LED help!!! Almost lit my truck on fire

So what I did wrong to cause the fire was connect the ground to the A(accessory) pin?

 

if you have a DMM (digital multi meter) you can test your switch before you do all this. But most likely its crispy fried

 

Correct. Then as soon as you turned your switch on, you have a wire that directly linked the battery + to battery - and you had no fuse to protect it. The result is an electrical fire

 

1. connect in line fuse to the positive battery terminal
2. run wire to the positive pin on switch from in line fuse
3. connect positive on leds to A pin
4. ground the switch to a bolt connected to frame
5. ground the leds to the same bolt

Is that right?

 

+1

If power and the LEDs are reversed, (but the ground is correct), the indicator light will be on 24/7 (and drain your battery).

 

+1 to all the guys that have helped me with this, thanks guys

 

Can someone confirm this please????

 

Looks good... If the switch light stays on all the time, then reverse the A and A+ wires.

Check the operation of the rocker before you wire it up... it should still feel smooth like before.
I really think you welded the contacts when you shorted the battery.

 

Thanks a lot, Ill just pick up a new switch. Does anything change if I get one that doesn't light up?

 

Yes. Everything will stay the same EXCEPT the switch will only have 2 pins (a and a+) and NO ground. If your switch does not have a light and only has 2 pins, it does not matter which wire gets connected to which pin, as long as 1 goes to the battery and 1 goes to the leds as shown

 

You're telling me that I could have avoided this whole thing if I had gotten a switch without a light.....

 

A non-lighted switch will not have a ground connector.

But I would strongly recommend either a lighted switch, or instead of connecting the fuse to the battery, connecting it to your parking light so you don't have to worry about leaving it on when you get out of the truck.

If the LEDs are on the grille/scoop or somewhere else where they aren't obvious from the driver's seat, it's not a matter of if, but WHEN you will forget and leave the switch on and kill your battery.

 

No, because it sounds like you ran two grounds to the switch.

Hard to say, but it sounds like you wired the switch in parallel with the LEDs instead of in series like Pro's diagram.

 

How do I connect it to the parking lights?

 

Sorry, that is INCORRECT. You should always make sure that the fuse holder wires are at LEAST the same size as the circuit load. Now in this case the LED lights will be drawing minimum voltage, but we don't want him next to wire some off-road lights on his truck and use 24 gauge fuse holder wires with 12 gauge wires for a light set. Rule of thumb is the fuse holder wire should be the same gauge or larger that the circuit it is protecting.

You have the idea now!

I would say ok to use them inside the cab. While they are used in some construction applications (someone feel free to let me know if I am wrong) it does look like those are not a sealed connector, and in auto repair, you should always use sealed connectors. If you DO use those on the outside, I suggest using at a minimum electrical tape to seal the connection. Not the best, but better than leaving it exposed.

Play it safe, replace the switch. There is always the chance that the switch itself had an internal failure, and caused this fire.

It is not necessary to use the same bolt. Any bolt that is connected to the metal chassis can be used. I suggest using one of the ground bolts or nuts that are behind the kick-panel in the interior, and in the rear locate where your trailer harness ground is bolted to. (assuming it has the factory wiring in place)

Instead of running the positive (Bat+) lead from the fuse holder to the battery, you can instead run it to your parking light circuit. This means that when your parking lights are not on, the LED lights will not operate. This prevents you from leaving them on when you get out of the truck. (assuming of course you don't leave your headlights on, which would kill the battery anyway! lol)

 

Thanks guys!! I picked up a in line fuse blade with 12 gauge wire on it. Is it ok to connect that to 18 gauge wire which I also got?

 

Overkill, but perfectly fine.

The fuse is there to protect the SMALLEST wire in the circuit.

 

As rich said. You will be fine with that one. Always play it safe.

 

I could be wrong but I thought RAPR tapped in his interior lights behind his ac panel like the lighted 4wd switch mod. If you're only doing interior lights at the moment and not bed lights it would have been a lot easier.

 

OP didn't mention where these lights are doing, or I missed it.
Being blue LEDs, I hope it's the interior or he's asking for a ticket.

But...

You have to be careful when adding to the interior circuit. The dimmer can only handle so much current, and it was only designed to handle the load from a DoubleCab.
Had the OP originally tied to his dimmer rather than the battery, when he flipped that switch he not only would have burned the wiring, but also would have blown the dimmer.