"brighter" lights don't seem any brighter?

[mr cribb]

so i legit woke up in a dead sleep the other night and i realized why my 100w spotlights are so dim...

I didnt hook them up with a Relay XD

So im going to need to pickup 3 relays and a heckton of wire lol

Indeed that would certainly explain everything. I will do the same to my Explorer in the near future.

 

[Roadrunner777]

Wire sizing:
Watts = volts x amps or Watts/volts = amps
So, 100W lamps x 2 = 200 Watts
200W/12V = 17 amps (rounding up)

There are tables for wire size selection for amp load.

20 gauge supports up to 11 amps
18 gauge supports up to 16 amps
16 gauge supports up to 22 amps
14 gauge supports up to 32 amps

Copper conducts less well with ambient heat. In an engine compartment, I would go one size larger to compensate for that.

 

[mr cribb]

Wire sizing:
Watts = volts x amps or Watts/volts = amps
So, 100W lamps x 2 = 200 Watts
200W/12V = 17 amps (rounding up)

There are tables for wire size selection for amp load.

20 gauge supports up to 11 amps
18 gauge supports up to 16 amps
16 gauge supports up to 22 amps
14 gauge supports up to 32 amps

Copper conducts less well with ambient heat. In an engine compartment, I would go one size larger to compensate for that.

In all my years of working on vehicles, I have never seen what gauge wire is good for what. With that said, it certainly explains why my stock sealed beam light on my Chevy truck are brighter, and it’s because I ran all new wiring to both headlights high and low from my new relays.
I want to say I used either 12 or 14 gauge wire, I do know that the stock wiring appeared to be probably 18 gauge.

Thank you @Roadrunner777