First time wiring a switch

[Josh.JeepTJ]

So can anyone correct me if I’m wrong on any of this here? I’m going to wire the halo’s in my LED headlights to a switch in my cab. Since the wattage of the headlights is 50W, divided by 12V, it’s only pulling about 4.2 amps. Since that’s the case, I don’t think I really need a relay for it, I think I’d be fine with just a fuse wired before the switch. So I would just run a wire from the battery to the amp in my accessory fuse box, then to the switch, then to the halos? I’m new to wiring so y’all are gonna have to forgive me if I’m butchering this completely.

 

[ac_]

So can anyone correct me if I’m wrong on any of this here? I’m going to wire the halo’s in my LED headlights to a switch in my cab. Since the wattage of the headlights is 50W, divided by 12V, it’s only pulling about 4.2 amps. Since that’s the case, I don’t think I really need a relay for it, I think I’d be fine with just a fuse wired before the switch. So I would just run a wire from the battery to the amp in my accessory fuse box, then to the switch, then to the halos? I’m new to wiring so y’all are gonna have to forgive me if I’m butchering this completely.

If you don't want to run a relay, you can get a way with it, but you will have to run wires that are thick enough to handle the wattage. Also the switch will have to handle it too. The reason why you want to run a relay is so you can run thick wires from the relay to the headlamps and smaller wires into the cab. You can also use a smaller switch if you run a relay. Also if you do run thicker wires in leu of a relay, but not thick enough, they will run too hot and cause other problems possibly.

My suggestion would be to run a relay, but yes if you get big enough wires you can handle it without one. Remember though you will also need a switch that will handle all of the wattage too.

 

[Denverdean1]

Use a relay, they are cheap and from what I've gathered from learning to wire up my lights, it's just good insurance to have in there so you don't run the chance of burning anyhting and ruining all the work you just did.

 

[K0LCB]

I think you should be okay if you use at least 14 gauge wire, many switches designed to handle more than 5 amps

 

[Josh.JeepTJ]

I think you should be okay if you use at least 14 gauge wire, many switches designed to handle more than 5 amps

The switches I’m looking at are rated for 20 amps. They’re OTRATTW contura xiv switches. And I was planning on doing all this with 14 gauge wire. That’s why I didn’t think it was really necessary to put in a relay. If everything is rated for 20 amps (the wire and the switch) and I had a 7.5 amp fuse I can’t see it being an issue.

 

[K0LCB]

I don’t see a problem. JMHO