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how is my wiring job?

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Old Jul 16, 2011 | 06:12 PM
  #1  
85gijunk4x4's Avatar
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From: piney hicks nj
how is my wiring job?

I wanted to run this past the professionals. I bassicly taught myself wiring, and just to be safe then sorry, i wanted to get your oppinion on my wiring job!

i have 2 55w off road lights, heres how i did my wiring. i started off with the 2 terminals that go onto the battery, i then solderd them onto a red and black length of 18guage wire. i covered the solder with shrinkwrap and shrunk it. theres also an in-line fuse on the possitve wire.





i then ran the wires into a relay, again soldered and shrink wrapped ontop the solder.



thew whole length of wire on the switch in shrinkwrapped, and the wire that goes to the lights is shrink tubed, and has those clip connecters, so i can take the bumper off.

so is 18 gauge wire good enough? are my solders covered with shrinktube good? i Also have all the loose wires wrapped in a wireloom to keep them neat. Am i gonna start any fires? Just wanna double check my wire job! let me know what your thinkin

Last edited by 85gijunk4x4; Jul 16, 2011 at 06:13 PM.
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Old Jul 16, 2011 | 06:24 PM
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From: Spokane, WA
Lol.. You won't start fires with 18 gauge wire. It'll melt the copper and stop the short long before it gets even remotely hot enough to melt anything else.

Also, if they're only 55W lights, you really don't need a relay. A 30 amp fuse, with a toggle rated to 30+ amps works just as good, with significantly less future grounding issues.

And no, don't let anybody tell you youre going to burn your truck down by doing that. The wires don't een get remotely hot to the touch, and the likely hood of a fire-related short is nil because of the 30 amp in-series fuse.
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Old Jul 16, 2011 | 06:27 PM
  #3  
85gijunk4x4's Avatar
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From: piney hicks nj
so am i good to go? my main concerns were the inline fuse being in the wrong spot, and the 2 wires soldered together covered by just shrinktube. also, is it okay that i have a thicker gauge wire going to the batter, soldered to an 18guage wire?
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Old Jul 16, 2011 | 06:54 PM
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From: Austin, Texas
Originally Posted by peow130
Lol.. You won't start fires with 18 gauge wire. It'll melt the copper and stop the short long before it gets even remotely hot enough to melt anything else.

Also, if they're only 55W lights, you really don't need a relay. A 30 amp fuse, with a toggle rated to 30+ amps works just as good, with significantly less future grounding issues.

And no, don't let anybody tell you youre going to burn your truck down by doing that. The wires don't een get remotely hot to the touch, and the likely hood of a fire-related short is nil because of the 30 amp in-series fuse.





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