PerryB

^^^^ Chase the ground.

discodave

I want to thank everyone who replied to this thread. After doing some investigating I found a few burned/melted wires. It could have been very bad but luckily it wasn't. The melted wires were the result of the power and ground wires being reversed on two of the LEDS. I wired them according to the color they were but after testing them they were reversed. Not happy about that. After rewiring and putting them all on their own switch it's all good to go now.

sigma pi

Correct, I had a bad ground ........... then the LEDs became unsoldered so I just got a new strip and resoldered.

kidastra

iTrader: (1)

Glad you sorted it out
I'm assuming the wires never shorted?

discodave

I spoke too soon.... Different problem now. Maybe someone can help me sort this one out


So now the LEDs (and only the LEDs) are wired to a switch that goes straight to the battery. Last night I posted that they worked and they did. I went to leave my neighborhood last night and as I was driving they started to flicker (could see them in my side mirror), I heard the actual switch pop a little, and the lights just stay on now since the switch no longer works.


- Is the switch too crappy and I should look for a better quality one?


- I'm guessing that the switch had too much power going through it so it blew?

kidastra

iTrader: (1)

Very possibly you have a bad switch; honestly I'd be running that amount of leds through a relay

RajunKajun59

Good rule of thumb, try to never run switches directly to the battery, utilize a relay and distribution bus when possible.

Switches are only rated for so many amps, similar to a fuse.

discodave

I went and saw my local lighting guy yesterday and they told me that I'd need a relay also. I also tried telling them that I was told that wiring a switch directly to the battery isn't good because of the amount of voltage that goes through that wire when the engine revs can be too much for the switch. Their thought was just that I have too many of the LEDs, which I don't agree with.


We wired up another switch and of course it blew because it was probably only rated for 12 amps or something.


Would the combination of a larger rated switch and relay solve this problem?


Again, the switch ONLY blows when the engine is revved and more current goes through the switch. If I left it idling it would never blow.

sigma pi

well if the switch is blowing, you are drawing too many amps through it. Do you have a multi meter?

If you put a relay in you could run a super low amp switch. It is just to switch on the relay

RajunKajun59

Yea Dave, get a relay, the switch won't need to be bigger, you could actually go smaller.

Get your guy to pass over your wiring gauge too, it may be too small, and make sure you are wired in parallel, not series. Maybe connect Each side to a separate relay, and switch. Left and Right Side switches.