Author Topic: Off Road Lights Question  (Read 3463 times)

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Mega Baby Huey

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Off Road Lights Question
« on: Jul 12, 2011, 08:23:25 AM »
So i just got 2 more offroad lights for my 4runner and i had some questions. I had the original 2 wired up Christmas tree light style before i bought the next two and they worked fine... but when i added the new ones they seem to be sucking up all the juice because the new one's barely even try to light up while the old one's light up about a quarter of what they used to... so i'm planning on having a second switch to turn in the two new ones... but i wanted to know if it would be worth it to invest in a relay or some kind of wiring harness. i don't mind having two switch, and it might be a little better since the lights are 2 different styles... but i just wanted to know some of the pros and cons. like do i have to worry about my battery or the lights blowing up or anything... i've never really messed with offroad lights like this before.

The old set up with the 2 original lights:


the new set up (2 originals are on the outsides):


and you can't really see it in the pic but the lights are slightly different in size (by about 1/16th of an inch) and the light bulbs inside look to be different. one's actually an enclosed light bulb while the other is just a GIANT filament... i don;t know if that would change anything...
another pic:
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Mega Baby Huey [OP]

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #1 on: Jul 12, 2011, 08:27:16 AM »
oh yeah, and both sets of lights were advertised as being kc offroad lights but i have my doubts because of the prices i paid  :think: ...  i don't see any insignia or brands on them anywhere... does anyone recognize them as a certain brand?

here's more pics of them off the truck:



sorry the pics suck...
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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #2 on: Jul 12, 2011, 08:56:59 AM »
The benefits of using the correct wiring setup are numerous. It seems you have them wired in series when you need to have them parallel. Are you wiring these straight from the battery throught the switch? Any circuit protection?  Any idea how much amperage they are pulling? Depending on what the lights are drawing you could probably get away with one 30A relay, but 2 may be best.

If you google search "offroad light wiring diagram" there's plenty of pictures. If you need a more in depth explanation of how the wiring actually works, just ask.  :thumbs:

Mega Baby Huey [OP]

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #3 on: Jul 12, 2011, 09:04:17 AM »
yeah... right now there's just an in line fuse and a switch between them and the battery... as far as amperage i'm not really sure.  :cheese:

but i'll try looking up the wiring diagrams... i just wanted to know if i could just get away with a fuse and switch kind of setup without too many problems...
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fordh8r

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #4 on: Jul 12, 2011, 09:27:12 AM »
It does sound like you have these wired in series as Stooges4x4 mentioned and should be wired in Parallel to maximize each lights brightness.  :yesnod: Those lights draw roughly between 8-10 amps each. Your best bet would be to use 2 separate 30 amp relays for 2 lights each and both relays can be operated by a single switch for simplistic operation or separate switches if you choose to vary the amount of lighting you may want. Each relay should be fused separately as well. You won't need separate fuses for each light just for each relay.  Are you familiar with wiring up relays at all? They really are quite simple.

Mega Baby Huey [OP]

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #5 on: Jul 12, 2011, 10:23:35 AM »
my old truck used a relay, but the roll bar and lights came wired up when i bought them... so i've never atarted from scratch before...
i thought relays were usually pretty expensive though so i was trying to go the cheap route... today i'll go price them...

 and by parallel you mean a power wire going to each one individually right? not the power going in the off road light on the side and stringing them together until it comes out the other side and grounding it...
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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #6 on: Jul 12, 2011, 10:32:41 AM »
and by parallel you mean a power wire going to each one individually right? not the power going in the off road light on the side and stringing them together until it comes out the other side and grounding it...

Correct. If you look at the diagrams, you'll see what is generally happening with the wires.

Relay's are not too expensive at all. Maybe a couple bucks. I normally order all my wiring stuff from delcity.com, that is if I have the patience to wait a week or so for them to come. I think if you try radio shack or somewhere local you'll probably pay a couple dollars more. I have picked them up from car stereo stores before also.

