Idaho BS thread in the PNW

only need the 2 what

 

Ben I'm pretty sure he ran the wires strait from the battery to the switch no in cab tap from the fuse box

 

Relays are for fancy people

 

Meh that's what I did. My switch melted though. When I install the light forces I'm putting a relay in fo sho!

 

as long as i have a fuse its not a big deal to run from the battery, its how i had my last light set up wired. but on that one i grounded the switch also and it didn't drain the battery. since i have a wire from the battery to a fuse to a switch the issue has to be between the battery and the switch right? because the switch stops all power past it any way right? there cant be a circuit being made elsewhere down the line if the switch stops the flow

yes, no in cab tap but i have a fuse in the line from the battery to the switch

 

My guess is you turned the truck off but not the lights. I did that once the lights turned off with the truck but still drew power.

 

oh no, i would know if i left them on, there is no way lol.

 

This thread is never active

 

Are you certain it is not the battery? Or the alternator? I hear what you are saying about having just done the new lights and all but its easy enough to also verify that alt is putting out 14 VDC and that the batt will hold a charge. Easier that ripping apart all you wiring work.

 

Ive had that happen several times since i bought my truck. Most of the times it was a power wire touching somewhere on the truck and killing it or the terminal wires touching each other.

My guess is its either -a wire shorting out on the battery or truck
-fuse
-lights were left on

 

this thread is full of awesomeness

 

I am full of mashed potatoes and gravy

 

after jumping it and driving it for over 25 minutes there was not enough juice in the battery to turn it over again after sitting for a little while, i think the battery might be screwed now too,

do you mean power wire for lights or just a general power wire? the only idea i can think of as far as the lights go it that some of the rubber coating on the wire from the battery got stripped off feeding it through the firewall, and exposed enough wire to make a connection to the metal firewall and drain my battery and kill a cell and ruin it thats the only thing i can think of atm, im going to take the battery tomorrow and see if its toast.

 

Still could be the alt. Is it putting out 14 VDC? Will it continue to run with the battery disconnected?

 

i didnt check the alt. ill give that a shot tomorrow too, if i cant find a tester, you said i could test it by unplugging the battery?

 

yes if you disconnect the battery and the engine remains running then your alternator is good oif the engine dies then it's time for an alt and possibly a battery. If you did break the insulation while feeding the wire through the firewall then the fuse would have (hopefully) blown on the lighting circuit. I'm going to assume that the fuse is before the switch.

 

Yeah. With the engine running, disconnect the positive cable. If the alt is good, the engine will continue to run. If the engine quits when you disconnect the batt, the alt is not putting out enough juice.

I think the stock alt putts out 90 amps max, at 14.2 vdc or thereabouts. The highest I've ever seen on my scangauge is 14.2. If you put a volt meter across the batt posts you should see at least 13.5 (or higher). If the alt is bad, it'll be 11 or 12.

 

if you hook the DVM straight up to the battery you will blow the meter and have to replace the fuses. ( only for testing amperage) if you go post to post like digiratus stated you should get somewhere between 13.7-15 VDC depending on the volt meter and alt output.
hopefully it's something simple electrical issues can be a bitch to figure out

 

i had a Alpine MRP-M1000 powering my 10" L7 when i had my scion tC and it was a powerful setup! fairly decent price at about 300 too... its worth a look