Just wired lights they are not working.

I just wired bed lights into the pockets of in the bed. The lights are the blazer off road lights from walmart(maybe the problem but I hope not). The lights will not light up after wiring them Ive checked all my connections and the inline fuse and all is good. Ive attached how i have ran my wiring. Maybe my thought process is wrong. Any help from those with more expertise would be very much appreciated.

 

If you wired them as you say on that diagram.......then they should work.
You have a volt meter to check n make sure there's voltage running thru?

 

I don't have a volt meter here with me right now. Ill have to check it tomorrow if its not raining. Just kinda aggravating. .

 

always check that you have a good ground....this is usually the culprit.

 

Got em working. Went to lowes and got a volt meter. My grounding point was fine. the t-tap on my ground wire was loose. fixed and now i have light now i need some bad ass off road lights for the front and some better back up lights.

 

T-Taps are the work of the devil.

Strip, twist, solder, waterproof heat-shrink or heat-shrink and ScotchKote.

All T-Taps will eventually fail.

 

you should use a 30amp relay in your wiring as well, otherwise you risk a vehicle fire!



here is how you should correctly wire your auxiliary lights using a 30amp relay!!!

 

here is another diagram that is even easier to follow

 

So right on about the relay. I just had this discussion on another thread. They are lifesavers.

Keep the voltage in the engine compartment not the cab (which a relay will do). If not you have all that amprage sitting on one side of the switch and they will melt and burn. By using a relay all the switch does is energize the relay to turn the lights on and off rather than make/break power. Super eassy to wire up and super safe.

 

A 30 amp fuse running through 18ga wire to the switch is also risking a vehicle fire, as would be (marginally) anything smaller than 12ga from the relay to the lights.

80% rule.
Continuous load no greater than 80% of the fuse value
Fuse value no greater than 80% of the circuit design.

30 amp relay is okay with 14ga wire (rated to 32a), but it should not be run with a fuse larger than 24a.

The 18ga wire going to the switch should have it's own fuse (less than 13a)... or if the switch is only a 3a switch, then it should have a 2.5a fuse (regardless of the wire size). In this case, the 18ga wire is simply for durability.

 

Nice ..great info to know!

 

Just for reference:

24ga = 3.5a = 2.8a fuse = 2.24a load continuous
22ga = 7a = 5.6a fuse = 4.48a load
20ga = 11a = 8.8a fuse = 7.04a load
18ga = 16a = 12.8a fuse = 10.24a load continuous
16ga = 22a = 17.6a fuse = 14.08a load continuous
14ga = 32a = 25.6a fuse = 20.48a load continuous
12ga = 41a = 32.8a fuse = 26.24a load continuous
10ga = 55a = 44a fuse = 35.2a load continuous
8ga = 73a = 58.4a fuse = 46.72a load continuous
6ga = 101a = 80.8a fuse = 64.64a load continuous
4ga = 135a = 108a fuse = 86.4a load continuous

 

Why so?

I've not looked into the details on my Tacoma, but I've never encountered a vehicle that did not follow that with the exception of the battery cables, but that is not a continuous load.

 

thanks rich. im a commercial electrician in canada and obviously know the ratings for building wiring but didnt know those specs for vehicles.

 

Very good info. Defiantly agree with the relay, as I work with them on refrigeration units and very rarely have I had a relay fail, its usually something else in the circuit. The info on the ga/ fuse /continuous load is very good info. Thanks

 

This is goin to have to take more looking at to understand everything. But i do need to clean up the wiring so i might as well redo it right like stated above.

 

Ya, NEC has no spec on anything smaller than 18.. and they aren't as liberal as my chart, BUT I'm pretty sure the NEC spec is for max breaker size and not 100% of the wire capacity. Looking at it that way, the NEC is just a bit more stringent than my chart, and still below my "load" column.

 

It's never going to hurt to go with a larger wire.
Especially in a vehicle, it's going to be more durable, easier to "dress" into the harness, and less likely to be damaged from chaffing (sharp edges should still be avoided or padded).

Personally, I'll try to go at least one wire gauge larger than the fuse would normally be good for, and it's rare that I use anything smaller than 14 for anything but speakers or a relay switching circuit.... I'll use 18 on those, but fuse the relay switching circuit at 3a

 

yah the NEC is over kill for sure but better safe then sorry

 

I'd rather have overkill when I'm working on a house.

Buddy threw me some work a few years ago when I was out of work for 7 months. Installed a shitload of recessed cans upstairs. Easy work, weather wasn't bad for working in an attic, existing circuits were more than adequate.

When buying material, the first couple of trips to Lowe's he'd ask if we really needed this or that.
He stopped asking the 2nd time I responded "We really don't need it, is your fire insurance paid up?"

You know the biggest PITA on that job? He wanted 3" adjustable eyeball cans over the pillows with separate switches next to the bed.
One side wasn't a big deal, but the other side, drilling up through the wall, the header was less than 6" from the roof slope. I must have made 4 trips to the attic to confirm that I was still drilling through the header and not the roof.
But the worst part....

I could not find ANY contact-rated cans.
I ended up building a cage to put over them.

That was another "do we need" situation.
"Well, you have glass mat, and I can trim it back. With the weather, it's not a big deal, you aren't going to get mold or heat loss....."
"...but are you ALWAYS going to have glass mat? If you have rockwool blown in, then you're going to have a problem. What about future owners? What about the building inspector when you sell?"


I built the cages