off roa lights and seperate battery

[Leviking.1693]

hi i plan on runnin 10 100 wat off road lights off my truck, dont ask why l,ong story,i dont want to run it off my main battery is there a wway i could run it off a second battery and connect it to my alternaator to charge the battery. any suggestions i know i would have to u se a relay

 

[4x4junkie]

You're gonna need probably 5 relays and dual 130A alternators to run that (adding batteries won't help your truck carry that kind of load).

You said don't ask, but I'm still quite curious as to why so much???
I'd look into HID lights if you need that much candlepower. 300 watts of HID will get you even better lumens than 1000 watts of incandescent lighting. And you shouldn't need any extra major equipment to run it (one or two relays and your stock alt if it's a G-III alt).

If you absolutely must pursue this, then I suggest you start with getting a 2nd alt (or upgrade yours to something carrying a 200A rating). With enough alternator, the battery you have won't matter, as the alt will carry the load.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135479#post1321434

 

[4.0B2]

I don't think 2 batteries are a bad idea.. I run 2 batteries.
But you need to look into LED or HID lights. A lot more light with a lot less draw.
10 100 watt lights is just stupid, in my opinion. You'd get a lot more light with 2 LED bar's or Rigid D2 Dually's

and before you say how expensive LED lighting is..... How much will 2 big alternators cost? plus the extra battery? plus the wiring to do dual alternators and the relay's and the wiring for the lights and the lights, and the amount of time it'd take compared to just simply hooking up LED/HID with a wiring kit to the stock battery?

 

[kryptonitecb]

LED's are the way to go. You can find cheap ones all day long but they may not last as long or be as water proof as better ones. I've seen setups that can light a truck and trail that draw ~2 amps.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[trail B2]

I was thinking about one of those portable lights you can direct the light where you need it.One of these would give you enough light for say digging a hole or reloading multiple guns or taking apart a car you not familiar with.

 

[Leviking.1693]

Well im foing to guide nighttime coyote hunts and i need a lot of light in alot of directions. my problem was on my yota was i was running 5 100 wat lights and the switch kept burning out and the wires were melting, i tried different switchs and different gauge wires nothing worked

 

[kryptonitecb]

Use multiple relays if you are going to run a large load like that.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Leviking.1693]

haha that was going to be my next question, if i choose not to use another battery or alternator could i just use a bunch of relays? what gauge wire would be best? any suggestions on switchs?

 

[Leviking.1693]

OK so i have done some reevaluating, i think that 6 of these lights will suffice, would i productively be able to rrun these lights off the stock alternator, the battery and some relays?

 

[North49]

I still think you're asking for trouble. At the very least upgrade you alternator so it can carry the load.

 

[4x4junkie]

OK so i have done some reevaluating, i think that 6 of these lights will suffice, would i productively be able to rrun these lights off the stock alternator, the battery and some relays?

What year & engine is your truck? That'll tell us if your stock alt has any chance of handling that or not.

(you should put that info in your profile)

 

[kryptonitecb]

If you do it right you can run as many as you want from 1 switch. My guess would be 14 gauge for each light with there own relay if possible. On top of a good fuse box for the whole setup.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Leviking.1693]

1992 FORD F150 360 in it

 

[Crossthreader]

You probably won't like this, but it is what you will have to do to make that system work.

1. Larger alternator, at least 150 amps. This may seem like overkill, but alternators are rated at maximum output for 5 minutes. For continuous operation, the rating is only 60% of max. Your lights will use 45 amps, leaving 35 amps for the rest of your truck. This is not a lot of margin, and does not allow for idling where alternator output is lower.

2. Heavier wire from alternator to carry the extra current. It is likely 10 ga. now and may have a fuse link in it. Use nothing smaller than 6 ga. but 4 ga. is preferred.

3. Use 8 ga. wire from battery to relays with 60 amp fuse as close to the battery as you can get it. If you need more than 4' of this wire go to 6 ga.

4. Relays should only have 2 100 watt lights on them. I know most are rated for 40 amps, but that rating comes from marketing, not engineering.

5. Each light should have 14 ga. wire to the relays and its own 15 amp fuse at the relays. If one lamp or its wiring causes a fuse to blow, you don't want all of the lights to go out.

6. The relay coils may all be connected together if you want one switch control of all the lights.

7. Make sure you protect all the wire with loom and grommets as required to keep it from chafing on any edges or holes it passes through.

Happy Hunting

Paul