aftermarket light problem, please help

[surfsup887]

i bought and put on some aftermarket lights. they have been working properly for about 3 months. in the past couple days it has been getting really cold and the fuse (which is in the engine compartment) has been blowing. do you think the cold is whats causing the fuse to be more brittle than normal, or should i recheck my wiring?

ADDITION: When i flip the switch, the lights get to about half power then the fuse blows

 

[Convict1997]

Check your wiring. I've never heard of low ambient temperatures causing fuses to blow. Did you use a relay when you installed the lights? If not, it could be that some of the wires or the switch have gotten to hot and melted, causing a short.

 

[Donner]

What is your source for power? Battery, accessory, etc..

 

[Donner]

You still awake? Where does the power come from?

 

[wrigley_1285]

i'd say check ALL of your wires.

i had the same problem on one of my old cars. checked most of the wiring and skipped some of the hard to reach places. turned out one of the wires in the hard to reach place was shorting out against some metal. redid some wires and moved them, everything work fine again.

also one of my friends didn't use a relay and it was causing some problems. don't know what happened with that though.

 

[robmurt04]

What is your source for power? Battery, accessory, etc..

You still awake? Where does the power come from?

The first one was at 1:57AM, the second one was at 1:33AM. So.... 36 minutes later he posted a message 24 minutes before!

I love daylight savings. Sorry, back on topic. One of the wires probably came loose or is rubbing on something that for the previous 3 months it hasn't been rubbing on. Just do as the other 5 people have told you and check the wiring. Chances are that's your problem.

 

[surfsup887]

You still awake? Where does the power come from?

My power is coming directly from the battery, into the fuse, to the switch and up to the lights

 

[surfsup887]

One of the wires probably came loose or is rubbing on something that for the previous 3 months it hasn't been rubbing on. Just do as the other 5 people have told you and check the wiring. Chances are that's your problem.

Last night i went back and re-crimped all the splices i had in the wires. I also checked continuity on all wires and everything was perfect, even when i moved the wires around a bit.

 

[surfsup887]

Check your wiring. I've never heard of low ambient temperatures causing fuses to blow. Did you use a relay when you installed the lights? If not, it could be that some of the wires or the switch have gotten to hot and melted, causing a short.

I dont have a relay in it. If i was going to put one in, i could just get one at like autozone right? Where would i put it in the system though? before or after the fuse?

 

[Convict1997]

You definitely don't want to leave your lights running through the switch like that. Right now, you have all the power for the lights running through the switch. With a relay, you'll run the power straight from the battery to the lights. The switch should only be used to turn on the relay. I've wired lights the way you have yours, in the past, and the switch got waaaay to hot. Do a seach on here and you'll find the diagram I used to install my lights.

 

[surfsup887]

You definitely don't want to leave your lights running through the switch like that. Right now, you have all the power for the lights running through the switch. With a relay, you'll run the power straight from the battery to the lights. The switch should only be used to turn on the relay. I've wired lights the way you have yours, in the past, and the switch got waaaay to hot. Do a seach on here and you'll find the diagram I used to install my lights.

alright thanks man. could this be the problem to my blown fuses?

 

[deamon3]

Check the lamps themselves .

I bought a junky pair of fogs at walmart once. And a few months later had your same problem. Turned out the sockets for the bulbs in the fog lamps were poorly designed (the positive and negative where to close together in the socket and touched) , I took em back and got a refund.

Also , why would you use a relay? There just light bulbs. Not motors or airconditioners. A switch is perfectly fine.

 

[Donner]

deamon3, do you have relays for your factory/oem lighting?

 

[deamon3]

For the headlights on the car? I don't think so , maybe. But if the foglamps don't come with a relay then they don't need one. Just use a 12v switch.

 

[DeRocha]

For the headlights on the car? I don't think so , maybe. But if the foglamps don't come with a relay then they don't need one. Just use a 12v switch.

It is generally not recommended to run HIGH power through the switch (and in the cabin). Yes many cheap light kits don't come with Relays, and to make matters worse they usually have small wires and crappy socket designs that make poor contact causing sub par/intermittent performance. It sounds nice to save some $$ on lights, but if they perform poorly you aren't saving anything. All quality lighting kits include a 12v relay to provide power to the lights.

The purpose of using a relay is:

• Keeps the High power wire as short as possible for efficiency.
• Keeps the High power out of the cabin for safety.
• Doesn't introduce added electrical interference to the cabin.

Typical wiring diagram for fog lights.

 

[surfsup887]

i fixed the problem, there was a little insulation peeled off of one of the ground wires, changed out the wires and the lights work like a charm.

i dont exactly understand how a relay would help though, wouldnt the same load run though the wires to the switch with or without a relay?

 

[Donner]

Use relays...

For the headlights on the car? I don't think so , maybe. But if the foglamps don't come with a relay then they don't need one. Just use a 12v switch.

i fixed the problem, there was a little insulation peeled off of one of the ground wires, changed out the wires and the lights work like a charm.

i dont exactly understand how a relay would help though, wouldnt the same load run though the wires to the switch with or without a relay?

Trust... your vehicle is full of relays. I believe all your lights (diff gen) have relays, there's a reason why -

 

[DeRocha]

...i dont exactly understand how a relay would help though, wouldnt the same load run though the wires to the switch with or without a relay?

The relay, or lack thereof wasn't your problem, but is recommended for the reasons stated above.

The whole purpose of relays is to keep the trigger/switch wires/circuit separated from the load circuit. As such the switch and load circuits never contact each other. The switch wire typically is <1amp, while the load is 30amp.

 

[deamon3]

Then use a 30 amp switch. Adding a relay just makes it more complicated, since it turned out he didn't even need one.