Uthro69

so i redid the wiring to my KC lights i used 10 gauge positive and 14 gauge negative, i ran the wire down thru a hole in the bed of my truck thru a rubber seal into my cab, question is if where the wire is running thru the truck of my bed, if the positive wire is sliced and touched the frame of the truck would that be causing blown fuses and lights wont work? just having positive flow grounding?

justin_4runner

yes it would, also did u use a relay when u wired up the lights or just went from batt to switch to lights?

Uthro69

battery-fuse-switch-lights

I got under the truck with a light and looked at the lead power wire that was coming thru the hole in the bed and i see exposed wire thats touching the frame, it was fine for a while but soon as i started it and drove it im thinking the vibrations cut right thru the wire

And where should i hook up the relay? dont exactly understand a relay

justin_4runner

by adding a relay it will give u more power to the lights and they will be a little brighter, also u can fry wires and switches by running the way u did. if u look in the electrical section and find the thread about fues and what kind to use in there is a wire diagram for hooking up a relay to ur kc lights.

Uthro69

all the other stuff is working fine, i run a 30 am fuse for the push button starter i run a 10 am fuse for my gps and im gonna run 25 amps for the kc lights, i just gotta come up with a way to make sure the wires arent getting cut going thru that hole in my bed.

justin_4runner

what amp switch u using? one of the ones that has the light in it and turns on and off as u turn it on and off?? those are 10 amp ones i think and by running a 25 amps threw it could burn it up... just a warning,

Uthro69

i know what ur talking about its a 25 amp switch hehe got ya there, i was told this set up would be fine as long as i ran the right wire and made sure i used the right fuse and the right amp rated switch.

justin_4runner

it will work i just always had better success using the relay method. had a couple wires burn up on me a couple times.

Uthro69

well if this doesnt work ill run a relay but i spent all damn day doing all this lol.... but that power wire cant be touched the frame at all right? even if its barely touched it it will burn up fuses and cause my lights to not fire

justin_4runner

yup. if the wire touches ground it will pop fuses and the lights will never work. so make sure the wire doesn't touch any body or frame areas, or it will keep blowing fuses or u could also end up with a fried wire.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

If you run a wire through metal you need to use a rubber grommet or make one out of something.

A piece of fuel line works great with some silicone to help it from moving.

I think a lot of these people have stock in companies that make relays and push them all the time.

You do save on the size of the wire and switch to pull in the coil as you are only energizing an electromagnet that pulls in contacts sending power to the load.

As long as your wire and switch are the proper size to handle the current needed you should be fine unless you have a shorted wire.

You always want to fuse the circuit as low as possible this being as close to the actual load as practical.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

He said the insulation was worn through so therefore he has a short.

As far as relays, they serve a valid function, it is not because people own stock in companies that make the components. Car manufacturing as evolved beyond the simple fuse block you would find on an old car.

xxxtreme22r

using a relay allows you to run the full current through a shorter amount of wire which is safer. It also tends to supply the lights with better power because the wire is shorter therefore sometimes it actually allows the lights to be brighter as well.

If you do happen to have a short in the longer run of control wire for the relay, there is less risk of shorting high current because to trip the relay requires very little current, this is also safer as well.

Also the longer the run of wire, the larger the gauge of wire has to be to supply the same amount of current and vise versa. The shorter the run of wire sometimes you can step down a size on the gauge which can in some instances create less of a voltage drop as well. Even a half a volt can make a big difference in the light output of a bulb.