At any rate, it's not going to break the bank and you'll have the piece of mind that your stuff is wired correctly and won't risk further electrical issues in the future.

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #7 on: Jul 12, 2011, 11:01:26 AM »
Correct. If you look at the diagrams, you'll see what is generally happening with the wires.

Relay's are not too expensive at all. Maybe a couple bucks. I normally order all my wiring stuff from delcity.com, that is if I have the patience to wait a week or so for them to come. I think if you try radio shack or somewhere local you'll probably pay a couple dollars more. I have picked them up from car stereo stores before also.

At any rate, it's not going to break the bank and you'll have the piece of mind that your stuff is wired correctly and won't risk further electrical issues in the future.
or shorting out and burning your truck to the ground.
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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #8 on: Jul 12, 2011, 11:03:28 AM »
If you wanna go super cheap, I usually just go "pocket" a feww of them at the wrecking yard since relays rarely ever go bad. :gap:  they're in just about anything you'll find there as far back as the 80's and you have a fist full of them in just a few minutes.

Tofudude

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #9 on: Jul 12, 2011, 12:37:13 PM »
its 5 bucks a pop at autozone which isn't too bad.

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #10 on: Jul 12, 2011, 02:11:48 PM »
or shorting out and burning your truck to the ground.

Right, this would fall under further (major) electrical issues.

BigMike

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #11 on: Jul 21, 2011, 08:32:40 AM »
Mega Mormon,

It is very important that you use a relay unless your switch is a high quality one rated for 30+ amps.

Figuring out the amperage is super easy to do. Let's assume each light has a 55 watt bulb and runs on 14 volts (with the engine running). Amperage equals Power divided by Voltage (from good ol' Hook's Law of P=IV). So 55/14 = 3.93 amps per bulb. Times that by 4 bulbs and you're drawing 15.7 amps.

Typical cheap-o plastic switches like this one pictured below are "rated for 20 amps" (yeah right ::)) but they will get hot with that much current running through them which proves that a lot of energy is being lost to resistance.



I run 1 relay per two rock lights, which isn't necessary but I do it anyway. I use low profile & compact Toyota/Denso electric fan relays, like from a newer Camry, which are narrow and look like this:



I've got no formal electrical certification, so I'm sure you could use different gauges, but what I recommend for your situation is to use a 14 gauge wire with a 20 amp fuse for power to the relay, and mount the relay near your lights. Then from the relay branch an 18 gauge wire to each light for power, and then just ground each light to their mount/post (assuming your roll bar has a good ground). Then take anything small, like 22 or 24 gauge wire from a switch to your relay for activation. Now you can use the cheap plastic toggle switches because the current passing through is in the milliamp range.

The only thing to be sure of is that you only want 1 bulb per 18 gauge wire. So don't run the 18 gauge wire a few inches away from the relay and then branch out, that would be bad because you'd have all that current running through that lil wire and you'd suffer power losses. Instead solder the ends of your four 18 gauge wires together to a spade connector, and then attach the spade connector to the relay. Then run each wire individually to each bulb and you're done! You could also try two 16 gauge wires and split each one to a pair of lights up at the roll bar, that is a good option as well.

Regards,
BigMike
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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #12 on: Jul 21, 2011, 09:00:58 AM »
Mike, where are you sourcing your relays from? Price?

BigMike

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Re: Off Road Lights Question
« Reply #13 on: Jul 21, 2011, 09:21:17 AM »
I've just been picking them up at the wrecking yard. I always grab a few and throw them in my tool box, and when I go up front to buy the other stuff I needed, then never care about the relays. I've even had them resting on top of other parts and they just ignore them, and when the guys at the gate check my stuff on my way out, they thumb through my tool box and look right at them and they also never mind. So maybe it just depends on where you go, but if you purchase other items from the wrecking yards around here, in my experience they never charge you for a couple relays and fuses in your tool box.

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