it hard with 10 gauge wire?

and is this right:
"i will only have to hook up the following PINs: 87 (power from ballasts) 30 (power to battery) and 86 (power to switch im guessing?) leave "85" untouched?"

is that it?

THANKS!! you guys are a TON of help!

It'd be easier to get the female 0.250" connectors, and terminate the leads that way, by crimping, soldering, and heat shrink tubing over the joint.
Terminal 85 must be grounded to allow current flow thru the relay's pull down coil: see the diagram.

Wires can be soldered directly to relay, but they are not designed for it. Because terminal are large, alot of soldering heat will enter relay and potentially make things crooked in there. That's whay there is relays in electronics trade with curcuit board pins:



Both Siemens and Bosch are good quality relays.

thanks guys!! 85 = ground? thanks! because in the diagram it doesn't say anything. yea i will look for the FEMALE relay, i hope i can find one with 10gauge wiring on it <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14><br />
<br />
now i have a "diode" related question for you guys. can i run the diode like this: CHECK LAST POST DOWN
and put shrink tubing over the whole diode? and then use these:<br />
<img src="http://www.jimmmmmmmah.com/images/308084_40_full.jpg"><br />
to "TAP" into the headlight switch like so:<br />
<img src="http://www.jimmmmmmmah.com/images/308084_42_full.jpg">?<br />
would that be okay? because i believe it'll be an easy way to do it so that if i would ever want to go back to stock for some reason? is it safe this way? pros and cons of it?<br />
<br />
also i'am assuming that i won't have to use "10 gauge" wire to do the wire from headlight switch to the relay and that 14gauge would be sufficient for it? that 10 gauge is for ballasts "POWER" wiring only?<br />
<br />
THANKS!!!!! you guys are great!<br />
<br />
Steve

Diagram doesn't have to say "ground", since it has a ground symbol.

Not a female relay, a female terminal. You attach it to the wire of your choice, and then plug that terminal to the relay terminal.

For a trigger wire to the relay, you could use 22-gauge wire if you liked, but you do want heavy gauge fused wire from the battery or (alternator post) to terminal 30 on the relay to minimize power drop over longer distances. Power wire from the relay to the ballast isn't very long, so 12G wire would be plenty there.

thanks ekooke!
i didn't notice the ground symbol until you mentioned it. yea the female relay, that was what i was thinking of. and i've just got a hold of one am in the process of making new female connectors to accept the 10 gauge wire

here is how i plan to run the wires:
From ballasts to prong 87: 10 gauge wiring
From prong 30 to (+) on battery terminal: 10 gauge wiring
From prong 85 to "ground": 10 gauge wiring
From prong 86 to 1N4005 diode to "tapping in headlight switch" wire: 14 gauge wiring

(this is the one i'am the most worried about, is the 14 gauge thick enough for it? or should i use bigger wire? (10 gauge?)

any input or comments about the "inline tapping" and the way im wiring the diode? (referring the my post before this one)

thanks!!!

Don't use a inline tap, aka vampire tap. It is just a bad form of wiring, which could cut and or corrode the wiring.

really? i've used it to tap into my citylights sockets for awhile now no problems yet.

also here is the link to how i plan to run the diode please tell me if it is the correct way to do it:
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr/i=wNTYzMDI3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D

thank you!!!!!

The important is:

1) electrical:



2) mechanical:
Strengthen it up with some plastic sticks (i.e. some cotton swabs: remove each end) so that they cover the much more frigile diode. Close it all up with some heat shrink tube. This will also make it look pretty:



read all about heat shrink here:
http://cableorganizer.com/heat-shrink/?source=penny-arcade

Then insert it all into a split loom (conduit):

thanks herman!!! i know about the heatshrink tubing, but i didn't know that the diode needed to be placed a certain direction. thanks!

so as long as i place the diode towards the right direction it's okay to just solder it right onto the wires like in my pic?


Please help with this question now:
From prong 86 to 1N4005 diode to "tapping in headlight switch" wire: 14 gauge wiring

(this is the one i'am the most worried about, is the 14 gauge thick enough for it? or should i use bigger wire? (10 gauge?)

also would wrapping the ballasts with saran wrap or putting them in a ziploc bag (so water can't get to them) is that a good idea? or will the ballast get too hot and burn/melt them off?

thanks alot guys!!

1) Cut wire and solder it in. Do one leg at time. To protect diode during soldering, leave minimum 3mm unsoldered. If your iron is more than 30W and is not temperature regulated, connect iron to a wall 120V dimmer to reduce heat. Never sodler if the paste is flying up in the air (overheating). Solder paste is only supposed to melt with a slight string of smoke.

2) Use 20-24 gauge wire for the entire curcuit to trigger relay, including diode. This curcuit runs about 0.1 amps and if you look at wire selection tables for that you will get a very thin wire as a result. The important here is to find a thin wire with thick insulation. A typical "hook up" wire is designed for wiring within a box, and will be too frigile for mechanical wear. To increase thickness of insulation, one or mutiple layers of shrink tubing can be added. Shrink tubing generally cost more than wires, so its ur choice.

