relays burning up

[That Baker Guy]

so last week my roomate got some fog lights and bull bar for his 2wd 1500. he shows up and flips em on and im like dude those arent as half as bright as they should be.

i go look at his wiring situation, he's got em wired from the battery to a autozone switch no relay. i tried not to laugh, , i educated him and rewired the whole set up, they were using speaker wire for a ground. any ways we went to auto zone and i pointed out the 100 watt h3 bulbs and he grabbed some of them and the relay and i put the relay and bulbs in no problem they worked fine

well today they wont come on so i open up the relay and the terminals are all burnt/corroded is this because of the 100 watt bulbs or faulty relay?

 

[Earl43P]

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Mar04/tech.htm
http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

That installation is pulling between 14.5 and 16+ Amps, depending on alternator output.
200watts/13.8v=14.49A

Should have used 10 ga wire for those lights.
I also recommend soldering the relay terminal ends to each wire, not just a crimp.

Be sure to buy a 30A relay, 40A if you can find one.

I suspect that the wire he used is too small of a gage, the terminals were crimped and the circuit overheated the relay contacts.

 

[06RangerXLT]

http://www.therangerstation.com/Magazine/Mar04/tech.htm
http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

That installation is pulling between 14.5 and 16+ Amps, depending on alternator output.
200watts/13.8v=14.49A

Should have used 10 ga wire for those lights.
I also recommend soldering the relay terminal ends to each wire, not just a crimp.

Be sure to buy a 30A relay, 40A if you can find one.

I suspect that the wire he used is too small of a gage, the terminals were crimped and the circuit overheated the relay contacts.

WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING? 10 guage...

im running dual 100 watts off 14 gauge, have been for a year. they work great. burnt relay means it must have gotten wet or its a low amp relay and it drew too much power. may sure that one of the power wires didnt short out on the body (sharp edges) oh and overheated will melt, not arc.

10 gauge.... ha! thats funny. Im running 10 gauge on my 30 amp E-Fan and it doesnt even get warm. just so you know, 10 guage wire is for up to 40 amps depending on surrounding conditions (heat) since your lights are between 14 and 16 amps, you dont need any 10 guage. run an inline fuse from the battery to the relay for the main power.

That just made my day!

run it with 14 gauge, doesn't matter if they are crimped or not. mine are hooked up with bullet connectors that are crimped. if you need any help PM me. if your still having problems, maybe its something hooked up wrong.

 

[Earl43P]

Yeah, you're right ^.
I looked at the first chart in the second link, rather than the power and ground chart, which says 16 ga would suffice for a 15A load.

Reality check on isle 4....

 

[That Baker Guy]

im using a generic 30 amp relay along with an inline fuse from the battery to the relay.
and i think you guys might be right on the fact of the power wire to lights from the relay is a little small, like im pretty sure its like 16 or 18 gauge... i touched it while the lights were on and it was hot i told him to be careful about leaving his lights on too long because the wire might melt.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

Its a chevy man, what could you expect?