power distribution

Wow! I'm glad I could just stand over against the wall with the other guys and watch while you two mixed it up regarding the diodes! As is often the case, my advisor(s) either are or have recently/repeatedly been involved in projects of far greater calibre than mine! Nevertheless I am learning a lot in a short time, and remain confident that my evil plan will work just perfectly. I hear you on the hook 'n' loop, but will be carrying on with the plastic project box...mounted under the hood...and containing four relays, a 4-slot fuse block, a handful of peel 'n' stick tie-downs and an 8 (or possibly 12) -position terminal block. I will mark & drill for the "normal" 15mm relay mounting tabs and run a small bolt through the box for each. I will do the same for the fuse block. I will secure the terminal block with hot glue or possibly double-sided tape, but may ultimately drill&bolt instead depending upon how secure it feels without bolts. I will daisy-chain four of the adjacent contacts on the terminal strip...and piggyback onto the fourth screw a longer "primary ground" wire which I will pass out through the watertight firewall grommet and secure to chassis ground outside the box. I will feed the box with a single 8g hot lead from the battery - fused outside the box. I use MS Paint for my sketches.

Oh - in case the diagram is unclear... My wireless switches -- when remotely activated -- output 12v along a trigger wire which I have connected to the POS side of my relays. The NEG side of my relays go to GRND. I have affixed a diode to each relay with the band [K] side on the trigger/POS terminal...and the [A] on the GRND terminal. And someone -- probably Mark -- mentioned earlier that I could use fairly lightweight wire for "some" of the connections. I agree -- and I am already doing that to a degree...but would be grateful for some verification: I realize this is load-dependent, and I also realize that within reason, it's impossible to be too big when it comes to cabling in this application, but given that we're basically talking about aux lighting pairs here... Inbound power to the whole box (as mentioned) should be robust; 8g Outbound power (per relay) should be - say - 16g Inbound trigger can be in the range of 22g -> 16g Ground (per relay) can be 22g -> 16g "Primary ground" should be - say - 12g -> 10g My internal ballast HID is a 50W, therefore should draw just over 4A. Eagle-Eye 50W My pencil beams are Hella 4000x @ 55W/ea. and should therefore draw just over 9A in total. My LED Light bar (which I am picking up later today) is 120W (40 x 3W) but I'm not so sure it draws like a "normal" 120W load draws. But if so, I suppose I'm looking at a 10A load. So - until I put something onto the spare circuit (R4) I intend to utilize a 20A fuse in my 8g supply line. Except for showing off -- which I VERY RARELY do -- all the lighting systems will not be active simultaneously, but in the event that my 20A fuse blows I will feel comfortable stepping it up to a 25A.

16 or 14 gauge for outputs(loads) is more than adequate. Anything larger than 20 gauge for relay coils is overkill, although some use 18 gauge. The 18 gauge being able to take more mechanical abuse. For pairs of lights controlled by one relay, independent runs to each light would be better. Is the light bar to be installed in the rear of the vehicle? If so, 14 gauge is a better choice. Wire gauge is dependent on distance to load as well as current drawn. More than enough info is available online.

Sounds like you have a good plan here. What is the vehicle this is going in, out of curiousity? It is sounding more and more like we are similar sorts of guys, so my money is on a 4X4 of some sort- possibly a Rover? I just relearned a lesson I picked up 20-some years ago while doing installations: when benching (prefabticating) the system out before install, don't wrap ANYTHING in electrical tape until it's all soldered and tested. I have a diode backwards, apparently, and have a pile of wasted electrical tape at my feet as I take every bit of it back off.

It's a 2011 Ranger 4x4. (Good call!) Yes - I am intending to lighten the gauge of some of the wiring when I do the overhaul of the system. (Some/most of my low-power runs are thicker than necessary) However...we have dropped 15 degrees in the last 18 hours to around -10C, so there'll be no driveway fiddling for me for awhile!

What kind of LED light bar are you running? Got any pics?

I just picked it up on the 30th. It's a 40 x 3W dual-row, with the eight on each outboard end having orange peel reflectors for flood pattern & the other 24 smooth for distance throw. Pics are coming.

How much and where'd you get it? I've been considering one of those for fogs.

FleaBay 141126623339. As with all things, there is a very wide range of prices for these things -- and I am a firm believer in getting what you pay for -- but this is just one small step above a toe in the water. A test application to see if the concept will perform/fit/last as well as I hope it does. That's not to say I expect to throw it away in three months...but neither do I expect it to deliver "handsomely" in light of what I paid. [:D:] I plugged it in downstairs [in the dark] and it seems to throw a fair amount of light, but I have said the same thing about certain hi-calibre flashlights...only to later be underwhelmed when deploying it in a more "real-world" application. In light of the weather -- and the sluggishness of my progress on the project box -- I'm planning to temp attach a cig lighter plug for some outdoor tests.

Cool,please keep us informed. LEDs are advancing rapidly, and gaining momentum. I have replaced every bulb on my truck except for the dash and main drivers (headlights and spots) with LEDs, and honestly there are better bulbs on the market now, cheaper, than what I bought in 09. I fully expect in 5 years to be able to get a high-performance bulb for H4 and similar incandescent applications that will work as well as the incandescents, for under $30. Meantime I am going to keep running my Hella 500 driving lights (they work very well, and I like the look) and am looking for a small fog lamp- I've seen projector assemblies for under $50 on Fleabay.