The best way to wire 5 led lights

[Timcyn7]

Im just redoing my wiring in my d22 and adding some more lights.
First off whats the best way to wire up the relay? Which wire should the dash switch be wired to? At the moment i have it running the battery feed:
http://www.navara.asia/attachment.php?attachmentid=16198&stc=1&d=1407098275



I was thinking of doing it this way:
http://www.navara.asia/attachment.php?attachmentid=16199&stc=1&d=1407098145

Whats the best way? I was thinking the batt feed shouldnt be running through the switch?

Also can i piggy back the high beam trigger wire to other relays? Ill have 2 lights per relay and then another relay running a single light. So can i piggy back the trigger wire from relay 1 to 2 and to 3? like this:
http://www.navara.asia/attachment.php?attachmentid=16200&stc=1&d=1407098766

Whats the best way? each led light is 10amp, with the relays being 30amp each.

 

[Navmania]

I would be switching the trigger wire otherwise you will need to run a high amp switch. The best way is to hard wire the power feeds to the relays. Switch the trigger as it's only low amps and you can use a variety of switches. If you are going to piggyback the relay supply wires you need to make sure the wire is big enough to power everything if running at once. If only one thing will be on at any one time then it's not so critical. If you need a diagram I can post one up if you like.

Cheers, Brad

 

[Timcyn7]

Thanks for the info Brad. Diagram would be great if you have time.
Is there away to measure the amps etc on that trigger wire? i have a multimeter.
So i can work out the correct wire size for the piggyback triggers?

edit: What size wire do you recommend i use for everything?

 

[Navmania]

A relay uses very low amps to trigger it so a 5amp wire will be more than enough to trigger all three. What wattage are you lights going to be. You could use one relay to power them if they aren't to powerful.

This is how you calculate amps used from lights (Watts)

If you have a 100 watt spot light running on 12 volts it's 100 divided by 12 = 8.3 amps so round it up to 10 amps.
So a 30 amp relay can run up to 3 100 watt lights but I would use a 40 amp relay just to beef it up. It's only a few bucks more for a 40 amp relay anyway.

I will put a diagram for you.

 

[Timcyn7]

Im going to run either 4 90w led's and a 120w light bar OR 3 96w led's and a 120w light bar OR 3 111w led's and a 120w light bar lol, Havant decided yet.

Just say i went with the 3 lights + 1 light bar, i could run the 3 led lights of one 40 amp relay and the light bar of another 30amp relay? and piggy back the trigger wire to the relays using 5amp wire?

http://www.navara.asia/attachment.php?attachmentid=16201&stc=1&d=1407104208

 

[nuckin futs]

im not 100% sure but dont you need a seperate switch for light bars

 

[Navmania]

Im going to run either 4 90w led's and a 120w light bar OR 3 96w led's and a 120w light bar OR 3 111w led's and a 120w light bar lol, Havant decided yet. Just say i went with the 3 lights + 1 light bar, i could run the 3 led lights of one 40 amp relay and the light bar of another 30amp relay? and piggy back the trigger wire to the relays using 5amp wire? http://www.navara.asia/attachment.php?attachmentid=16201&stc=1&d=1407104208

Any of your combos will work with that diagram. The only thing I would do is run two 30amp relays if running the four 90 watt lights. This is only due to connections made easier.

4 x 90 watts = 30 amps
3 x 96 watts = 24 amps
3 x 111watts = 28 amps
1 x 120 watt = 10 amps

Just remember the supply wire to the relays need to be able to handle the combined current when they are all running. Also the fuse needs to be big enough. That's why sometimes it's better to split things up. Run one supply wire for the three or four and another for the light bar as you have drawn up. Run two supply wires and two fuses. One switch can be used and it will take less than 1 amp to trigger them.

Cheers.

 

[Timcyn7]

rhito mate thanks a million, very much appreciated.

 

[Old.Tony]

Here's how my light bars are wired up. The switches at the bottom of the diagram are separate switches, I ran a wire from an earth point inside the cabin and connected it to one pole on the switch, and ran the other side out of the cabin. This wire is only earthing the coil side of the relay, so the amount of power flowing through it - and the switch - is quite small. Same goes for the amount of power being drawn from the high beam circuit - it's only enough to energise the coil in the relay. You wouldn't even bother to add it into your calculations, it's so small.

