I am trying to wire my horn system up like I have attached in my drawing. I don’t want to cut into any existing wiring in my truck and I have one of those battery terminal connectors used in car audio systems that has slots for accessories to be wired up.
My second question is I want to use one of those led ring momentary light switch like I have attached in a picture. My question about this is can I wire the power for the led light ring to my toggle switch for my compressor. So if I flip the toggle switch to “on” for my compressor to run this will light my momentary switch or is that to much?
I don’t want the light on all the time and the wiring in my Silverado 08 is pain enough since it seems everything keeps a charge even with the key off. I know just enough about this to get myself into trouble haha.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated I have read through all the threads and Im still confused.
There are several ways that you can do this. It depends on the switch and also when/what makes the light come on.
I’m using a lighted toggle switch for my master kill. I want the light to come on only when the compressors are running. It needs to be grounded to complete the light circuit. My pressure switch has 2-poles, so one is the trigger for the relays. The other I connected to ground and ran an additional wire into the cab for the light. When the pressure switch triggers the relays, it also connects the switch to ground.
First, you need to find a “key on power source”; I’d highly recommend the Haynes book for your truck. I have one for all three of my Dodge trucks and it’s been a fantastic resource and makes it much easier to find the oddball stuff like this.
Second, a momentary switch isn’t going to help you because you’d need to press and hold it for it to work. Let go, and the power stops flowing … hence the name, momentary.
To make the switch illuminate when your compressor runs, ID the light pins, take a splice off your positive line for your compressor (e.g. From the relay) and then connect to positive on the switch light. Then run the negative side of the light to ground.
The momentary for the honk is sorted by splicing into your horn relay. One side of the wire to common, the other to the NO pin.
Hope that’s clear as mud, but if not let me know and I’ll draw a diagram for you.
No problem. Can you confirm the pin markings on your switch. It’ll be easier for you if my circuit uses the same symbol markings so you know which pins to use.
I can’t confirm the pin markings I have not ordered the switch yet. But I’m looking for a switch like that with a light to be able to locate in the dark.
There’s a stack of different options out there. I suggest you buy the hardware of what you want first and then get back to us because otherwise it’ll just get too confusing since there’s too many permutations.
Here’s a diagram of what I talked about before. The picture of the switch you posted seems to suggest a momentary SPDT (Single Pole, Dual Throw) switch. Basically this means that the switch can be used to either turn something off momentarily or something on momentarily. That’s where the NC (normally closed) or NO (normally open) pins come in. You can also buy switches that are momentary SPST (single throw), and you then have to consider if you want an NC or NO type by design; those only have 2 pins (not the three). If you opt for an SPDT switch, wire the air relay into the NO and C pins
Anyway, so that’s the switch part. The light basically just needs a positive and a negative. When you know where the pins are, and you know where to source the power from inside the car (be that from internal lighting wires, ignition etc.) you can use that to light up the switch. To confuse you even more, there’s swtiches that use LED lights and there’s ones which use incandecent lights. For the LED version you need to be considerate of the anode and cathode, since the light might blow if you connect them in reverse. Polarity doesn’t matter with incandescent types. Regardless though, the switch should have markings.
For the record, I would suggest you get a basic circuit tester or multimeter if you intend doing any wiring on your car. If your horn circuits are already properly fused (which you will want) then you don’t need to worry about additional fuse protection just because of the switch.
Thank you so much. The drawing was what I had in mind but wasn’t sure kept second guessing myself. You guys have been a huge help and I hope to get my horns installed this weekend!
