Hella 4000's and stock fog switch

[gahill2]

I have two Hella 4000's wired through my stock fog switch on my DII and can activate them with my low beams just like stock fogs.

I have been thinking of getting a third....will it totally fry something if I vampire tap one more into this setup?

 

[LONGITUDE_D7]

are they the xenon model?

 

[jcs2179]

I've got 3 hooked up to the factory switch....w/ the Hella harness deal, so far so good. no problems...

 

[gahill2]

They are Euro beams and I would get another of those.

No Hella relay on mine, just tapped into the factory wires....

 

[MUSKYMAN]

without a relay you are asking the wires to carry more amps then the factory lights would draw...keep that in mind.

and never forget lucas is the prince of darkness

 

[lordkenyon]

Does sound problematic. To calculate the amps that they're drawing divide the Watts by the voltage (12V). For example, a 55W light will draw ~4.58amps (55W / 12V = ~4.58amps). Multiply it out by the number of lights. (Don't forget to add the factory lights too if you were adding them to that.) Then look at the wire. 14 gauge is generally rated at ~24amps; 12 gauge ~30amps (you can find charts on this). Basically, it's pretty easy to overload factory wiring.

So, long story short. Get a relay. A couple of bucks on a 30Amp accessory relay is the safe way to go. Unless there's something I don't know about Hella's that make them different (anyone here?), I'd assume any normal accessory relay would work fine. You can still tie them into the factory fogs (have the fogs trigger the relay).

EDIT: Not only will the relay save your stock wiring, it'll also save the stock switch as the switches will not be facing such a high load. You can kill a switch pretty fast as well as fry the wiring. (Just fixed a friend's Subie that this happened to.)

 

[mightymg]

My two 130 watt 3000s melted all my wiring HAHA not funny, But damn this sucks and Im laughing! HAHAHAHAHA

 

[lordkenyon]

Here's a Hella Relay thread: http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29308

Looks like the only difference is that it has a built in fuse.

 

[Zoolander]

anyone know how many amps the stock Cruise Control switch is rated at?

 

[gahill2]

Not a wiring expert to say the least....where would the Hella relay be placed into this current setup? With the relay or two would the switch and wiring handle the three lights?

Thanks for your help!

 

[BaldEagle]

anyone know how many amps the stock Cruise Control switch is rated at?

don't know the answer to that but the switch just turns on a relay (i think). just use the switch to turn on a relay and thats the safest thing you can do. i keep stressing RELAY RELAY RELAY to everyone. then it doesnt matter what your switch is rated and you wont be accidentally overloading any circuits if you have new circuits for toys.

 

[jcs2179]

If I didn't mention it, the Hella wiring kit (easiest deal ever for $30!) has a relay. I also built a fused line closed to the battery. What I meant to say was that even thou Hella sells the kit for 2 lamps and 1 switch, I piggy'ed the 3rd 4000 to that harness....so far no problems. Works great!

another thing I did, was build a small power distribution box. I installed it under the driver's seat (no CD here), so I only have 1 power cable through the firewall. All the inside toys, and eventually all the roof rack Hellas come to that box now. Clean, clean, clean...

 

[Zoolander]

Where can I find a basic relay?

 

[BaldEagle]

Where can I find a basic relay?

any auto parts store....a few dollars

 

[gahill2]

If you replaced the bulbs with 55w Hella Xenon bulbs I wonder how much light you would loose?

Then I would guess that the stock switch could handle the load....

:banghead:

 

[MountDisco]

thank you very much for this advise. I'll be getting 12 gauge wire and a 30 Watt relay for my 4 Hella 550 i was given. I'll be upgrading to 4 1000's eventually so i believe with this size i wont have to replace my wiring. Great Site!