Wiring melting

[kjweston]

I have two fog lights and my renny light bar. I had the two lights hooked up with just an autozone light kit. (battery-> fuse-> switch-> light-> light-> ground) and its pretty skinny wire. when I got my renny bar i just wired it into that series instead of drilling big hole and buying harness. i soon started to see smoke coming from under my hood after about three minutes of having all the lights on. I'm pretty sure its because of the high gauge wiring. but i wanted to get some second opinions before buying stuff. is there a way to connect it to a fuse which would be better than keep running wires to battery? and if i get thicker wire will that solve the melting?

 

[JeepJeepster]

What did you wire the autozone lights to(where did you get power)? Are you saying you wired the renny bar lights INTO the wiring kit that came with the autozone lights? If so, I would NOT use the lights any more until you get that fixed.

You need to use a relay for the renny bar lights and not just run the power through the switch. I would do the same for the lights you bought from autozone.

Yes, correctly wiring the lights will keep the Jeep from burning to the ground.

 

[kjweston]

The two lights aren't autozone lights. They are factory Rubicon fogs its just the wiring is from autozone and power is straight from the battery. so i just need to buy a kit with a relay or a heavy duty kit and buy a relay separate? and have them bother running separate applications? i figured wiring it right would prevent it from burning to the ground. lol should I get thicker wire too?

 

[JeepJeepster]

Well, if you have the renny light bar wired into the harness for the Rubicon lights you need to separate those.

Im not sure what gauge the wire is that you bought for the rubicon lights so idk if you need a thicker wire of not. You could keep the wiring harness you got for the rubicon lights and add a relay to it then buy another kit with a relay in it for the renny lights and that kit will need to have decent size wiring. It has 4 lights at 55watts per light, so thats around 17amps.

Here is a neat diagram that shows what you need.

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that will also work for the renny lights but you will have 4 lights, not two.

 

[Boiler]

Yeah, I would not turn your lights on again until it is changed. You're going to want multiple relays (most are 30 amp), wire diameters selected to carry the amp load, and fuses sized to protect the wires. I'd probably do at least 3 relays and 3 fuses for your six lights. Check out how I did mine in the link at the bottom of this post. You don't have to do this much, but I'll never melt. If you'd like to discuss your wiring and the minimum that you should be doing, I could go through it with you some evening. PM me if you want and I'll give you my # and when I'll be around.

Otherwise list what the wattages are of all of the lights in question and also how many lights you want to turn on per switch. If you have any other functions you want (have them turn on only if your brights are on) or any other info like that, please include it and we can offer a little more tailored advice.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39591

 

[kjweston]

I have a renny bar that is all harnessed inside all I'm working with are the two wires out the bottom. Each light on the bar is 55w and the two fogs I have are both 55w. So that's six 55w lights. I was wanting to be able to turn on the whole bar with one switch and the two fogs with another. From what you guys have given me so far I will need another switch and at least three relays plus some fuses. but all four lights on top are wired down into two wires white and black. And I think you said something about a 30a relay only being safe with 2 55w lights. idk lol I thought it was pretty easy until I saw smoke and realized the easy way is the wrong and dangerous way..

 

[kjweston]

jeepjeepster, ill probably end up doing that diagram, looks the simplest. But should i use a higher amp fuse since its about 17 amps? or is 15 fine?

 

[sleeve]

NEVER run the full current load through the switch. [fire hazard]
Always use a relay to carry the current load. [see above]
Seperate circuits for different lights. [see above]

Just doing a basic calculation (assuming each light was 100W): I[current] = P[watts]/V[voltage], 600/12 = 50AMPS! If the 600Watts is correct, you ran 50Amps of current through "Small" wire probably about 10 feet long. IIRC / Rule of Thumb - 10GA wire can safely handle 30Amps with no voltage drop accross the span.

You saw smoke because your car was going to catch on fire.

 

[kb0nly]

You can use one relay for the Renegade light bar, no problem there that's the way its done from the factory. So buy a couple 30/40a relays from the local auto parts store and use the great diagram Jeepster posted above, that's the same as the instructions that come with the Hella driving lights, for your Renegade light bar.

One change though, you mentioned the other two were fog lights, you might want to wire constant battery power to the switch to turn the relay on and off for them instead of tapping to the high beam wire for the headlights, that way you can turn them on and off whenever you want. Or wire to the low beam wire at the headlights so you can have them on with the low beams when your switch is on, and they go off with the high beams, thats how most fogs work from the factory.

