[Jimnymandan]

First post - hopefully im not too off course here

I have seen the posts by royce on the negative switching. What i want to do is use a 3 way rocker switch to have the spotlights triggered by the highbeam while highway driving but then override the highbeam trigger if im offroad and dont want the lights on before i can use the spotlight.

Same goes for reverse.

final outcome front spots + rear work lights with safe road driving + offroad optionality in 2 switches only.

Q: if the jimny is negatively switched meaning it switches to ground then the 3rd pole of the 3way rocker would just go to ground right?? ( ihave no idea) seems logical but i dont fully understand the negative switching concept.




Thanks

[Qthefun]

Sorry but I have to ask, why not use separate switches?
a 3 way switch will be in a position of -(neg) and 1st of the positive terminals or neg and both positive terminals or neg and 2nd positive terminal = 3 positions (sort of figuring this out as I go and is fun!)

So basically pos 1 when in place will when headlights are on will do x
pos 2 will do y
pos 3 will do x and y

so in this diagram the 3 way switch it's self has no "off" the only off is via the headlight.

the dip switch controls the "on" "off" of the 3rd (just naming it for reference sake) pos of the 3 way switch

so my way of looking at it there is no just ground to the 3 way rocker

ok so in the diagram do you replace driving lights with spot lights?
also thank you for a much needed distraction

Hope this helps and fyi I am no expert just putting my 2 bob in

[henno]

A three way switch is a far petter option than two switches in my view. You have 'On' and 'Off' both headlight switched, and 'Override' on that basically ignores the highbeam switching and just flicks a relay directly.

I am still not sure why you would want a spotlight on without highbeams though. What do you lose by having the highbeams on?

[alien]

My headlights with highbeam on considerably lowers the amount of light in the first 15m in front of the car. I fixed that my adding LED spots to the front to fill out that space and them some (i have them "crosseyed" to they light up beyond 180 degrees) while the highbeams do the distance work. I don't need to see 5km ahead at night, especially if 4wding. I just need to see all around me, so this works really well.

I can see the advantage to retaining low beam and the spotties if travelling in a group, as that would avoid blinding everyone infront of me while still being able to really punch up the lights in my immediate vicinity.

[Jimnymandan]

Yup so to clarify the above diagram would be for a 240w led bar. The reason for 2x 3way switches is they would be both wired up to their respective triggers (high beam and reverse light) and both have an override. Because on the beach the led spotty is enough and I don't want to turn the car on if I'm front to the beach and someone's catching a fish I just want to flick one switch and the led lights up the shore, same for the rear. But if I'm in the bush at night I want the rear to come on with the reverse light or the spotty to turn off with the high beams so I don't blind people.

I just don't know how to do it with negative switching. Positive would be easy.

And diagrams or suggestions would be awesome. Thanks

3 way rocker here. ( yes it has a ground)

http://www.jaycar.com.au/Electromechani ... d/p/SK0999

[fordem]

Let me see if I understand this - the car is front on to the beach and you want to turn a 240w LED bar on to light up the shore without turning the car (presumably you mean car lights) on !?! How does it make a difference? 240w of LED by itself or 240w of LED + 130w of high beams will either fully illuminate the scene if that is your intent, or, be one heck of a disturbance. By the way, if you plan on running that LED bar for any length of time, you'd better have the car engine on, or you're looking at a dead battery in short order.

Also - on-road or off-road - how does having the bar on without the high beams (or vice versa) NOT blind people? Can you really use the rear mounted work lights in any non off-road situation without blinding the person behind you?

To answer your question - the diagram provided will allow the driving lights to be switched independently of the high beams. As far as I know only the headlights on the Jimny are negatively switched, so that will not work for the reverse lights.

Qthefun - switches do not have positive & negative terminals, you'll just confuse yourself if you think along those lines, and most three position (three way) switches are center off - having two switches for the one light will take up valuable "dash real estate" and will almost always require creative & unnecessarily complex wiring to prevent one switch from overriding the other - unless you have a specific need, for example, staircase lights where a switch is needed at both top & bottom, it should be avoided.

Regarding that Jaycar switch - if it has a "ground" terminal - it's going to be wired to the indicators, and don't expect the indicators to work the way you think they should if you're using it in a negative switched application.

[1DYX]

What about a rotary switch?
We used similar things years ago, in Haulpaks at Newman operating extra worklights....

examples:
http://www.jcrsupplies.co.uk/products/S ... 80158.html

http://www.jcrsupplies.co.uk/products/S ... 64560.html

[Mike57]

You are correct Fordem. Only the headlights use negative switching. All other lights and systems are positive switched.

[Qthefun]

fordem wrote:

Qthefun - switches do not have positive & negative terminals, you'll just confuse yourself if you think along those lines, and most three position (three way) switches are center off - having two switches for the one light will take up valuable "dash real estate" and will almost always require creative & unnecessarily complex wiring to prevent one switch from overriding the other - unless you have a specific need, for example, staircase lights where a switch is needed at both top & bottom, it should be avoided.

I am confused on the best of my days! lol

Ment from a computer type back ground and way of looking at a circuit everything is ether on or off (very simple way of looking at it I know) so without my mind going into quantum computing I need to look at it as just that on or off so eg: pos or neg, probably might confuse others but not myself (for once) looking at it like that

Probs should have stayed out of this as it is not my field but was happy for the distraction

Cheers for helping the OP!!!