Hella Light Help

  • HTML tutorial

Sasquatch SC

Rank VI
Launch Member

Member III

3,782
Jefferson County, Colorado, United States
First Name
Trey
Last Name
Hayes
Member #

17253

I bought two Hella 500's and I've got them wired in and operational using this installation kit with relay I got from Tractor Supply. Right now they turn off and on using a toggle switch. The wires going from the switch are red (power), blue (load), and black (ground).
What I want to do, is eliminate the switch, and have them turn on whenever I turn on the OEM fog lights. The Hellas are mounted to a rally light bar on my front bumper.
The car is a 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6R Touring.
My electrical skills are moderate at best and mostly things I have picked up when wiring stuff to a boat or a tractor where it doesn't really matter if you have individual switches for every little item.
 

Boostpowered

Rank VI

Member III

4,879
Hunt county, TX, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Davis
Member #

14684

Forget about the blue wire its just power for the switch leds if i remember correct. I went with wireless switch. You take the red wire and black from the switch and tap into pos and neg foglight wires, should come on with fogs. Be sure to remove or tape off the blue wire
 
  • Like
Reactions: John Smith

Sasquatch SC

Rank VI
Launch Member

Member III

3,782
Jefferson County, Colorado, United States
First Name
Trey
Last Name
Hayes
Member #

17253

I actually figured it out just now. The blue wire was the one I needed. I wanted to keep the in-line fuse and relay for the lights powered direct from the battery. I used a fuse tap to connect it to one of the 10amp fuses for one of the fog lights. The blue wire is just the trigger. So now everything is safe and isolated, and the fogs and Hella's are triggered using the OEM gear.

I appreciate the advice though! I didn't want to risk frying any of the stock wiring harnesses that are so expensive to fix by sharing the power at the end of the line.
 

Boostpowered

Rank VI

Member III

4,879
Hunt county, TX, USA
First Name
Justin
Last Name
Davis
Member #

14684

It wouldnt hurt anything splicing in if your using a relay but that was the simple way, you did it the better way looks like you just advanced in automotive electronics. If i were you id wire a toggle switch to turn the hellas off if you just want the fogs on ,too much light in fog can be bad.
 

Sasquatch SC

Rank VI
Launch Member

Member III

3,782
Jefferson County, Colorado, United States
First Name
Trey
Last Name
Hayes
Member #

17253

It wouldnt hurt anything splicing in if your using a relay but that was the simple way, you did it the better way looks like you just advanced in automotive electronics. If i were you id wire a toggle switch to turn the hellas off if you just want the fogs on ,too much light in fog can be bad.
I put the yellow lens shields over the OEM fogs & the Hella lenses. I read somewhere that the yellow lights that became iconic on Mini Cooper rally cars in the 60s is what helped them go on a hot winning streak. Basically they could put killer times down because their yellow fog lights allowed them to keep their speed up when everyone else had to slow down.

The problem w/ lights in fog is all about reflection. We all know (please God let that be true) that bright lights in fog make everything worse. That is bc the higher the intensity of even “white light” eventually begins to lean towards what we perceive as violet/purple. That is at a wavelength between 375-450 (not exact, but close). Violet is the most reflective & the harshest region of the color spectrum. The lower the wavelength, the longer it takes to dissipate. Think “ultra-violet.” That’s why our phones now all have night mode. It essentially turns down the higher wavelength colors so you aren’t kept awake as late playing w/ your phone.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the least reflective color - red. Red has a wavelength of 625-750. So it travels through space so fast it will barely dilate the pupil. It is really hard to nail down the source of a red light unless it is steady. That is why military/police use red lenses on their lights when they are trying to be low key & w/o fancy night optics. The color red also will not mess up your natural low light vision bc it is so much faster - part of the reason tail lights & brake lights are red.

So the spectrum starting w/ high wavelength low reflectivity is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, & then violet. Amber is probably somewhere in the middle between orange & yellow. “White” would be somewhere between blue & violet. So, in theory, by using my OEM fog lights w/ yellow lenses that are located low on the bumper & are oriented to shine up & away should cut through the fog from the bottom (remember that fog rises). Then by adding the two Hella lights that are also yellow lensed & brighter than the OEM fogs & are centered on the rally bar in front of the grille but w/ a wider range. Fog should not be a problem.

However, should all of this be nonsense & science doesn’t come through for me - I’ll just turn off all the fogs, keep the brights off & let the steering responsive headlight feature do their thing.

Hopefully some of that makes sense.