Good 12 volt source for LED halo ring on headlights

[MisterB]

I ordered some of those headlights from LMC that have the halo trim ring. I'd like to wire up the trim ring to always be on with the key, whether headlights are on or off. Where would be the cleanest and easiest spot to do this? Each headlight comes with a 12 volt wire.

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[Grit dog]

If your truck is like the 80s models, there should be battery and key on ports on the fuse box.
Under hood if you have an electric choke you could tap into that wire. It’s ignition controlled.
Even though the halos are low amp draw, I’d consider using a relay for most sources that isn’t off the fuse box.

 

[MisterB]

If your truck is like the 80s models, there should be battery and key on ports on the fuse box.
Under hood if you have an electric choke you could tap into that wire. It’s ignition controlled.
Even though the halos are low amp draw, I’d consider using a relay for most sources that isn’t off the fuse box.

It is a 1980 truck. Choke wire sounds promising, although I'd prefer something closer to the front of the truck. I was also hoping to not have to carry the wires all the way back through the firewall and in to the cab to the fuse box, if I didn't go the choke route

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[75gmck25]

When converting to an electric choke, many articles recommend using one of the wires on the wiper motor to power the choke, since it has power with the key on. I don't know which wire it would be, but it shouldn't be hard to put a meter on and find out.

Does your K25 have dual batteries? Mine has that option and the relay to charge the 2nd battery is activated by an ignition-on wire (18 gauge brown on my '75).

Bruce

 

[MisterB]

When converting to an electric choke, many articles recommend using one of the wires on the wiper motor to power the choke, since it has power with the key on. I don't know which wire it would be, but it shouldn't be hard to put a meter on and find out.

Does your K25 have dual batteries? Mine has that option and the relay to charge the 2nd battery is activated by an ignition-on wire (18 gauge brown on my '75).

Bruce

Nope, just a single battery

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[Crispy]

Tap an ignition wire at the bulkhead. Theres not gonna be much ahead of the firewall for an ign wire but I would be weary of tapping a wire that will be exposed to elements. You said you didnt want to but the I feel the best way is to tap one of the slots on the fuse panel.

Are you planning on using a relay?

 

[MisterB]

Tap an ignition wire at the bulkhead. Theres not gonna be much ahead of the firewall for an ign wire but I would be weary of tapping a wire that will be exposed to elements. You said you didnt want to but the I feel the best way is to tap one of the slots on the fuse panel.

Are you planning on using a relay?

Good ideas. I was just going to maybe use a fuse like this. It plugs in to a slot on the fuse panel that comes on with the key and then the LED halo lights get their own fuse. Where they're LED, and just the outer trim ring (regular headlights plug in stock location) I figured that would be ample, but let me know what you think

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[Grit dog]

^That would work for sure if you have an empty ignition controlled fuse slot.
Otherwise 1 wire for a relay trigger to a location of your choosing and a relay near the batter with short runs to the headlights seems like a plan for the least amount of wiring.

Either way, those halos have a very small amp draw, correct?
So just about anything will work imo.

 

[MisterB]

^That would work for sure if you have an empty ignition controlled fuse slot.
Otherwise 1 wire for a relay trigger to a location of your choosing and a relay near the batter with short runs to the headlights seems like a plan for the least amount of wiring.

Either way, those halos have a very small amp draw, correct?
So just about anything will work imo.

That's the beauty of this fused harness. You remove the fuse that's on the panel, install the two pegs from the harness in that slot. Then you plug in the fuse you removed, plus an additional one for the LED trim ring. They definitely should draw much power

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[Crispy]

Did you replace your fuse panel? Didnt round eye trucks have glass fuses?

In any case, I believe all fuse panels have open IGN ports that you can use without using an add a circuit. May just be in later years though. Nothing wrong with the add a circuit in this case but still probably uneeded if you wire up with a relay. I'd suggest using a relay not because of amperage draw but to try and eliminate any voltage fluctuations that are present in the current wiring. LEDs are way more sensitive to voltage drops and will lead to premature burn out or flickering.

Running them straight from the fuse box is fine though if you want to.

Using the diagram below would help except you would run:
pin 85 to an IGN source (any ign source, no fuse needed since its just a trigger) You could later move this wire to your parking lamps or a switch if you wanted to change the halo function.
pin 87 to your halos
pin 30 should have a fuse on it. 7.5a should be enough for those halos.

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[MisterB]

Did you replace your fuse panel? Didnt round eye trucks have glass fuses?

In any case, I believe all fuse panels have open IGN ports that you can use without using an add a circuit. May just be in later years though. Nothing wrong with the add a circuit in this case but still probably uneeded if you wire up with a relay. I'd suggest using a relay not because of amperage draw but to try and eliminate any voltage fluctuations that are present in the current wiring. LEDs are way more sensitive to voltage drops and will lead to premature burn out or flickering.

Running them straight from the fuse box is fine though if you want to.

Using the diagram below would help except you would run:
pin 85 to an IGN source (any ign source, no fuse needed since its just a trigger) You could later move this wire to your parking lamps or a switch if you wanted to change the halo function.
pin 87 to your halos
pin 30 should have a fuse on it. 7.5a should be enough for those halos.

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I didn't replace the fuse panel, but who knows if the PO did. I kind of doubt it though. It looks stock. 1980 was a bit of a transition year. You could get a truck with round or squarish headlights, so maybe they did something similar with the fuse panel. Who knows

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[AuroraGirl]

Round eyes had glass fuses till 79 iirc. my 78 has glass, my 1980 has blade. my 77 buick has glass. pretty sure it was GM wide 1979 because of the amount of additional circuits being added, the panel would be too large with the large glass fuses.. so in the same amount of space more fuses could be placed(sane with circuit breakers and the like) while also being hip with the times. Im just speculating on the last part.

its also one less thing to shard into dangerous projectiles that would be more dangerous than broken plastic, but i doubt that was a deciding factor

 

[AuroraGirl]

Im personally going to run one of the fuse add a circuit things for my auxillary lighting for plowing.
I was thinking of the choke circuit since i dont use the original one for it AND it would be key on. If you ran a Key on power source for DRL i would say tap that, but not many people add those to cars retroactively.

 

[MisterB]

I got this all buttoned up. Thanks for your input.

I was able to run clean/hidden wiring all the way back through the firewall, and connected to the fuse panel with one of those pigtails I mentioned earlier.

The LED halo rings come on with the key, regardless of whether the headlights are on. That way they are DRL's, which cant hurt in this day and age of young kids driving that haven't had much experience seeing vehicles in the day time without DRL's.

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[Matt69olds]

Next time you need a ignition on power source, the white wire to the wiper switch is ignition fused. Use that wire to trigger a relay. You could also use the ignition coil feed, but I prefer other methods. The ignition feed to the coil isn’t fused, it’s powered directly from the ignition switch. If your new electrical gadget fails you could easily lose power to the ignition system.