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four auxiliary work lights

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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 09:56 AM
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Default four auxiliary work lights

i have four auxiliary work lights on my truck like reverse lights but i didnt wire them into the reverse lights. i had two of them for a while (all LED) on my back rack now i put some on my bumper and i can only get half of the LEDS to work on each light on my bumpber. the two on the back rack work just fine but the ones on the bumper only half of the LEDS come on. when i plug them into the battery each they work just fine. i want them to all work on one switch and im not sure what im doing wrong. can any one help me out. i think its the way i wired it i have two on my back rack wired to the one wire for the power. i just need to know what i might be doing wrong. i just need to wire them all on one power switch and because they are LEDS they are not drawing a lot of power but they are very bright.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 10:33 AM
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From: corbeil ontario canada
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are you using a relay? or running all the lights through one switch?
how many watts are each light? total watts..
wire size for the lights?
grounding points?? ground wire or frame/chassie?
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Steve Osborne
are you using a relay? or running all the lights through one switch?
how many watts are each light? total watts..
wire size for the lights?
grounding points?? ground wire or frame/chassie?
there is no relay and i want them wired into one switch. there are two lights that are 27 watts a piece and two that are 18 watts a piece they are all LED wire size is the same all round i think its 16 or 15 gauge wire its not too small i tried bigger wire, had the same problem and no i have no relay in the circuit. grounding points are the frame of the truck, i had other lights grounded there before that worked just fine. i had the two lights on my back rack for a long time with no problem at all mainly im just adding two more lights to the circuit with one power wire.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 01:16 PM
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Your wire should be fine cus your thats only about 7.5 amps. Where are you getting power for your switch from? Also when you say they are grounded to the frame is each light grounded by there self or do you have a ground wire running to each light and have a common ground. Most of the leds I ve seem run on 9 to 16 volts so even with a lot of drop you should be good.
If you can turn on the lights and test for voltage at each light on the hot to ground wire. I would say you got low voltage at the lights.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by 05jakev
Your wire should be fine cus your thats only about 7.5 amps. Where are you getting power for your switch from? Also when you say they are grounded to the frame is each light grounded by there self or do you have a ground wire running to each light and have a common ground. Most of the leds I ve seem run on 9 to 16 volts so even with a lot of drop you should be good.
If you can turn on the lights and test for voltage at each light on the hot to ground wire. I would say you got low voltage at the lights.
when i turn them on three out of six bulbs in a row turn on, on each of the lights on the bumper and three do not. when i connect each light to the battery it self they work fine,but when they are hooked up to the circuit that i need them on only half of the bulbs work on each bumper lights. i think you were right with the relay because its over 100 watts going to the switch. but i can give your more info just keep asking cause your helping me think and its helpful.

Last edited by Master12034; Jan 1, 2014 at 01:53 PM.
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:03 PM
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Did you check the voltage at the bumper lights? Need to know what it is. Also you didnt say how they were grounded .
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:13 PM
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Do you have the bumper lights all grounded to the same wire? I tried that at it doesn't work to well. All the lights should have their own ground! Pics would help us see what your dealing with .
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Old Jan 1, 2014 | 02:57 PM
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No grounded separately to each of the mounts that are bolted to the frame all clean metal

I will send a few pictures as soon as I can

Last edited by Master12034; Jan 5, 2014 at 10:06 AM.
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Old Jan 5, 2014 | 10:06 AM
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does anyone else have any other advice im having a hard time getting pictures
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Old Jan 6, 2014 | 01:55 AM
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Hey im not trying to sound like a dick but im not sure what your wanting. You already know what the prob is and its your wiring. You proved this then you hook your lights up to the battery and they work. If you dont have a multimeter or have no idea what voltage and amperage is you may want to do a little research on that topic first. Thats real basic stuff that you need to know before you can setup or troubleshoot an electric prob any where in life be a truck or home. Also you will frustrate any one that is trying to help you. They all follow rules that you need to know before you try to mess with them. 4 lights and one switch is level 3 in a 100 level scale with only connecting a light to a battery as level 1 ( which you can do ) and connecting a light to a battery with a switch to control it as level 2 ( not so sure ) . Anyways After all that all you got to do is run your back wire to ground at each light and run a wire from your switch of proper size ( which your not sure what size you have but is sounding like its too small ) to the other wire at your lights. Connect your switch to a power source with a fuse and bingo you got light.
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