wiring 4 driving lights up to 1 switch?

dirtyXplorer · December 14, 2007

You could wire them all to one switch if you use a relay and a bigger gauge power wires. Since they are walmart lights (im guessing 55w) they don't use a lot of power. A relay would take all the stress off of the switch and they are pretty simple to install and wire. You can get them at most auto and electrical stores.

Exploderpilot · December 14, 2007

Let me know if you need a diagram. Not trying to be rude, it just sometimes helps.

DeRocha · December 14, 2007

If you modified the diagram below to have 4 lights instead of 2 then you'd need a 25amp fuse and 12ga wiring. The control switch is feed by the parking light circuit. As such you can only turn on the lights if the parking lights are On. This puts the new lights on the chime and power management circuits which will prevent you from accidentally killing your battery by leaving them on.

Total watts = 4 x 55 = 220w
total amps = 220w/12v = 18.3amps

97GoldXLT · December 14, 2007

No no, give diagrams PLEASE haha

oh, and they are 100w by the way, is that bright? haha

Bill Kemp · December 14, 2007

Heres some good info & diagrams. Use a relay for each set of lights and splice the wires from ea. relay together that are going to the switch.
http://www.kchilites.com/faq.aspx#InstallGuides

DeRocha · December 14, 2007

97GoldXLT said:
No no, give diagrams PLEASE haha

oh, and they are 100w by the way, is that bright? haha

I don't know how bright they are (brightness depends on how well the light uses the power) but 100w is definitely alot of power. Most 12v relays are only rated for 30A and with four 100w lights the circuit would be over 33.3A (too much for any single fuse or relay). As mentioned by Bill you will need 2 separate relays as shown below to handle the power. By splitting the circuit using 2 relays each wire will need to handle 16.7A. The wires (Red and grounds for the lights) should be either 14ga or 12ga in size.

97GoldXLT · December 14, 2007

DeRocha said:
I don't know how bright they are (brightness depends on how well the light uses the power) but 100w is definitely alot of power. Most 12v relays are only rated for 30A and with four 100w lights the circuit would be over 33.3A (too much for any single fuse or relay). As mentioned by Bill you will need 2 separate relays as shown below to handle the power. By splitting the circuit using 2 relays each wire will need to handle 16.7A. The wires (Red and grounds for the lights) should be either 14ga or 12ga in size.

ok WOW, thanks!

So I'm guessing those 20a things in between the relay and battery are fuse holders w/ 20a fuses correct?

thanks for the help!

Sandy · December 14, 2007

One switch can be used but you would need over 30 amps running to the roof in one wire to get them to work. This can be done using a relay and wire with a current rating of at least forty amps.

That means you need a 40 amp Relay and some 10-ga min wire.

You could use two relays as pictured, but use one switch to control both relays.

Relays use very little amperage to control the switching, small gauge wire and a low amperage switch can be used.

The Power wires will still need to be at least 14-ga wire (12-ga would be better) for each set of two lights running from the battery to the Relays pin 30, fused as close to the battery as possible, and then to the lights from pin 87.

Also, remember that each set of two lights will require a 14/12-ga Ground wire or one 10-ga ground wire for all four lights.
The ground wire should be fed back to the battery or a common grounding point under the hood.

The control of the Relay(s) can be wired with anything from 20 to 16 ga wire Pin 85 from the switch and Pin 86 to ground, (note that some Relays ground through the mounting bracket).

Since you should run two relays and two sets of wiring, why not just uses two switches, this would give you better control over the lights.

I can't post pics here so this is as far as I can go.

Luck,

97GoldXLT · December 14, 2007

Sandy said:
One switch can be used but you would need over 30 amps running to the roof in one wire to get them to work. This can be done using a relay and wire with a current rating of at least forty amps.

That means you need a 40 amp Relay and some 10-ga min wire.

You could use two relays as pictured, but use one switch to control both relays.

Relays use very little amperage to control the switching, small gauge wire and a low amperage switch can be used.

The Power wires will still need to be at least 14-ga wire (12-ga would be better) for each set of two lights running from the battery to the Relays pin 30, fused as close to the battery as possible, and then to the lights from pin 87.

Also, remember that each set of two lights will require a 14/12-ga Ground wire or one 10-ga ground wire for all four lights.
The ground wire should be fed back to the battery or a common grounding point under the hood.

