Driving Light Relay Question

[weblst]

I have read that pin 87 or 86 is the trigger for a spot light relay but I cannot find anymore information about how to wire it all up. Anyone got a spot light wiring howto for dummies ???. I have no idea where pin 87 is and I have searched and looked. Any help would be appreciated.

[PRH]

Wiring spotlights to VP look here

[weblst]

Thanks PRH that is what I have read but I have no idea what terminal 85-86 or terminal 30 are ???? Any further information would be appreciated.

[commsirac]

If you remove a relay it should have the terminal numbers written on the base of the relay close to each pin and/or on the holder that it goes into.

Pins 85 and 86 are opposite each other, 180 degrees apart. They are the connections for the solenoid, which triggers the pins 30(from your battery typically) and 87(to the lights) together.
Pins 30 and 87 are also 180 degrees apart.
Many relays will have five pins. The extra pin may be a duplicate of pin 87, ie for connection to two headlights. Others may have the pins labelled as 87 and 87a. This actually switches the output from one to the other.
Five pins makes it easy to actually identify the rest of the terminals.
A surer way is to actually measure the resistance between opposite pins. The resistance between pins 85 and 86 will be in the reigon of 70-80 Ohms. If it is zero or infinite you have pins 30 and 87.
It typically doesnt matter whether you get pins 85 or 86 back to front. However, there are relays that have a diode wired into this circuit so that only one way connection is possible, there would be diode symbol somewhere on the relay. I dont think there would be any of these on a factory commodore as the diode ones are there really for aftermarket applications where feedback from other sources needs to be eliminated
Have a look at pic below and http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm, its ok, but Ill see if there is anything more comprehensive, which lists other types of relays.

[Dayvo]

this might be of some help