?what size wire? what gauge

[scvprerunner1]

I am wirering up my 5 hellas and an amber light, what gauge(size) should i use for those and then what size should i run to the led lights that are in my gauges? and i am wirering my front headlights and blinkers from scratch because the previous owner ripped all the stock wires out any help or ideas for wirering that? thanks

[Chase 2]

I am wirering up my 5 hellas and an amber light, what gauge(size) should i use for those and then what size should i run to the led lights that are in my gauges? and i am wirering my front headlights and blinkers from scratch because the previous owner ripped all the stock wires out any help or ideas for wirering that? thanks

Try this link for wire gauge selection: powerstream.com/Wire_Size (http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm)

[Superfab]

For standard headlights 14 ga is enough. For the hellas, you need to know how many amps they draw. Take the wattage and divide by 12 = amps (100/12=8.3 amps) . The wire size needs to exceed the current draw. Maximum wire length at 20 amps for 14 ga wire is 18 feet where the max for 12 ga @ 20 amps is 28 feet. To keep the wire on the slight overkill side I'd use 12 ga with a 25 amp breaker or 20 amp fuse to protect the wire.Breakers react faster than fuses so thats the size difference. Don't put more than 2 lights on a circuit and use a quality switch. Summit sell painless single pole waterproof sealed 20 amp switches for 18.00. They work great and won't burn up like cheap switches. The led lights can use 20 - 18 ga because the take almost no power at all. I like the LED amber lights because they don't fail and take very little current. Plus with multiple bulbs in them the light allways works. Just use the bright circuit side and it will have plenty of light. With one of these a 16 ga wire is fine but if you power it off the ignition switch put a fuse or breaker in line so if the wire becomes damaged it won't kill the ignition. a 7 amp fuse is plenty. If you use a standard bulb light use a 14 ga wire and a 10 amp fuse. I've had one of these fall apart internally and short out so I siliconed the stuff down inside.

[3MS Engineering]

Superdave,
Not to jack the thread. But. A guy at Kartek told me that I could wire two 4000's to one of their K Four Triple Seal Switch (20 amps) without a relay. Is this true? If I go off the calculation you posted (wattage divide by 12 = amps). The total pull with both lights would be 16.6 amps. Is this an adequate safety margin? Thanks for your help...

[3MS Engineering]

I'm sorry... I ment Superfab :o

[Superfab]

For a play car it would work fine but in a race car I'd go with a circuit breaker switch. In the past the k-4 switches were carling switches with brass contacts. Over a period of time the contacts will arc and the switch can fail usually at the worst possible time. The surge when first turning stuff on is when most arcing occurs. The klixon switches are a completely different design and don't suffer this problem. If the lights fail on a prerunner or play car, its just an inconvienience, on a race car it's way worse (think lost entry fees & etc... ) . If you replace the switches every year in a race car they should be fine, but I believe in spending the cash once and be done with it. Another way is to use a mil spec double pole toggle switch and run a light on each side of the switch. These are true sealed switches with silver-cadnium oxide contacts and are rated @ 15 amps on each pole.

Find them at: http://www.newark.com/NewarkWebCommerce/newark/en_US/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp;jsessionid=P2VXAIFCLUUXUCXFEOFSFFYK 2URYSIV1?SKU=23F1978&N=0 for 29.76 ea. They have screw terminals so the wires can't fall off and are worth every penny.