Bed light question

Hello, i have already found a few threads reguarding. Bed lights but still have a wiring question. Every other light I have wired has been through a relay so they would only work when the ignition is on by using a relay. I want my bed lights to available without the keys. Should I jus wire it directly to my blue sea fuse box? I could run a relay off a always hot wire seams pointless. Am I missing something?

Sorry for the iPhone grammar errors.

 

Check out my post on how I installed the bed lights. I used a power source under the hood. It's constant power, therefore the ignition need not be on. I used LED lights though, which draws very little current, and therefore needed no relay.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/168235-led-bed-lights-dash-control-switch.html

 

If you want it to run without ignition or lights on just run a in line fuse from the battery to the switch. Then from the switch run the wire to the lights. It should be like any fog/aux light wiring.

 

What is sea port??

 

$37 Blue Sea Systems 5029 Fuse Block Screw Term Bladehttp://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000MMH1GC/ref=mp_s_a_2?qid=1335151666&sr=8-2
Sorry about that, should have just called it my aftermarket fuse box rather than trying to rember the brand.

 

Just make sure the switch has sufficient capacity to carry at least 130% of the current draw of the lights (and preferably more).
A pair of 55w lights = 110w, 110w = about 8 amps.. you need a switch rated for 10a or higher, preferably 15a (fuse at 10a).

The relay serves two functions. It allows you to switch from a low-capacity source that is switched with the ignition such as your parking lights, headlights, backup lights, etc... without introducing a large current draw on that source....
But it also serves to keep high-current conductors out from under the dash.
So yes, it would not be abnormal to use a relay between the battery and lights, with the power source for the switch run from the battery as well.
This would allow you to use a 6ga conductor sized for the full 30a capacity of the relay, to power devices drawing as much as 20a with a 25a fuse... all while running nothing larger than a couple of 18ga wires through your firewall fused at 5a and a basic auto parts store 8a illuminated switch.

That is EXACTLY how I wired my '06 Duramax.
I installed a Pelican box in the shell as a sub-panel. It was fed from the battery by three 30a supply lines, which were routed into a bank of 6 relays.
The 5 relays were connected via 22ga multiconductor cable to toggle switches in my overhead console. The switched side was fused at 5a for the relays.

The system switched a set of 4 Hella-500 on the roof (2 relays), a pair of fogs mounted to the front corners of the rack as "alley lights", a pair of amber strobes, and a pair of rear-facing white work lights.
A 6th relay was intended to be connected to an inverter, but the battery drain on an inverter with a useful capacity made it more practical to simply use a Honda EU2000 generator.