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I currently have my lights wired to relays in the rear washer compartment. I ran #22awg stranded wire up to my dashboard toggle switches. Is 22awg heavy enough? I measured the current draw without the wiring hooked up and the relay coils draw 182ma....
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I myself run a 14gage wire from the switch to the relay on the LightForce, then a 10gage from the relay to the lights. Works great. What size are you running from the battery to the relay, and the relay to the wire? That size maybe a bit small, but should still work ok. If you get the chance though, I'd up the wire.
for the relays its probably enough, however it wouldn't have been my first choice.
what gauge are you using for power? if you are going from the battery at the front of the truck, to the rear or the truck and then back up to your lights on the roof... that's a lot of wire. it would be much simpler and efficent to keep all the wire at the front of the truck, probably half the distance.
short, fat wires for power, with fuses as close to the battery as possible on BOTH the positive and negative.
i like to run seperate grounds instead of using the chassis ground.
if its a pair of 100W or 130W lights you want 10ga. 12ga should be ok for 55W lights and 16 or 18 should be fine for switching the relays. if you are trying to feed a bank of lights, even fatter wier is required.
wire is fairly cheap, and running it can be a hassle. heavier wire will be more durable, in addition to providing less restiance.
for applications like big lights or radios, i like to solder the terminals to the wire instead of crimp.
I printed a chart from a web site and cant find the site but I have the chart.
It says: 20AWG wire is good for 26' @ 4 amps.
So I would think you are fine w/22 for the switches.
A 100 watt lamp @12 volts = 8.33 amps.
18AWG wire is good for 15' with a 1/2 volt drop based on a 10 amp draw.
Because the crimp connectors seem sturdier in the 14AWG wire size I usually use those for lights.
It is overkill as 14AWG is rated for 36' on 10 amps and a 100 watt bulb only draws 8.33.
Usually the lamps mounted in the front of the veh. only use about 6' of wire. 36' is still more than you would use on a roof mount.
What about the fuses?? I used a blue-sea systems fuse block to feed power to the relays... it's rated for 200 Amps total and has 6 circuits.
Dead Link Removed
The relay's trigger circuit only draws 0.3 amps, and the LEDs I used on the switches draw 1.5 amps, so I just used some mini DPDT center off switches from Radio Shack. I used some 12-conductor communications cable to rund 1 "wire" through the firewall... just made it easier than fishing 8 wires through.
Hi Joe
Each one of the 5 Circuits are individually fused right at the relay, with the fuse value determined by the draw of the lights on that circuit. Only 3 of the 5 relays are wired right now, but it takes nothing to wire them up. Provisions were made on the terminal strip to accomodate all 5 circuits.
I like your control unit assembly, Joe! Store bought or did you make it?
JamminG4Jim,
Nice touch on the relay board. Will look good when wired up.
My only thought would be a little heavier wire on the relays. The current draw is OK for the 18 but just something to ***** about.
Good Luck,
