Spotlights - how to wire???

I have fitted my spotlights to the front of the Landy. I have completed most of the wiring less one wire….it is labelled Negative/H’Beam.

Where should it go??? I’m presuming that if I simply wish to trigger the spotlights via a switch then it goes to earth???

If I wish to trigger the spotlights when I turn on my high beam then it goes to the feed to the high beam???

I’m by no means an electrician so apologies for sounding stupid.

On a car, typically the Negative terminal of the battery is connected to the chassis and the engine or gearbox with a thick Black cable.
Pretty much everything else on the car is also bolted to the chassis (the bodywork etc).
This means that the structure of the car is Negative or Earth.
Many lights have a single wire that is connected via a switch and a fuse to the Positive or Red terminal of the battery.
Different colour wires are used to provide 12V to ancillary items (lights, indicators, fuel pumps etc) after the safety fuse and contolling switch.

To make a lamp light up you need to complete the circuit by connecting Positive to one side of the bulb and Negative to the other.
As the body/chassis/engine and gearbox is connected to the negative side of the battery you can connect your wire any metal that is nearby, the inner wing or the bumper or the radiator bracketry for example. You could drill a hole somewhere and put a bolt through it or a self tapping screw.

The key is to make sure the connection is good (ie you may need to remove any paint to find bare metal) and that there is a path through to the negative on the battery.
Some people put additional wires from the inner wing to the engine.

If you tell us what car you have we could be a bit more specific about where there are earth/negative connection points.

It’s a 300TDI CSW 1994. The below photo is the only wire not yet connected. I want the spotlights to come on with high beam.

Bear in mind you might want a relay or two and a fuse before you burn your truck to the ground.

So where is the power (+ 12V) coming from to light up these 'spots' ...?

you'll find a wiring diag here.

Right, I have connected all the wires. Now I have other problems.... when I put my lights on high beam my spotlights operate along with my offside headlight but my nearside head light goes out. When I switch off the high beam the nearside light comes back on. Any ideas???

Swap head light bulbs. It could be that high beam has blown on your current nearside?

Also check fuses, I seem to remember each headlight is fused separately.

Grebby said:

Swap head light bulbs. It could be that high beam has blown on your current nearside?

Click to expand...

My headlights are Halo LED units. There are no bulbs to replace.

Do you have a multi meter?

Grebby said:

Do you have a multi meter?

Click to expand...

Yes

Check that you have voltage to the relevant terminals on your nearside headlight.

Check that the headlight unit is grounded correctly.

Check the fuses.

The trouble is once you depart from the standard setup no-one knows how your current setup is wired or should be wired.