The driving lights are supplied relay power from inside the cabin, done by the dealer and not necessarily the way I'd do it - I am considering rewiring it. That's why there's a switch missing from it in the blue wire feeding power to the relay.

Hope it helps.

 

[Navmania]

Heres a rough one i threw together.

 

[sparra04]

im not 100% sure but dont you need a seperate switch for light bars

yes you do
ROOF mounted bars need a dedicated switch NOT connected to the headlight loom in any way

 

[Timcyn7]

Thanks Tony, i had the ipf lights from the factory and when i upgraded them to other hid's i thought i could just unplug the ipf's and plug new ones in lol No way! I couldnt figure it out so i ripped it all out and wired my own circuit up.

Brad thats exactly what i was just drawing up on paper. Thanks heaps.

One last question..... Do i get a better earth wiring them up to the battery or will there be no difference if i just ground them off somewhere.?
And what size wire? I have some 8awg power cable here from an amp kit, i can use that to go from the battery to the relays and i was thinking some 14awg or 16awg? to run to the lights from the relays?

 

[Navmania]

Mate for switching wires I just go to supercheap and buy a 10m trailer 7 core pack. Strip it back and use what ever color you want. For the lights it all depends on the length of the wire and the current draw. Go to Jaycar and have a look at their fig 8 or their 8 gauge single. Those two options are the cheapest way I have found and good quality wire also.

If the forum moderators are interested I can draw up a heap of different wiring diagrams and post them up so others can just download them and wire away. Maybe a sticky just for diagrams. I have all the ones for my Nav from the break controller, dual batteries, spotlights, air pump auxiliary outlets etc. even drawing them up to suit current laws would be a good idea for the light bars etc. also can do a page on switch choices etc. sky's the limit. Probably why mine is starting to look like a cockpit from an airbus A380.

 

[Timcyn7]

.

If the forum moderators are interested I can draw up a heap of different wiring diagrams and post them up so others can just download them and wire away.

That would be the best thing since sliced bread!

 

[Timcyn7]

Update : I have hooked 4 x 70w led up. Have the 4 running from 1, 5 pin relay ( 2x87). I wanted to know how much amps they are drawing so I started going down in size with the fuse. I got down to 10amp before it blew. Running a 15 amp now in it. Doesn't seem right? They should be drawing 6amp each.

 

[Old.Tony]

They are probably drawing somewhere in the region of 20-25A. Fuses won't blow until they're getting 2-3 times their rated current, but they are designed to protect from a fault and in a car power situation those "faults" are usually short circuits, and your battery can deliver ... well, read the CCA rating on it. 700 amps will blow every fuse in your car in very, very short order. Your 15A fuse would likely blow after a few minutes - it will start to heat up under the load, and as it heats up it will start to resist the flow of power which will cause it to heat up further - it won't last long at that point.

Running a single light through a 10A multimeter will give you a far better idea of their actual consumption.

 

[Timcyn7]

rito mate thanks. Just done an hour of driving and still going strong. All wires are nice and cool. Im using 25amp wire from the battery to the relay driving all the lights. I first used 8gauge stuff from a 1000w amp kit, but it got really hot. So the only thing i had was 25amp stuff and that doesnt even get warm.

 

[Navmania]

Hi mate. Old tony is bang on. The fuse is designed to protect the wiring and appliance hooked up to it. In the event of a dead short the fuse need to blow before the wire melts and catches on fire. Your fuse should be rated to suit the cable more than what's hooked up to it. You will find as old tony has said the fuse will just heat up and more than likely melt the fuse and the holder. Your setup will be drawing around 24amps. You can buy a amp meter from Jaycar and I have seen them in supercheap that you just plug into the fuse and it will tell you the current draw and load on the system. They are pretty cheap also.
Cheers. Brad.

 

[Timcyn7]

I got a multi meter today. I plugged into the fuse and the total draw was 14.9amps. Each set of lights is drawing 7.2amps. So that was a bit surprising lol. Being a Chinese light it could be any wattage. I had a light bar pushing 21000 lumen, and these are meant to be 5000 lumen each, I have 4.and they blow the light bar out of the water. Massive amount of light.