Auxilary lighting wiring???

[ttora4runner]

Need some input if this sounds right for the right gauge of wire.

Ok. If I got this fiqured correctly.

Lightforce 170 lights - 12v x 100w = 8.33 amps per light
Piaa 510's - 12v x 55w = 4.5833 amps per light
Cobra ST WXST II CB - 12v x 4w (I believe) = .33 amps

Total amp - approx. 30 amps. So 7 gauge wire would then (I won't use it though)? Could I get away with 6 gauage?

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[Seanz0rz]

6 would work i suppose. what are you actually running and where? would the piaa's be on at the same time the 170's will be?

[ttora4runner]

6 would work i suppose. what are you actually running and where? would the piaa's be on at the same time the 170's will be?

What is going to be connect to the fuse block is my cb, fog lights (piaa's) and the driving lights (lightforce). I'll be mounting the fuse block in the engine bay as close to the battery as possible.

I don't know if I'll have both sets of lights on at the same time but there is always that possiblity.

[Seanz0rz]

you should have no problem with 6 gauge wire. i ran 5 gauge (what i had left over from a stereo install) for mine, and it will handle at the very least 100 amps spike, about 50 continuous.

[CJM]

Im sure 8 gauge would be fine.

In my work van we used 8 gauge to run the power wire for a lightbar that has 4 100w H1 halogens in the rotators, 4 55w flashers and 2 55w alley lights (side lights) and trust me it runs it all without a hitch. All I used was a 30amp fuse too and never an issue. I have had every single one on at once and my compressor and no issues.

Also have a decent sized 12v compressor we use a 30amp circuit breaker fuse on and ran the power wire with 8.

You could simply go out and buy a long 4 or 6 ga battery cable, snip off the ends and put on rings on each end. Also might want to cut it in half and run a circuit breaker fuse in the middle.

My setup is in the earlier post.

[corax]

even 8 gauge is more than you need for just 30 amps - it really depends on how long the wire run is . . .

reference this page to determine what wire size you need -> http://www.rbeelectronics.com/wtable.htm

As an example, I've been running my 2 100w aircraft beams on 14 gauge wire with no issues for the last year, that is, one strand of 14 ga from the relay to the first light with a branch off for the second light - no overheating, no diminished performance (measured by voltage drop in the circuit)

[ttora4runner]

Im sure 8 gauge would be fine.

You could simply go out and buy a long 4 or 6 ga battery cable, snip off the ends and put on rings on each end. Also might want to cut it in half and run a circuit breaker fuse in the middle.

My setup is in the earlier post.

I acutally went down to the autoparts store and noticed that. I may end up just doing that.

[CJM]

FWIW to run my lightbar or compressor its about 15 feet of 8 ga wiring.

[ttora4runner]

Okay, I need a little help here with this one.

If I understand correctly the wiring from the lights and CB will be wired into the fuse block but then how would I run the wiring from the fuse block too the switches for the lights?

Would I just need to splice together the positive, negative and ground wire together for each respective wire (ie. positive from lights and switches to one positive post on the fuse block, etc) or is there something else I'm not thinking of.

Also, the switch that is supplied with the lightforce lights has two prongs where the Toyota switch I'll be using has three prongs. So how do I deal with that?

Hopefully, this make sese I've never been very good with wiring up switches like this.

[4x4mike]

Okay, I need a little help here with this one.

If I understand correctly the wiring from the lights and CB will be wired into the fuse block but then how would I run the wiring from the fuse block too the switches for the lights?

Would I just need to splice together the positive, negative and ground wire together for each respective wire (ie. positive from lights and switches to one positive post on the fuse block, etc) or is there something else I'm not thinking of.

Also, the switch that is supplied with the lightforce lights has two prongs where the Toyota switch I'll be using has three prongs. So how do I deal with that?

Hopefully, this make sese I've never been very good with wiring up switches like this.

Simple. You run a wire from your battery to your fuse box and then smaller wires to your accessories from your fuse box. A switch goes on that wire between the fuse box and the accessory.

Lights: Ground each light near where it is mounted. Run the power wires from the lights (most kits splice the lights together and then run them to a relay (power). My lights have switch in the 12v switched ignition power wire that goes to the relay. One of the 4 prongs on the relay is always attached to 12v. When the vehicle is on and the light switch flipped it completes the wire from the 12v switched source to the relay. The relay is tripped and the 12v constant source is allowed to flow through the relay to the light and you've got light.

Your lightforce lights most likely have a switch without a bulb in it. The third prong on the switch is a ground which lights up a light when the power is on. On my Toyota switch the light is orange.I'll look for that post that lets you know which prong is which. Basically power comes from your 12v switched source to one prong on the switch. Then you put a wire to the remaining prong (the third one was the ground for the orange light) and then to the relay. The switch is just an interrupter of that 12v switched line.

Hope this helps and isn't too confusing.