Fog Lights causing major power drain?

I've got 2 sets of auxiliary lights installed in my truck now. 1 is a pair of Hella FF200s (55 watts) the other is a pair of Pilot Cyber White NV501Ws (55 watts). One thing I've noticed is the Pilot switch gets kinda HOT to the touch and is HELLA bright!! (lol!) Should this be? Also, with both sets of lights running, at idle (stoplight) my battery meter looks like I'm pounding my subs at 135 dbs!!! It drops WAAAY low. Is this normal when 2 sets of aux lights are installed? I'm not too worried as my alternator does seem to pick up the slack during normal driving conditions AND I've to got a brand new battery. I'd just like some input...

Thanks

Jordan23

 

[Bill Kemp]

I think that sounds about right for the lights to dim at idle. AutoZone or others can check your alt. output (free) to see how it is.
I dont know about pilot switches....

 

[jordan23]

sounds good. It doesn't really appear that my lights dim too much...but perhaps the lowering of the battery meter is indication of dimming. Do you know if a bad ground (for the lights) would cause the switch to light up BRIGHT as day and get hot?

Jordan23

 

[yosh18981898]

No, a bad ground will just cause the lights to quit working, or flicker on and off as the ground goes in and out of contact with the body/frame/grounding point.

There are a few reasons why the switch would get hot:
1) You have a bad connection from the wires to the switch, this always causes excessive heat. If this is the case, find a way to get a good connection.

2) The gauge wiring you're using is too small for the load. For instance: 2-55 watt fog lamps should be run on nothing less than 18 gauge wire. 2-100 watt lights should be run on nothing less than 14 gauge wire. 4-55 watt lights should be run on nothing less than 14 gauge wire. 4-100 watt lights should be run on nothing less than 10 gauge wire. The more general formula is 18 gauge is good to 10 amps, 16 gauge is good to 12 amps, 14 gauge is good to 15 amps, 12 gauge is good to 20 amps, 10 gauge is good to 30 amps. To figure out how many amps your lights are drawing, take the wattage (55, 100, etc) and divide it by 13.8 (average car voltage). So for a pair of 100 watt lamps, you get 200 watts/13.8 volts=14.5 amps.

3) The switch isn't rated for the amperage you're trying to pull through it. If the switch is rated to 10 amps, and your trying to run a pair of 100 watt lights on it (which are 14.5 amps as calculated above) your going to have problems. The way to fix this is get a switch rated to a high enough amperage, or get a relay to take the load off the switch.

Anyways, if that switch is getting hot to the touch, I'd quit using the lights right away and fix the situation before using them again. You're just asking to have your truck burn down with way the switch is now.

 

[Jack03EB]

I'd make sure you installed those relays that should of come w/ the wiring kits?

 

[yosh18981898]

Yeah, if you use the switch that comes with the lights definately use the relay. The switch that comes with the lights isn't rated high enough to be used without the relay.

On all my lights I don't use the switch provided with the lights becuase they're usually cheesy push button plastic things. I go to walmart and get a real 12 volt toggle switch rated to 20 amps. They only cost $1.99 a piece and I've been using them for more than a year on my explorer without a relay and they don't even get warm to the touch. The key is to only run as many amps through them as they are rated for.

 

[96limitedX]

i had roof lights and i have a set of lights on my safari bar. back with the stock battery. the voltage would stay the same with the headlights,2 sets of 55w lights,and replaced stock foglights also 55w. but as soon as you turned the heater on full blast it would drop. not alot but i dident like it. so i remoed the roof lights and now only have the safari bar lights. and after getting silverstars and dimond cut headlights. i rarly use the aux lights anymore. also i got a new optima battery. now with the heads,fogs, and aux 55w lights, and the heater on full blast....with the truck in gear with my foot on the brake the voltage stays the same. it does now move now.