And if you don't want to run all that wiring through the firewall you can tap off the high beam and low beam fuses in the interior fuse box, drivers end of the dash, to feed your switches instead that's how i did mine. Just get a Tapa-Fuse from the auto parts store for a Mini-ATC fuse. You unplug the stock fuse, plug it into the tap and then put in a second fuse and plug the whole works into the fuse box. It's also nice because now your fuses are right there inside. I used a 1a fuse to feed the switches as Hella puts a 1a in their wiring kit, but also because all the switch needs is enough current to trigger the relay and if its a lighted switch it will also draw for that off its feed. I measured the current and with the switch on and the relay coil energized its just about 1/2 an amp.

My pair of Hella 500FF's draw about 9.2 amps as measured, so the 16awg wire it came with for the short run from the relay to the lights was plenty for my use otherwise i would have grabbed a spool of 12 or 10awg off the shelf.

 

[kjweston]

One change though, you mentioned the other two were fog lights, you might want to wire constant battery power to the switch to turn the relay on and off for them instead of tapping to the high beam wire for the headlights, that way you can turn them on and off whenever you want. Or wire to the low beam wire at the headlights so you can have them on with the low beams when your switch is on, and they go off with the high beams, thats how most fogs work from the factory.

so based on jeepsters diagram you saying put the red from battery directly into the switch where the green is supposed to go?

 

[Powerslave]

Watts / Volts = AMPS!

If you have six lights, at 50 watts each, that's 300 watts / 12 = 25 Amps

Use the correct related wire and relays.

 

[kb0nly]

Yeah run the green to another fuse, 1-2amp, and then connect that to the battery or to an always on circuit in the fuse box. Then you can turn them on and off whenever you want.

The benefit of running the switch wire to the headlight wiring is you can't forget to turn them off, they will go off with the headlights.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Keep the red going to the battery! Thats the wire that will have all the amps on it so it must go there.

What kb0nly is talking about, that green wire will given the relay power to energize when the bright lights are turned on. That green wire gives the switch its power, so where ever that green wire is wired to will determine when you can turn the lights on and off. For the fogs, you do not want them to come on when you have the bright lights on(well, you may, idk) so you can tap into 12volts somewhere else. You can even run the green wire to the battery if you want to be able to turn them on anytime. Only thing about that is your battery will run down if you leave them on. I like to wire lights like that to the park lights so they must be on to turn the aux lights on. Same goes for the renny lights, you do not HAVE to wire that green wire to the bright lights. But most people only use the renny lights with the bright lights so it makes sense. The renny lights will also come on with the bright lights given you have the switch on, which it nice.

ohh, and no, you will need a higher amp fuse than 15 amps if the renny lights use 17 amps. 55watt*4=220watts/13 volts=17 ampswhich is kinda a high estimate. 20 amp fuse would be the smallest I would use but you could use a 30 amp and not higher than 30. 30=A good size. For the fog lights 20 amp would be good.

 

[Powerslave]

You do not want the bulk of any current to flow through a switch. The switch should throw the 30+ amp relay, as there is no need to run nigh current through a switch. Use the switch, to throw a relay for the high current.

 

[Corwyyn]

Wow that diagram looks familiar...

I agree with Jeepster, for most situations where you want to be able to turn the lights on at any time tapping the 'sense' (green) wire to the park lamps is a good idea - that way when the BCM turns the lights off the auxiliary lights will go off as well. The only exception I have made is with my driving lights; those have the green 'sense' wire tapped to the high-beams with no switch in-line so the driving lights will only come on when my high beams come on and trip the relay for them.

 

[LibertyFever]

Hmmm...sounds to me that somebody needs to buy a fire extinguisher
and soon.

 

[kjweston]

Hmmm...sounds to me that somebody needs to buy a fire extinguisher
and soon.

haha have one mounted in rear window.

 

[kjweston]

ok, I got it all wired up with relays and fuses so I'm pretty sure I'm good to go...


But... now my speedometer is freaking out. it'll sit at zero and then all the sudden jump around all over the place then back to zero its like it has a mind of its own. When I had the black plastic under the windshield off I took the hoses off my sprayers then forgot to put them back on and sprayed windshield washer fluid all in there. But water can get there anyways. Any advice on that one? Thinking it may be a short in something there. This morning it was working fine for a few miles then started doing it again.. stealership may be getting their money today..