100 Watt fog lights

[exploder55]

i just went out and bought fog light lights ( I was already in the Zone so why not) I decided to get some 100 watts bulbs too . so hook um ok and it was bright and the wiring was hot.
Im usally good about thinking about that kind of stuff but it slipped my mind so anyway i was wondering...
18 gauge wire from posative on battery fuse to light
have two hot wires one going to each light which i need anyway. then finally have the grounds for each light connected and have the ground switched in the cab. that way i would only have a load of under 8 amps on each 18 gauge wire
(laughing is welcomed)
thanks

 

[stev0n]

search through DeRocha's posts. he has a write-up on wiring up lights. It'll tell you everything you need to know including your two big problems - power wire too small & no relay.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

i wanna get brighter fogs too for my sport

 

[Convict1997]

If the wires are getting hot then you'll probably want to get a heavier gauge wire. I've got four lights that are 55 watts each. I have 1 12ga power wire for each set of two lights. Most likely this is overkill, but I figured better safe than sorry. Following the chart on THIS PAGE you should be able to run 15' to 18' of 18ga wire to each light and be safe, but since the wire is getting hot you might want to step up to atleast 16ga or 14ga. Also, definitely install relays if you haven't already. You don't want to run that kind of power through the switch. With extended use you'll end up burning out the switch and possibly starting a fire.

 

[exploder55]

Yea went out got 12 g and wired it up powers to the relay relay to fuse to battery negative to battery
negative for relay on battery ground (temporary)
relay switch tapped on positive post to test the lights and it blew the fuse
so later i plan on putting in the 55 watts i have to see what fires up and go from there
side notes all wires soldered no connectors relay ground and switch wire are 18 g

 

[m4dc0w]

I can smell something burning from here.

-mc

 

[Convict1997]

What amp fuses are you using? Right now I've got a 20a fuse for each pair of lights and it's working well. Also, double check the wiring of your relay. I originally ran 14ga to my lights and when I decided to rewire everything with 12ga I managed to mix up a couple of the wire. Ended up blowing the fuses every time I turned the switch on. I went through about four fuses before I realized I had mixed up the wires. I had even checked and double checked the wires before turning on the switch and I still had them mixed up.

 

[exploder55]

yea i plan on going through it all today yesterday i had my car pulled two feet in the garage and it was raining and cold (michigan enough said?) so i no i didnt do my best work so check it all over then start using the hammer :roll:

 

[exploder55]

so it was a defective bulb all along i had been assuming it was my relay work because i had never used a relay before
but i have a question if i wanted to make them usable on road could i have a relay which was resistored so that the bulbs would be usable on road and have it switch to full 100 watts with high beams
battery----fuse--resistor---relay(fog light switch)----lights low setting
then a second wire
battery----(big) fuse-----relay(to high beam)----light (deadly bright)
thanks for any feedback