Rigid LED's with or without relay questions

[hrod79]

So I installed some 6" rigid led lights on the front of my gobi rack and one 10" led on the rear. I have seen the wire diagrams that [MENTION=78705]jangoforhire[/MENTION] and [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used and saw they used relays for lighting. The wires that came with the lights don't have relays used that I am guessing is due to the low amp of the LED lights. I wired them straight through the OTRATTW switches and they work. I am curious if this is fine for the application due to the Low amp. Or should I look into re-wiring the power through relays? Maybe [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] can give his .02 on this as well. Last thing I want to do is burn out my switches......

 

[hrod79]

 

[Antman]

So I installed some 6" rigid led lights on the front of my gobi rack and one 10" led on the rear. I have seen the wire diagrams that [MENTION=78705]jangoforhire[/MENTION] and [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used and saw they used relays for lighting. The wires that came with the lights don't have relays used that I am guessing is due to the low amp of the LED lights. I wired them straight through the OTRATTW switches and they work. I am curious if this is fine for the application due to the Low amp. Or should I look into re-wiring the power through relays? Maybe [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] can give his .02 on this as well. Last thing I want to do is burn out my switches......

As long as the OTRATTW switch is rated at or above the Amp rating of the original switch (it should be) you will be fine.

I already had the wiring in place from some Hella halogens that were up there first. THEY required relays. I would probably have used a relay anyway because I'm old-school, lol.

 

[1engineer]

So I installed some 6" rigid led lights on the front of my gobi rack and one 10" led on the rear. I have seen the wire diagrams that [MENTION=78705]jangoforhire[/MENTION] and [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used and saw they used relays for lighting. The wires that came with the lights don't have relays used that I am guessing is due to the low amp of the LED lights. I wired them straight through the OTRATTW switches and they work. I am curious if this is fine for the application due to the Low amp. Or should I look into re-wiring the power through relays? Maybe [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] can give his .02 on this as well. Last thing I want to do is burn out my switches......

Sorry my friend. I know a few things about a few things but I do know my limitations. I defer to [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] here.

 

[Jhalko]

I am not running relays with my rigids but when I add more lights I probably will, I think it will make for a clean safe installation. I didn't even know what a relay was until I asked [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] after learning more and seeing how others have done wiring I think something like a relay can add another level of safety for your wiring. In other words you may not need it but it doesn't hurt to add, and they are cheap.

 

[Narkhelek]

I wired them straight through the OTRATTW switches and they work. I am curious if this is fine for the application due to the Low amp. Or should I look into re-wiring the power through relays?

That should be fine given that the lights draw less than 3A each and the switches are rated at 15A or 20A. Do you have fuse protection in the circuit?

 

[hrod79]

That should be fine given that the lights draw less than 3A each and the switches are rated at 15A or 20A. Do you have fuse protection in the circuit?

Yes I do, installed a Blue Sea Systems blade fuse box same as [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used for his build. Even butchered a cutting board to use as mount.

 

[Narkhelek]

I'm running the same fuse box, it's awesome.

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

I am running relays on mine, even the 6" in back on the recommendation of people here.

 

[burninator]

Yes I do, installed a Blue Sea Systems blade fuse box same as [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used for his build. Even butchered a cutting board to use as mount.

Can we see the fuse box?

 

[hrod79]

I'll get a pic posted tomorrow.

 

[gshadow325]

Even rigid dually d2 that had more high power Led draw under 3 amps. They can be used without a relay but I too am old skool, I ran relays with all my lighting.

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

I run relays on electronics that draw around 50% of the amp draw rating of the switch that they are hooked up to. For your application I would not run a relay if you are running contura switches. The switches are rated for a 20 amp load and in my mind you are just introducing more wiring, more connections and more potential for something to get screwed up in the future. A 6 " rigid SR light bar draws 1.7 amps.... Hardly anything at all.

 

[eddiebx]

One other thing to consider is minimizing the length of wiring between the power source and the lamp. Unlike AC, low voltage DC hates traveling longer distances so you need to worry about voltage drop and all that good stuff (you need to use thicker wires for longer power wire runs for the same ampacity).

For example, you are tapping the power at the rear and the LED lamp is also installed in the rear...you don't want to run a power wire from the power source at the rear > to the front dash for the switch > and then back to the rear from the switch to the LED lamp,just for the sake of avoiding a relay. In this situation, putting a relay in the rear would minimize the length of the power wire substantially.

Pick a sufficient gauge wire, terminate your connections properly, and use fuses where needed and either way will be perfectly safe, so pick your poison.

 

[jangoforhire]

So I installed some 6" rigid led lights on the front of my gobi rack and one 10" led on the rear. I have seen the wire diagrams that [MENTION=78705]jangoforhire[/MENTION] and [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] used and saw they used relays for lighting. The wires that came with the lights don't have relays used that I am guessing is due to the low amp of the LED lights. I wired them straight through the OTRATTW switches and they work. I am curious if this is fine for the application due to the Low amp. Or should I look into re-wiring the power through relays? Maybe [MENTION=66316]1engineer[/MENTION] can give his .02 on this as well. Last thing I want to do is burn out my switches......

Sorry man I've been MIA for the past few weeks. Looks like all the good guys have got you covered!

 

[Narkhelek]

Pick a sufficient gauge wire, terminate your connections properly, and use fuses where needed and either way will be perfectly safe, so pick your poison.

That's a good point. Blue Sea's website has a great calculator for figuring out wire gauge that will take into account length of run.

 

[hrod79]