Do I NEED a relay if running battery through lightswitch?

[Donnie]

Bear with me, electrics ain't my strong point :freak:

Right, while I continue trying to suss out the feasability of converting a varitronic to full DC I've bought a led festoon to put in the headlight (ie pilot / parking light) and was thinking I could run this off the battery.

Now, I could have a seperate switch like

Of course the current power via the handlebar switch to the pilot would need isolating on the bulbholder.

But I'm wondering to myself if I can instead wire it so that I put the dc feed via the handlebar switch or will I need a relay as I've noticed others talking about heat in switches when doing something similar for Pathfinders etc?

I hope this is making sense to someone :wtf:

[coaster]

The simple circuit that you have produced will work fine using a seperate switch but using the light switch on the handlebars would not be straight forward as it will be switching AC current for your lights. There is a way of using the handlebar switch to operate your LED using a half wave rectifier and a relay but that would only work while the engine is running. LED's take very little power though so if you do manage to suss out a DC conversion with the Varitronic you won't need to worry about overloading swithes. It's only if switching Spots like Pathfinders or powerfull DC horns that would need relays.

[firekdp]

But I'm wondering to myself if I can instead wire it so that I put the dc feed via the handlebar switch. :wtf:

Yes, then the festoon, tail and speedo can work off DC in the city light position. Headlight, tail and speedo will work off AC in main lights position.

[coaster]

Yes, then the festoon, tail and speedo can work off DC in the city light position. Headlight, tail and speedo will work off AC in main lights position.

I stand corrected, I wasn't thinking about a seperate side light switch

[firekdp]

I stand corrected, I wasn't thinking about a seperate side light switch

It should work in exactly the same way with an original ignition switch, Colin. Although an Indian one is better, if running an LED rear, as it'll keep the DC feed in all key positions.

[RICSPEED]

if what you want to light up ( or what ever ) is going to draw a lot of power then it is better to use a relay rather than putting that power through a switch

[Donnie]

cheers all, sorry not been back.

It's an Eibar S2 so no ignition switch though.

[firekdp]

It's an Eibar S2 so no ignition switch though.

That's what I thought and based my first post on. Just feed the purple into it with DC.

[Donnie]

I'll give that a shot and see how I go Cheers