I'm installing four Hella 500 lights on the front of my rack on the topper, and two work/flood lights on the back of the topper. The Hella 500 lamps have stock 55w bulbs, I believe the rear flood lights are also 55 watt bulbs.
I am running seperate relays, switches, and wiring for each pair of lights mostly as a reduncancy so I don't lose any substantial amount of wiring should one system fail.
I've sorted out all but two items that I'm still trying to decide on.
First, in order to mount the relays where I want them (forward portion of the LH inner fender panel) I am going to install a junction block, which will have the added benefit of only having to install one terminal on the battery, thus keeping the wiring a bit cleaner. Since I'm an electrical newb, I'm not sure what size wire I need to run to supply power to all six of the 55w lights I'm installing. The inline fuses will be in the individual wires from the junction block to the relays. Will 8ga. wire be sufficient from the battery to the junction block?
Secondly, rather than attaching to the existing high beam wiring as suggested in the Hella wiring diagrams, I want to attach to a different fused power source that will allow me to run the lights off road without the high beams engaged. The two options I am considering are as follows:
* Run an additional power source from the battery or junction box, install inline fuses prior to the switches.
* Locate an alternate fused circuit (I'm open to suggestions here) and utilize that for the Hella lights
The rear lights will be powered (to the switch at least) via a non-switched always hot 12v source so that the rear fogs can be turned on if desired while camp is set up. Obviously they will be used sparingly to prevent draining the battery.
Any input from some more electrically inclined experts here would be very much appreciated. I am going to begin fabricating the wiring harness for the rear lights tonight and hope to install all of the wiring for the lights this weekend.:coffeedrink:
I am running seperate relays, switches, and wiring for each pair of lights mostly as a reduncancy so I don't lose any substantial amount of wiring should one system fail.
I've sorted out all but two items that I'm still trying to decide on.
First, in order to mount the relays where I want them (forward portion of the LH inner fender panel) I am going to install a junction block, which will have the added benefit of only having to install one terminal on the battery, thus keeping the wiring a bit cleaner. Since I'm an electrical newb, I'm not sure what size wire I need to run to supply power to all six of the 55w lights I'm installing. The inline fuses will be in the individual wires from the junction block to the relays. Will 8ga. wire be sufficient from the battery to the junction block?
Secondly, rather than attaching to the existing high beam wiring as suggested in the Hella wiring diagrams, I want to attach to a different fused power source that will allow me to run the lights off road without the high beams engaged. The two options I am considering are as follows:
* Run an additional power source from the battery or junction box, install inline fuses prior to the switches.
* Locate an alternate fused circuit (I'm open to suggestions here) and utilize that for the Hella lights
The rear lights will be powered (to the switch at least) via a non-switched always hot 12v source so that the rear fogs can be turned on if desired while camp is set up. Obviously they will be used sparingly to prevent draining the battery.
Any input from some more electrically inclined experts here would be very much appreciated. I am going to begin fabricating the wiring harness for the rear lights tonight and hope to install all of the wiring for the lights this weekend.:coffeedrink: