Help needed Near disaster and I’m embarrassed to admit it

I’ve got plug and play from dsm for my cyclones that I plan on installing underneath truck for rock lights too... all these cool ideas with next to zero know how....

 

Unnecessary, but since you already bought, go for it...

 

Good time as any to learn! I'm a big fan of using a multimeter before hooking up the battery to ring out connections without actually powering them. Saves a lot of time and magic smoke.

 

What part?

 

"dsm"module

 

I'd for real look for a regional thread in your area,mod day, another member to help.
Members can be great on here.

 

I did however successfully install plug n play tweeters last week.... I mean I’m not a complete moron electrically.... hahahahaha it gave me a ton of confidence so now I’m just buying all kinds a stuff to wire up.... joke

 

So what about the supplies I’ve bought as far as supplies for this task? Sufficient? Pieces of shit?

 

A: Ground (earth) and Accessory (output) and your switch were backwards, so flipping the switch connected 12v straight to ground and the switch fried instead of the fuse.
B: The switch is a knock off and cant handle the amperage needee to do this without a relay. That switch should easily manage 20 amps which should be beyond sufficient for 2 lights
C. You had a wire arching on the firewall

Now that its uninstalled, you should be able to easily locate the source of the burn and find the problem

 

I bought the module t harness and main wire harness from dsm

 

The wire you bought is way to big and i dont even think is meant for 12v applications. Using bigger wire and bigger fuses and bigger switches and adding big circuit breakers does absolutely zero to fix the problem.

The switch fried because the wires were on the wrong terminals.

To do this properly, you first need to do basic math. You can use the wattage and voltage of the lights and system to calculate amperage. From there you can determine fuse size. After that you need to determine the approx length of the wire carrying the current. You can use the amperage and distance to determine proper wire guage. Bigger is NOT always better!

Then you need to find a switch and know the amperage rating of it. Depending on the peak rating of the system and your switch rating will tell you if you need a relay or not.

The circuit breaker protects the fuse block, which in this case will not work because its too big. That block is probably rated at a MAX of 100amps (probably much less) so a 150amp breaker wont trip until after your entire truck burns down....

Fuse rating should be no more then 10% over peak. No more and no less. Bigger is NOT better.

Solid core wire is not good. You need a nice copper stranded flex primary wire.

You can study for a week on the basics of 12v electrical and how switches, relays, breakers, and fuse blocks work, and how simple circuits are constructed, but unless you truly understand it and get the math behind it, it won't be done right.

Im sure many people know basic positive and negative and get simple lighting circuits wired on their own, but unless you've done the math, its not done right. There's much more to it then positive and negative.

Insulated crimps, when and where to use shrink wrap, when to use tape, how to properly route through a firewall, how to identify which terminal is what on that 3pin switch... these are things you need to know.

My recommendation.... return everything you bought and use the money to pay a shop to install it.

Qualifications: MECP licensed (Mobile Electronics Certified Professional) and have been installing 12v for 12+ years

If you are local in SoCal, message me. Im happy to help

 

Yeah I’m in Tennessee and I’m taking all of this shit back. I’m just irritated at this point. Thanks for the info everybody. The fuse block I guess that you’re referring to is rated 100 amp and 30 per circuit FYI per spec from manufacturer

 

Message me. I dont mind helping at all. I can show you exactly what you need and how to wire it. Heck i can even build you a custom harness and ship it if you want. PM me....

 

Thanks buddy. Pm sent

 

The fuse block is fine.

Just look at a basic wiring diagram


relay port 30 will come from your fuse block

 

That switch is Garbage I would NOT put one of those in my Tacoma.

 

Well that's a 250v AC switch so i would hope not lol
However the same switch comes in a 12v application and rated at 20 amps and they work fantastic actually.

 

You can put them in your truck. but they will not go in mine, or a switch without a relay.
Take the money you save on those cheap switches and get yourself a good Fire Extinguisher for your truck too.

 

I'm not an expert in any sense but having just completed building an RTMR (LINK) and also adding an AUX Fuse box to the bed (first big electrical project for me) I did learn one important rule -

Fuse for the wire - NOT the accessory. Do not exceed the fuse spec for your wire size. Not following this can lead to nasty things happening.



For much better quality switches, check out - https://www.otrattw.net/home.php. They're also here on TW in the vendor section (https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/otrattw.177/). I've ordered a few times now from them and they are awesome.