Fogs blowing fuse

[Explorer914]

The setup is, i removed my stock fogs, cut the connectors off of the wires that are coming from truck, then i just took the aftermarket lights and wired um right to the fog light wires coming from car....positive to positive, ground to ground....lights come on for like 1 minute then blow the fuse, the lights are only 55w so theres no way im overloading.... do i have to add the relay that came with the aftermarket fogs to prevent the fuse from blowing? or should i just wire them up with the wires it came with and its own switch?

 

[not8taxi]

are u adding just aftermarket fog lights are do u have hids in them?

 

[Donner]

no hid's, just regular fog lights... they need a sep hook up. but it sounds like he really needs the hid's.

 

[Explorer914]

i have hids in my headlights....if the stock fogs were cheap i would just buy um brand new and then prob solved but..yea im just gonna have to wire um seperate

 

[Sandy]

If the stock lights you are replacing worked OK then you shorted a wire; double check the connections starting with what are the power wires and what are the grounds, then look for something pinched.

If the replacement lights are stock fog lights then I do not believe you are over loading the circuit.
If the replacement lights are after market 100 watt or bigger then you might but even at 100 watts each they should stay for longer than a minute; are the wires getting hot before the fuse blows ?
If the lights are 100 watts or larger and you are blowing fuses from overloading just rewire the circuit using the old fog-light wire to activate the relay for the new lights.

Old Light wire to pin 86 on a 30 amp automotive relay.
Pin 85 should go to ground. (some ground through the mounting point)
Pin 30 is for a fused wire from the positive side of the battery
Pin 87 is the load to the lights. (Some relays have pin 87A, don't use the connection or buy a relay without the extra pin)

That's all folks!

 

[Buffalosports]

How many watts are your lights? What gauge wire are you running between the fogs and the stock wiring?

With a relay, you are still going to need to put a 15 amp (or so) fuse between the battery and relay.

 

[Explorer914]

How many watts are your lights? What gauge wire are you running between the fogs and the stock wiring?

With a relay, you are still going to need to put a 15 amp (or so) fuse between the battery and relay.

the aftermarket lights are 55w the only wire thats between the lights and the stock wiring is the 5 inches of wire that comes off the lights themselves i have no idea what gauge it is its deff same as stock....i cant have a short in any of the wires cause i didnt fool around with the stock wires besides cutting the connectors off, i have no idea how its blowing the fuse

 

[Bill Kemp]

I agree with Sandy. You have either mixed a positive and/or negative wire in your hook up or it could be that the lights themselves are the problem. Could be a short in the light.
Disconect one light at a time and see which one is blowing the fuse. Then inspect that light and the wires and you should find the problem.

After you fix them you can get 10 or more watts of brightness by using the relay and aftermarket wiring and just using the OEM wire to triger the relay instead of the switch provided with the light harness.

 

[Explorer914]

After you fix them you can get 10 or more watts of brightness by using the relay and aftermarket wiring and just using the OEM wire to triger the relay instead of the switch provided with the light harness.

can u explain this 2 me more?

 

[Bill Kemp]

Here is some info about relays and why & how they make your lights brighter. This is about headlights but the same goes for fogs.
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html

 

[Sandy]

can u explain this 2 me more?

Did you understand what Bill was telling you ?

Add a relay and reduce the electrical path from the battery to the lights.
In turn less resistance, more power getting to the lights, more light.
30%, I don't know but they should burn brighter.