Technical Headlight / Park Light wiring question

I’d like to get my Parking lights to turn on when I have Either my low beams and High Beams on.
I initially ran a jumper from the both high and low beam power wires to the parking light but found that it actually energized both beams at the same time.
So I decided to just run the parking light on the low beam to allow the low and high beam to operate correctly.
Is there another way to wire it to allow the park light on when either high or low beam is lit??

 

You can add 2 diodes to what you did so you don't backfired. What kind of light switch are you using.?

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Beats me. Aftermarket I’d bet.

 

Diodes are not in my realm.
Would a diode need attached to each power wire from the high and low beam to the park light?
What type should I use?
Thanks for helping!

 

You do that by using 2 relays. Power each relay with B+ power. Ground each relay. Split the light wire you want to power to each of the two relays. Then run a low beam wire to one relay and the high beam wire to the other relay.
The Wizzard

 

Thanks guys. I went to school today.

 

Some light switches can be wired either way. So a different switch? Try hooking parking wire to tail light wire.

 

If you want to avoid all the monkey-motion with relays or diodes, just use a newer headlight switch. The feds required that the parking lights come on and stay on with the headlights starting in '67, use a switch '67 or newer and hook it up as-designed and you're good to go.

 

The Wizard is correct. oldolds suggestion will work also if you want your park lights on all the time. Relays are the way to go if using high output headlight bulbs as your headlight switch was never intended to carry all that current.

 

A good solution but my wiring doesn’t have a separate parking light wire.
I believe changing the switch would be a good solution but same problem. No isolated power wire on my harness to fire it up.

Thanks again.

 

You bet! This works also. Just to add that it don't necessarily need to be done by the rules. I wire my Brake Lights to light up with my in dash signal indicators. After being in my second rear end accident because a Brake light switch had failed unknown to the driver. Now I always know if one or both brake lights are working, no impact to how the signals work.
The Wizzard

 

Like said above, just hook the parking lights to the output to the tail lights, the tail lights go on with parking lights, headlight low beam, and headline high beam. Done, no diode, or relay's.

 

Quote;"A good solution but my wiring doesn’t have a separate parking light wire." You just need to think outside status quo like there are some kind of rules. There isn't.
The Wizzard

 

My harness doesn’t have a separate parking light wire.
I believe my only option is to come off another power source related the headlights. I’m not into running a separate park light wire into the cab.

 

This ^^^^^^ [I've done this many times]

 

I wire my low beams to fire with the switch in the park light position and the high beams to fire when the switch is pulled all the way out in the headlight position.

 

That's not advisable to do, as you don't know if the contacts in the switch are rated for that amount of current. If the switch has a built-in circuit breaker for the headlights, you've bypassed it on low beam.

 

Yes this switch has been operating like this for 10 yrs.
It may not be correct but it’s been working fine for many years with no heat at the switch when operating.
I have an in-line fuse running before the switch.

 

Sounds like I’ll have to run diodes like this?

 

From what I’ve been reading. I will need a 12 volt 5 amp diode. Is that correct?

 

You ask how to fix the damn thing and then you tell us how you screwed it up so it won't do what you want to do further down the page. Wire it right, put a dimer switch in and done. If you don't want a floor dimmer switch put a two way toggle switch on or under the dash that you can flip one way to high and one way to dim. and then run the park /tail to the park light side.

 

I understand your frustration. I didn’t mean to not be forthcoming at all
These are new lights for this application. The old lights did not have parking lights so there was no need for that park light circuit at the time of the build.
If I had all the answers I wouldn’t be asking. Running a new park light wire may be a good solution. But in weighing in my options, I may just use my turn signal circuit in there and not fire the other side of the the bulb for the park light at all.

 

You are aware that the actual in dash light switch is Not where Low and High comes from, Right?

 

I'd just go to the local automotive electrical house, or good parts house and get a three way toggle switch. Pull the high and low beam wires I have running to the light switch off, run a wire from the headlight post on the switch to the toggle switch and run the park and tail light wires to the park/tail side and done. 30 minutes or less, no figuring out which way diodes go to flow or don't flow or if they handle enough load and all you have to remember is that next time you dim the lights or hit high beam you flip the toggle switch rather than the headlight switch.

 

I should clearify that statement. That's not where it "normally" comes from.

 

Use the power wire that goes into your dimmer switch. However, this would bring your headlights on whenever you wanted your parking lights only. But, once again, a diode would cure this problem.

 

Here's a neat trick I use.
Once you get the diode thing working as the others suggest, you can try a modification of it....

Make a mental note that each diode will drop the voltage by aproximately .4v (point-four, or 4 tenths V)(my page isnt displaying it right) for each diode in a series that current passes through.
Sometimes instead of a single diode, I will string 3 or 4 diodes in a series to drop the brightness of a particular light.
for instance - You can use that idea to have parking lights at full brilliance when the switch sends power in "parking light" position, then when the headlights are on, you could have the headlight wire feed thru 3,4, or5 diodes say at 9 or 10volts to the front parking lights for reduced parking light brilliance when headlights are on.
I use this trick on my utility trailers and boat to turn "third brake lights" and/or light strips to work with the double function of brake/turn bright light, AND parking/running light .
I turn an ordinary light strip into a high/low functioning strip without searching and searching for lighting that isnt sold anywhere


WHY BE ORDINARY ?

 

Yes I am.

 

Ok thx. I’ll do this. Easy job.

 

This is the stuff wiring fires are made of.....