need electrical advice need voltage whe engine is

[iain]

Merry Christmas!
I'm wiring in a relay for an HID set up. I would like to power the ballast when the engine is running instead of from the headlight wire which is always hot (mine's a Y2K) I thought there was a post on how to do this, but I'll be damned if i can find it. It looks like I should be able to tap into the red wire from the rectifier, or at least one from a plug "downstream" from the rectifier/voltage regulator. I just would rather check before cooking components

[heavybusa]

[iain]

Thanks for locating all those posts -I'm sure there was nooooo sarcasm intended.

Maybe I'm missing the right post, but I can't find out how to wire the relay so that power comes only when the engine is running. The issue is that I've been worried that I'm hurting the ballast with the voltage drop when cranking. I was hoping to avoid installing a cut-off switch, I'd rather have power come from a circuit that energised from the alternator, not the battery.

As I said -I was hoping to find someone who knew which wire(s) to tap because I really don't want to cook electronics.

Thanks anyways guys and have a Merry and safe Christmas.

[jessup]

PM or Email Quasar over at sh.org.

[bitabur]

As far as I know, the entire electrical system runs the alternator in parallel with the battery... this is why if you read the voltage across the battery when the engine is running it goes up to ~14 volts. I think you need a switch.

[iain]

I think you are right that the alternator energises the entire system; I guess Euro and later models have a relay somewhere that do exactly what i want...hey there's an idea, I should look at a newer model's manual to see where the wiring changes.
Thanks!