hooking up rock light to one switch??

[Makohon]

Ok i know jack about electrical..... so heres what i want..... i want one switch.... 6 rock lites... 55 wats each... how the hell do i do this.... can i just run one wire... or do i need one wire to each lite? how do i do this??? i have never dealt with relays or anything like that...

[jimbo74]

going to wnat relays.... at least 3 of them..... can get away running 12 guage wire if running 3 circuits.....

you can use 1 switch though, as the one switch will just be a trigger for the relays

[Tallchevy]

going to wnat relays.... at least 3 of them..... can get away running 12 guage wire if running 3 circuits.....

you can use 1 switch though, as the one switch will just be a trigger for the relays

so how would you wire that cause I want to do the same?

[Makohon]

ok so 1 relay per 2 lites..... like said above... how do you link the three? i know how to do one.. but linking three together?

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

[Makohon]

so you hook up three relays as if you were going to if you were going to hook up 3 diffrent switches with relays.... then splice all the wires that go to the switch into one and connect it to the switch?? is three relays really nessessary? i used to have two 55 watt lites hooked up right to the switch with no problem... but when i added 4 more i almost burnt down my truck... ''wire got extremely hot and started to smoke''



will this work... with just one relay??   http://canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/images/relay/relay-diagram-final.jpg

[jimbo74]

this is crude...... but........ it will work without problem... there are a few ways you ca nwire it depending on if you want series or paralel or a mix of the 2...... but.......


the part with 3 fuses is a power distribution block, rated for 15 amps per circuit... relays usually come in 30 amp units... you could run up to 4 using this math with 55 watt lights.... 55 watts x2 110 watts and that/12 volts equals 9ish amps.....


there are a lot fo ways you could do it, and their can be more than one way, i would personally go overkill for safety factor....



as a safety precaution, always uses fuses and relays... you might be able to get away with it, but thats when the wire becuases expendible, and if that cant handle it, it lights on fire......

[sloyota]

Mike,Im running 6 rocks lights front and rear on one switch and the middle ones of a second switch with relays...call Cody if you need any help

[fordh8r]

Haha, my specialty! You only need two relays and how the diagram shows will work. Even though the relay is rated for 30 amps it's always good to leave a buffer so the conacts won't get too hot and the relay will last longer too.  

so you hook up three relays as if you were going to if you were going to hook up 3 diffrent switches with relays.... then splice all the wires that go to the switch into one and connect it to the switch?? is three relays really nessessary? i used to have two 55 watt lites hooked up right to the switch with no problem... but when i added 4 more i almost burnt down my truck... ''wire got extremely hot and started to smoke''



will this work... with just one relay??   http://canyonchasers.net/shop/generic/images/relay/relay-diagram-final.jpg

Like you stated above with the 3 relays and switches example...do that, only make jumpers to each relay connection for the control wire for the switch so you still only have one wire to the switch to operate the relays. Example below.


In the pic you can see the yellow and black wires (small) how they jumper to the same terminals of each relay. The black would go to ground and the yellow would go to the switch. the same can be done with the power leads and the load lead to their respective devices. Hope this helps.  


I won't even get into how to make them switch automatically with additional functions in the rig.    

[Rocksurfer]

Yup, just like they said. Here's an explanation on how to do it. First group all of the relay together in a line, next run a jumper from each relay where the switch would normally be plugged on each relay. Run one jumper for each and connect them all together and run the last jumper to the switch just as if you were only running one relay. Now that you have joined all three relays to one switch run the wires for each set of lights as you would normally except for the high voltage side run a single wire from the battery to the high side of the relay and then repeat the jumpers on that side of the relays. One thing to remember here on the high side you don't want to use the supplied wires except on the jumpers, you will need to run a heavier line from the batteries to the 1st jumper and don't forget fuses one for each set of lights, don't just get a bigger fuse that is a no, no.

[Loosekannon]

I used a full time 70 amp fulltime solenoid that is self grounding, ran a wire used for stereo amps from the battery to the soleniod with a 40 amp fuse in it. Ran one 10 gauge wire off the soleniod post that is used to turn it on and off to a toggle switch in the dash and grounded that in the cab. Ran 10 gauage wire to each light (7 all together) and grounded them at the frame. So I had one switch for all the lights and it never burned up or dimmed down. It is a great set up IMO