LED Wiring Help?

[Peteyen86]

Hey guys,

Bought one of these LED work lights a few months ago and plan on wiring it up this week.

Heres the link with LED specs and Light;

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-24V-...ccessories&hash=item4169fd5e44#ht_2823wt_1037

Not planning on using a relay, just want to wire it straight to the Batt with a fuse and switch in the cab.

Question is, what size fuse and wire should i use? No idea when it comes to this stuff.

Cheers Pete

 

[calcal]

10a

 

[FatBoy89]

It won't even draw 1 amp mate. 5 amp just to just for a dead short.

 

[Peteyen86]

Thanks guys. Just bought a carling light switch for it. Comes with instructions they say but next question will probably how to get it working properly..haha.

Thanks again

Pete

 

[justdrinkbeer]

I've got 2 of them on the b ack of my ute, they're awesome.

5A fuse

 

[Old.Tony]

15W is just over 1A. You can use light duty wire for it - 10A stuff - the voltage drop will be significant over a long run but it shouldn't bother the light too much. A relay is not needed, t it just complicates things. You don't even really need to run direct from the battery - there are 'live' wires behind the dash, you can just plug into one of those (and put your fuse into that). A 1.25A of additional draw won't bother any of the systems too much.

 

[Aussie Frontier]

Actually Tony I would be careful just attacking a "live " wire. Some of the crap behind the dash is somewhat sensitive.
I would actually try to connect to the cigarette lighter to be safe.
I connected a relay to the power outlet in the center console and that disabled the central locking. No idea what it did but it upset the balance and the system went nuts .

 

[Old.Tony]

And a relay draws even less than that light ... live and learn. The ciggy lighter it ought to be!

 

[Peteyen86]

No worries guys. I would use the cigarette lighter but already have the uhf wired to that, so probably don't want the light on it also.

Pete

 

[Old.Tony]

The ciggie lighter - if you're not trying to use it as a ciggie lighter - will easily handle the load of a UHF radio + 1.5A. The radio should draw no more than 2-3A on its own anyway - max output = 5W or about half an amp. The outlet should be capable of 10A easily - plenty of room to spare. Just don't use it for too much else!

 

[Peteyen86]

The ciggie lighter - if you're not trying to use it as a ciggie lighter - will easily handle the load of a UHF radio + 1.5A. The radio should draw no more than 2-3A on its own anyway - max output = 5W or about half an amp. The outlet should be capable of 10A easily - plenty of room to spare. Just don't use it for too much else!

Thanks for the info mate. Will keep it in mind if i cant find another location. Was thinking i could tap into the constant 12v from the headunit also?

Pete

 

[Jason]

Remember that fuses are in place to protect wiring, not components. So whatever the current carrying capacity of the cable is you can fuse just under it. To save money you should use the lightest cable possible to provide the necessary current to the component.

 

[Old.Tony]

The head unit could draw more power and might be rated closer to the limit - leaving you with less room to move.

In the cig lighter in my car, I've got two phones and a UHF radio running from it. That's just half an amp under what you're trying to do. I can't use mine for anything else because I used the socket itself.

 

[Peteyen86]

Remember that fuses are in place to protect wiring, not components. So whatever the current carrying capacity of the cable is you can fuse just under it. To save money you should use the lightest cable possible to provide the necessary current to the component.

I bought some wire from supercheap tonight, 10 amp stuff was the smallest they had. 10 amp was the smallest fuse and holder they had also, will this be ok?

Pete

 

[Peteyen86]

The head unit could draw more power and might be rated closer to the limit - leaving you with less room to move.

In the cig lighter in my car, I've got two phones and a UHF radio running from it. That's just half an amp under what you're trying to do. I can't use mine for anything else because I used the socket itself.

Ok I might just hook into the cig lighter then. If I don't have the cb running and the led, I'd be right if I needed to use the lighter?

 

[Jason]

I bought some wire from supercheap tonight, 10 amp stuff was the smallest they had. 10 amp was the smallest fuse and holder they had also, will this be ok?

Pete

Yep, you'll be fine.

 

[Peteyen86]

Yep, you'll be fine.

Cheers thanks for the help.

Pete

 

[Old.Tony]

Ok I might just hook into the cig lighter then. If I don't have the cb running and the led, I'd be right if I needed to use the lighter?

Without any worries at all, yep.

 

[Peteyen86]

Thanks for the help guys. Got it all installed the other night. Came in hand already for pulling a mate out of a bog hole last night.

 

[terryc]

All the auto places sell multi-sockets to plug into the ciggy socket so you can run your GPs, UHF, mobile recharge, torch recharge, etc, etc simultaneously.

Just keep it away from The Boss who plugged something into one I had just purchased and blew it up. I can not remember what it was she plugged into it, but "it was the only socket around and it was right shape" Sigh, one of those moments when you want to howl at the stupidity, but know it will be hot tongue and cold shoulder for days if you so much as make any noise of mirth.