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Wiring Issue

nosman778

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north carrolina, soon kansas
I have 6 'kc' lights, actually only 2 are real kcs. The issue is I bought this truck and the kcs never worked great, so today I decided to replace two of them, the jackhole that did the wiring wired all of them together with electrical tape and grounded them off wrong. So I am wondering what is the best way to wire them all back together to get them working correctly? I would like all 6 to run off of 1 toggle switch. I was reading a diagram that said to run two kcs together on a relay then to connect them at the end, I just want to know what will be the best.
 
Definitely run them with relays. You may need 2 or 3 relays to run all six lights. Basically, it allows the lights to get "full battery power" without having that much current going through the switch itself. I would splice the toggle "on" from the switch to each relay. Be sure the grounds are all good and solid.
 
yea every thing that i have looked at says run 2 off one relay. the guy that had the truck before me wired them just into the switch and battery nothing else.
do i have to wire two kc's to one relay each or can i run all 6 into on relay?
 
2 on each relay if they are going to be on any length of time. Really sucks to burn up wiring at night when you need them most.
 
You need a little more information if you are not going to risk a fire or other problems.

To keep the math simple, lets say each light is 140 watts, running on 14 volts with the alt running.
That equals 10 amps per light.
Most of the small relays used around here are rated at 20 amps, so two lights per relay.
And you need about 10 ga. wire to handle it. You could probably get by with 12, but 10 will have less loss and be happier with handling 20 amps.

NOW, here is where the trouble starts.
If you tie the input of all the relays together, THAT wire will see 60 amps.

10 ga ain't gonna cut it. You will need small battery cable.
8 ga. would handle the current, but you are going to lose voltage and the lights will not be as bright as they should.

I would go with 3 ga.

Or run individual wires to the battery.
If you go with the 3 ga., I would consider buying or building a heavy busbar with connections for the individual relays and one big connection for the 3 ga. wire.

There are several threads here about busbars.

I think this one has some pics.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=267400

Its huge, but worth the read.

Also, don't forget, the wire is only half the circuit. The ground has to be able to handle 60 amps too. If all the lights are mounted on one bar, held on with a couple of small bolts, there may not be enough conductor there to handle the current.

Consider another 3 ga wire from the light bar to the neg. side of the battery.
 
Those wires sound very thick!

Couldn't he just run three separate 12V (10 or 12 GA wire) leads from the battery to each of the three relays and then onto the lights? To turn the relay on, he could either have one toggle switch or three separate switches for each pair?
 
yes he can run three seperate circuits 1 relay per 10 ga wire fused at 20A then a 4th wire run through the toggle and to the coil connections on the relay.the current draw on the relays isnt that much.
 
Couldn't he just run three separate 12V (10 or 12 GA wire) leads from the battery to each of the three relays and then onto the lights?

Yep, I mentioned that when I said he could run individual wires, but I failed to mention that they could be smaller.

The relays themselves will draw a tiny amount. Probably less than an amp apiece, so small wire from them to the switch(es) is fine.

All of which, OakKnight beat me to<G>.
 
Yep, I mentioned that when I said he could run individual wires, but I failed to mention that they could be smaller.

The relays themselves will draw a tiny amount. Probably less than an amp apiece, so small wire from them to the switch(es) is fine.

All of which, OakKnight beat me to<G>.




thanks for all the info guys i went to auto zone today and picked up 3 relays and am going to run them to 3 diffrent switchs so it shouldnt draw as much power throught one wire.
thanks again:bow:
 

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