QUOTE(Dave_Darling @ Oct 14 2014, 06:02 PM)
QUOTE(Mark Henry @ Oct 14 2014, 10:35 AM)
Doesn't the stock circuit already have relays?
It has one--the high/low relay. But all of the power to the relay comes through the ignition switch and I think the light switch also. Asking those switches to carry more power is not a recipe for a long and happy life for them.
You
can run H4s without extra relays. I've done so for 20 years. They are low-powered H4 bulbs, though. And they would be brighter, and the other electrical bits would be happier and less stressed, if I ran relays like the ones shown in the diagram above. Running even the lower-powered ones is still quite sub-optimal. I would not try it at all with the higher-powered bulbs.
--DD
Dave, your statement about power to the headlight relay coming through the ignition switch got me thinking. My headlights haven't been switching between high and low, and I just realized my ignition switch is bad (electric part). Could the headlight switching problem be related to the ignition switch?
I have a new ignition switch, but haven't installed it yet. Maybe I will by the weekend and the question will be answered anyway.