Help Me Wire The 5 100watt Light Atop My Chevy I Cant
Posted in Off Road Lights | Asked on May 28, 2010
Hi i had a friend make a bar to hold five 100watt off road lights there all weired in the bar and grounded … there all on one power wire out of the bar so i put in a toggle switch and went from the batt to the switch from the switch to the light bar …. there is a smoking and burning smell within 1 min of use what did i do wrong 12Gage wire was used i have a set of fog lights on the brush guard baja brand there working fine i did the wire job … please help me im not an electrician so just line it out what do i need to do again 5 100 watt lights one power wire out of the bar what do i do to light them up safely
There are 2 Answers
You are going to need more then 12 gage wire and a wimpy toggle switch.
500W is about 41 amps. you will need a big relay something like a Ford starter relay and a 8 or 6 Gage feed wire.
You can split up the load and run 3 12gage wires (2 lights-2 lights and 1 light) from the relay and a 6 gage from the battery to the relay. Toggle switch will work fine to turn on the relay.
You will also have issues with running down the battery with that size load unless you have a large alternator
the best advice i can give you is one split up the load and also use a little bit bigger wire. heres what you do. first go to a 10 guage wire then put 2 lights on one switch and 3 on the other. make sure you use about a 30 amp toggle switch on each or at least 20 amp. then make sure you put a 30 amp inline fuse between each seperate power wire from the batt. and each toggle switch. that will safe guard your wireing. and you’ll be good to go. just keep in mind without the truck running you will kill the batt pretty fast if you use the lights. but with the truck running you’ll be just fine. good luck and if you need any more help just e-mail me.