I've been reading a ton recently about how to wire up the driving lamps so they are controled by a seperate switch, as well as the high beam stalk. After looking around, I thought the best bet was this one posted a while ago by satyra. However, the one thing that seemed to not fit was the connection from the upper lead off of the SPDT (3 way) switch which he put as going to the ground. Is this right? It seems from what I have read that you would connect this to somesort of ignition on power source (ideas on what?), and connect number 85 to the battery ground. Heres his diagram:
http://mechatro2.me.berkeley.edu/~satrya/pics/photos/wiring02.jpg

On mine I did what I said above, and placed the upper lead off of the SPDT 3 way switch going to a ignition on 12V power source. Let me know if this is wrong.

My other question is about where exactly is this mysterious high beam switched ground is located, and how exactly to tap into it? Anybody done this or have ideas on how to? Here is the diagram:
http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhop/Hella.jpg

And here is a 18kb PDF that is the same diagram. This is much easier to look at as you can zoom completely in on it:
http://home.comcast.net/~jeffhop/FF1000Diagram.pdf

TIA!
-Jeff

Ups!!

That'll work if your desire is to have the aux lights turn on when the high beams are on or when the stand alone switch is on. I'd recommend two modifications - first use a switch with center off position, so you can run the high beams WITHOUT the aux lights, and secondly add a diode in the line to switched high beam ground to keep the power through the relay from affecting other things like the high beam indicator light.

And while I don't have the Forester wiring diagram, on the Impreza it's the RED wire to the headlights that is the switched ground - or if you want to tap before the high beam relay it's the Red/green stripe wire from the headlight switch.

Thanks for the info :). The idea is to use a center-off switch with one "on" being on with the brights, and the other "on" being on without the brights. In other words
Switch:

1st position On: Aux lights turn on and off with high beams

Center Off

2nd position On: Aux lights function with ignition on: high beam stalk does not affect them

Would my diagram work for that?

Yup - that's what I was suggesting. You can get toggle switches with center off very easily. And your diagram will work fine, though as I mentioned I suspect you'll want a diode in the wire that goes from your added light switch to the switched ground of the existing high beam.

Alright, so I want a diode on the line coming from the SPDT switch to the high beam line. However, my question is whether or not the other terminal on the SPDT switch should be connected to an ignition on 12V power switch, with #85 on the relay going to the battery ground.

Or should it be the other way around, with the second terminal on the SPDT switch going to the battery ground, and #85 on the relay going to an ignition on power source a-la satyra's diagram (the first one). This is my main point of confusion. Part of me thinks that it should be the way I have it labeled, as on all the diagrams off places such as rallylights.com, the 12V souce is coming into 86. However, satyra's diragram shows the other way around, and since the high beams are a switched ground, part of me thinks that the other input into the switch should be a ground. :confused:

Thanks again Alan with all the help up until this point. I'm sort of a wiring newbie, so all the help I can get is worthwhile!
Cheers
-Jeff

Actually what I think I'd do is to wire #85 to switched power so when you turn the car off the lights go off also. I would NOT wire #85 to ground as the high beam uses switched ground to turn on - if you did wire #85 to ground, you'd need another relay to transform the switched ground of the high beam to switched 12V power. So the TOP diagram is the one I'd use.

Thanks a lot, that clears things up quite a bit. I'll probably have more questions when I go to install mid-next week when my mount gets here. For now its working on the aluminum switch plate to go where the ash tray normaly goes :alien:

I'm currently trying to figure out my own wiring and I believe I want the same setup as imprezasti88.

I just want to clarify; Alan, is this the exact wiring setup you would recommend or would you make any changes to this?

http://wrx.dicknogs.net/lighting/aux_with_hibeams.jpg

Yeah - that should work fine.

ok so i wired it up exactly as in the photo and I get weirdness. I am using a 1N4001 diode. Should I be using something else?

By "weirdness" i mean sometimes the aux lamps will come on with just parking lights on and sometimes they won't... but it seems to work normally switching between hi/lo.

I have 3 sets of lights all on seperate relays. I'm using the 12v red wire on the driver side high beam. Are 3 relays going to take too much amperage from the wire and cause issues? Should I try to split the wires to the passenger side 12v ground siwtch? when I was running 2 sets of lights I've had no issues, but now there are some problems with nothing working.

thanks
eric

A relay coil (terminals 86 and 85) only takes about 150 miliamps of current to operate. The highbeam bulb itself consumes about 5-6 amps. The extra 0.5amp you are drawing for the relays is a minimal additional strain.

thanks. this will stop me from doing alot of extra work

eric

Yeap, relays draw very little power. I've got 3 tapped to my radio fuse with no issue yet. :D

I want my Hellas to come on with the high beams on my Baja. I know this also has a switched ground. Where do I need to connect the switch wire to get the lights to turn on with the high beams. Baja wiring is the same as Legacy and Outback up to 2004.

to the ground wire on the highbeam bulb, with a diode in line so the switch can't serve as a ground path for the factory highbeams.

I am an electrical moron. What exactly is a diode, where do I get one, and how do I wire it in?

A diode is a small electrical device that allows electricity to flow in only one direction. It looks kind of like a resistor in that it's a small cylinder shaped thing with two wire leads coming out. You can get one at Radioshack. Ask for a "1N4001" diode. To wire it, just to make it easy on yourself, I suggest you put it inline with quick disconnects so that you can reverse it easily if you put it in wrong. The diode is shown in that diagram above as the little triangle. The "arrow" points in the direction of conventional current flow (i.e., the arrow points towards ground).

^^^thanks I'll work on it this weekend. :cool:

This site will help out a bit in figuring out which way to wire the diode. There's lots of info in it, so take out what you want, but it's a good one to bookmark for all things electronics :)

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/diode.htm

Good luck and be sure to take some pics and tell us how it goes :)