Put a 20A into my tails instead of a 10A

I have LED fog lights. And the 10A's kept blowing everytime I turn the switch. Switch to a 20A and problem solved but I was wondering if this is bad for the fuse box?

 

We all don't want that to happen.

 

And your the guy that will help warranty it out right?

 

that's why the lights need to be run on a separate power wire and fuse from the battery, then run the switch to a relay that turns them on. this way you are not pulling too much power through the wiring and fuse box that isn't designed to handle it.

 

If the 10A don't work anymore I'm going down to a 15A. That sounds like a lot of work, this is why I'm not good at electronics/wiring in a vehicle

 

Your 10 amp keeps popping because your having issues else where. Could be a bad ground that's creating spikes, I'm not exactly sure. By switching to a larger fuse will help it not pop anymore, but as everyone started, your taco could catch fire.

The purpose of the fuse is to pop before it reaches the rest of your system. Killing all power before the fuse. By putting a larger fuse your allowing the problem to bypass and into your system. Which will light your whole truck up.

You should always want your fuse to blow not your taco.

 

The amperage draw out of your fog lights are either near or exceeding 10 amps which is why the 20 amp one is still intact. General rule for installing fuses into circuitry is to double the amperage the circuit is capable of (eg a circuit drawing 20 amps typically gets a 40 installed into it). Seeing that you are drawing or very close to drawing 10 amps out of those fogs, you are safe 10aX2=20a.

Check all wiring running to it to ensure that it is all intact and safe from grounds to prevent shorts, if it all checks out, don't worry about it.

 

Running a relay will take you an hour more, tops. You just go to any automotive store, buy an auxiliary 4 pin 30 A relay, and wire it up properly. Then bingo, your LEDs will be on their own 10A (or whatever you choose for your fuse on the LED circuit, just make sure the wiring is rated for well above the fuse amperage) fused circuit and you won't be over taxing the reverse light circuit.

 

Running a relay is always a safer bet than guessing that the wiring can handle double the amps it appears to be rated for. Without checking every connection in the rear light circuit constantly OP will never know if something has or will go wrong. The last thing you want in a vehicle on a highway is an electrical fire. I've seen the results of what happens over a couple of PIAA lights tied into the high beams wrong on an older GM truck. It's not a cheap fix, if it's even fixable by the time you have the fire out.

The excuse that someone doesn't know how to setup a relay is just an excellent excuse to learn how to do the job properly.

 

These aren't tails though, they are fog lights. Lol. I skimmed too fast and thought they were tails at first though.

Running a relay or a switch which is tied into a fuse then the battery is also another good solution as well. I get the feeling OP initially installed stock style replacement LED fogs and tied them into the stock circuitry, left the fuse intact in the underhood junction block and the lights combined amperage draw is overexceeding the fuse as its limiter.

Now if he installed a paper clip to keep it going that would raise some serious red flags, but based upon what's happening I know firsthand what is going on. It being his truck ultimately his own decision, the first thing I would advise is just like you said or the fused switch method. If he doesn't want to go that route and potentially risk it. I am giving him the alternate version. A higher rated fuse like this one will blow easily if there is a true short or electrical problem is where I'm getting at. This one has a strong initial amperage draw which is why it would be a good idea to inspect wiring if he does not want to do it the alternate "aftermarket" way.

Additionally, if he wants to dive deeper into it he could disconect the fogs, manually power them up by hand, check their amperage draw upon fire up and check the specifications on the particular brand he bought. While LED's run lower then traditional halogens right out of the gate, they are still very capable of producing some good power draw out of them especially when assembled as an on all at once sort of unit (if they are using multiple LED's in the singular unit).

 

For some reason I read it as he had added LED reverse lights, not fog lights, as well.

I'm just suggesting the safest route, no offense intended, because I'd hate to see an accident with OPs truck because he's the unlucky guy whose wiring wasn't able to handle even 5 amps of extra load for whatever reason. Like you said, either method that installs a new separate fused circuit for his new lights is his safest bet. Not to say he wouldn't get away with just running a higher amperage fuse, but for someone who might do more electrical mods, this is also a great time for him to learn how to add additional circuits properly for anything he wants to add to his truck.

 

Lol yeah I really need to stop skimming so much when I read. It bites me in the ass sometimes. To get back to the topic of conversation though, I highly agree on if he plans on adding more electrical mods, now would be a great time to dive into the world of electrical and shoot for safe overkill.

OP, you know what to do from here. The floor is yours on which route you choose to go. Best of luck to you.

 

If the op just replaced standard bulbs with leds the amp draw would be lower, no issues with stock wiring and fuse. So there would be a problem if a fuse is blowing.

If op is running aftermarket fogs off a factory circuit circuit that is rated at 10a he can run into problems using a larger fuse. If your wires are protecting your fuse instead of the fuse protecting your wires bad things will happen.

If the op is running aftermarket fogs off of aftermarket wiring its possible the included fuse was undersized to start, would need to know the lights wattage to know for sure.

 

Sorry I forgot to inform you guys that I switched my wires around. The side lights are now blinkers and blinkers are fogs. I never had this problem until today and I been running LEDs in the old blinker housing for over a year

Edit: I will read your guys input tomorrow. I quickly skimmed through it. Thanks for your help guys

 

Once you start getting creative with your wiring, things kind of go off the table. Asking factory wiring to do what it was never intended to do can (usually) cause problems. If it's not today, it can be a major headache in the future. Run a new circuit for your fogs.

In a similar vein, blinkers make poor quality fog lights unless you're just wanting something lit up on the lower bumper. If you replace the factory blinkers with a set of dedicated fog lights you'll get (likely) better performance.

 

Might have a friend help me hook up a relay so I can run them on a separate switch. It's working with the 10A fuse now. I believe the blown LED I had kept blowing my fuse everytime I turned it on or it was because I kept turning the switch off and on.

 

You quoted while I was in mid edit

A blown LED *shouldn't* blow a fuse. They tend to just not work. Switching on/off shouldn't affect things either. A fuse is basically blown by temperature. Too many amps = too much heat, so it melts open. It just melts really quick when things go badly. On/off (basically) doesn't increase heat along a wire, it is just as warm as the amps it's pulling. If there is a location for the current to spark though (loose connection) that will increase heat. Arcing can start a fire if it's often and fast enough.

If I were me (and I am) I'd install a 30-40a relay with appropriate gauge wiring to allow for future upgrades if need be. You can still use the existing circuit and switch as the trigger for the relay. In the cab it will work identically, you'll just be actually drawing through the relay instead of the factory wiring. A relay takes about no power to trigger so you'll be reducing the amp draw through your original wiring.

 

I can, I did this for looks and the function of it both . They do work good, idk I might just do this for future reference once I'm bored.