The control of the Relay(s) can be wired with anything from 20 to 16 ga wire Pin 85 from the switch and Pin 86 to ground, (note that some Relays ground through the mounting bracket).

Since you should run two relays and two sets of wiring, why not just uses two switches, this would give you better control over the lights.

I can't post pics here so this is as far as I can go.

Luck,

thanks for the write up!

By the way, how come you cant post pics here?

Bill Kemp · December 14, 2007

Check out this wiring chart. http://www.rallylights.com/other/wiring.htm
IMO 14 guage is gonna be big enough. As stated in the link, its also easier to work with.

DeRocha · December 15, 2007

Bill Kemp said:
Check out this wiring chart. http://www.rallylights.com/other/wiring.htm
IMO 14 guage is gonna be big enough. As stated in the link, its also easier to work with.

Thanks for the link Bill.. I've added the site to my electrical bookmarks.. :thumbsup:

DeRocha · December 15, 2007

As Sandy mentioned you can also use 2 switches to have greater control of the lights.

97GoldXLT · December 15, 2007

DeRocha said:
As Sandy mentioned you can also use 2 switches to have greater control of the lights.

ok, I understand this chart.. up until the yellow wire coming out of the 85 on the relay.. or is that connected to the on/off switch?

man I'm dumb haha

***EDIT, whats the blue wire/line that is coming out of the switch that says driving lights?

Bill Kemp · December 15, 2007

The switch itself needs power to send to the #85 relay post to tell it to turn on the Aux.,driving/fog lights, which it does by sending power from the # 30 relay post to the #87 relay post and then to the aux. lights. (The relay is just another switch)
Your on/off switch has power in & power out & ground.
Power in comes from a a wire spliced into one of your lights. either driving, (high beams or low beams) or parking lights.(Blue wire)
Power out is from the switch to the relay(yellow wire) turning the relay on to power the aux. lights.
This makes sence to me but, I have no instruction in instruction and therefore may have only confused the issue.
So...Keep asking questions if you got them.

And I just love DeRochas' diagrams. They are the best. Wish I knew how to do that. :salute:

97GoldXLT · December 16, 2007

Bill Kemp said:
The switch itself needs power to send to the #85 relay post to tell it to turn on the Aux.,driving/fog lights, which it does by sending power from the # 30 relay post to the #87 relay post and then to the aux. lights. (The relay is just another switch)
Your on/off switch has power in & power out & ground.
Power in comes from a a wire spliced into one of your lights. either driving, (high beams or low beams) or parking lights.(Blue wire)
Power out is from the switch to the relay(yellow wire) turning the relay on to power the aux. lights.
This makes sence to me but, I have no instruction in instruction and therefore may have only confused the issue.
So...Keep asking questions if you got them.

And I just love DeRochas' diagrams. They are the best. Wish I knew how to do that.

Lol yes, I must say, they do help out A LOT... my only question is..

Weve got the yellow wire coming from the switch to #85 on the reley.. then we have the ground... so, wheres the other wire attach to!?

Nocturnall · December 16, 2007

Blue is from driving lights to switch. Green wires are all to grounds. Yellow from switch to relay. All the red wires are 12v+ power.

97GoldXLT · December 16, 2007

Nocturnall said:
Blue is from driving lights to switch. Green wires are all to grounds. Yellow from switch to relay. All the red wires are 12v+ power.

OK, driving lights as in the offroad lights right?

What confuses me is that my driving lights (offroad lights) only have a red and black wire coming out of it haha red meaning 12v and black meaning ground... so I'm kinda stupid on where the blue wire fits in there

Bill Kemp · December 16, 2007

The blue wire that says driving lights could say "parking lights or headlights".
It does not refer to your auxilary lights.
Once you turn on your parking or headlights, depending on which you splice the blue wire into, the power from there will go to the switch which will send it to the relay which will open and send power from your battery to your aux. lights.

97GoldXLT · December 16, 2007

Bill Kemp said:
The blue wire that says driving lights could say "parking lights or headlights".
It does not refer to your auxilary lights.
Once you turn on your parking or headlights, depending on which you splice the blue wire into, the power from there will go to the switch which will send it to the relay which will open and send power from your battery to your aux. lights.

are these required?

where would I find my head lights/parking lights or whatever to splice too?

BTW, thanks for all the help, it's MUCH appreciated!

wiring 4 driving lights up to 1 switch?

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