3) Ballast Incapsulation: the tighter you encapsulate something, the more problems you will have with condensation later on. The trick is to make labyrinth to protect against large amounts of liquids and pressurized liquids. One suggestion is described in detail under "Is the LVQ-212 water and acid proof?" on http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/hl-hid-ballasts.htm

thanks herman gotcha!

okay PROBABLY my FINAL QUESTION:

see in that diagram i dont know where the (BLUE font) "Tap-in point" is for my car people told me that i can just tap into the "low beam" wire from my stock H4 harness. but my question towards that is won't then when i hit my high beams my HID's will shut off? and if i DO tap it into the "low beam" wire from my stock H4 harness will i have to tap into it on both the passenger side Stock H4 harness AND the driver's side Stock H4 harness? or will i have to do only one?

anyone else with a 96-00 Civic that would like to post a pictures of where they tapped into their harness? that would be GREAT!!!!

Thanks!!!!!

The actual tap-in point is in your M/F (dimmer) switch in the steering column. Another way to do it is run a wire from your headlight switch to the low beam relay trigger contact. Or, you could run a tap wire from one of your parking light wires to the low beam relay trigger contact.

yeah i foudn the dimmer switch for me car, but that would require me to run wiring ALL the way from the relay to the dash.!? so i will most like end up just tapping into the stock headlight harness. if i do will i have to tap it in from both passenger and driver's side? or will tapping into one side be enough?

also ANY way to keep my HID's on in case i hit the HIGH beams? because i've heard with the that with a "LOW BEAM ONLY HID" like mine. that when i get the "HIGHS" my HID's will turn off. anyway to avoid this? i've read this page and its still not that clear to me: http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/headlamp-harness.html it's not really that important to have it but it would just be nice i could do it incase i hit the HIGHs on accident.

thanks!!

No, you go into the dimmer switch and JUMPER the bridge between the high & low internal switches in the dimmer control. This turns the HIDs on with the headlight switch and PREVENTS the HIDs from going off when the high beams or FTP is used. You do not have to run any additional wire anywhere.

sorry i think i confused myself lol. it was a 2 part question i've asked sorry. this the the first question:
"...i will most like end up just tapping into the stock headlight harness. if i do will i have to tap it in from both passenger and driver's side? or will tapping into one side be enough?"

question 2:
"also ANY way to keep my HID's on in case i hit the HIGH beams? because i've heard with the that with a "LOW BEAM ONLY HID" like mine. that when i get the "HIGHS" my HID's will turn off. anyway to avoid this? i've read this page and its still not that clear to me: http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/headlamp-harness.html it's not really that important to have it but it would just be nice i could do it incase i hit the HIGHs on accident."

i think i'am still confused lol please bear with me. because i dont know what you mean when you say this:
"No, you go into the dimmer switch and JUMPER the bridge between the high & low internal switches in the dimmer control."

here's a picture of the wiring diagram for my car:

that red line was what i was saying about i had to run the wire fom the relay to that red line to tap into my low beams.

sorry again for confusing your and myself LOL

thanks!!

Take the left end of the red line, drop it down and attach it to the line next to the "G" in "PASSING". That's it, You're There!

i THINK i've got what you mean ekooke.

after i do that, what do i hook up to prong 86 on the relay?

thanks!

This is what ecooke means:

oooo lol i get it now when he said "G" i thought he meant "Ground" lol DOH! okay so if i wiring it like that what do i do with the 86 prong on the relay? where does that run to?

THANKS for bearing with me guys!!

The 86 terminal on the relay is the trigger terminal; the original low beam wire attaches to that, 85 is ground, 30 is power from battery, and 87 is power to HID ballast.

ahh i see, so all this:

had nothing to do with wiring to the relay right? and only for me to make my HIDs stay on when i hit the highs right?

i understand i have to do this
but no one has answer this question yet:

if i DO tap the wire from prong 86 into the "low beam" wire from my stock H4 harness will i have to tap into it on both the passenger side Stock H4 harness AND the driver's side Stock H4 harness? or will i have to do only one side?

thanks again for all the help guys, now i'am just waiting for my HIDs to come (hopefully no later then this tuesday )

You will only have to use the headlight connector on ONE side to trigger the relays. Tape over the connector on the other side to prevent corrosion. You do NOT have to literally "tap into" the headlight wiring on the one side; instead, use a male connector made from a smashed H4 headlight bulb, or buy a commercial one from a place like www.suvlights.com

wow, stupid of me seriously why didn't i think of that? i don't have any old H4 bulbs. but i do have some H3 bulbs that i don't need so i think i can take the wiring/connector off that and it looks to be the same same connector. thank you!!! i HOPE i get everything tomorrow!

thanks! i'll ask more question if i'am unsure of anything.

this forum ROCKS!!

Steve

No relationship between H3 and H4 'prongs'. Anyway, if you're going HID, you won't NEED the H4 bulbs you now have; smash one in a towel, good or not, and wire it up. Or just get the female connector & pigtail from an on-line source.

i'll custom rig something in their so it'll fit

i know that even though i don't need my H4 bulbs anymore, i dont want to just smash them lol they are Catz Galaxy White bulbs = $60 and i have a set of Silverstars too. i just can't take myself to destroy perfect working bulbs LOL.

thanks though! i'll try to find something hehe.