I just did this install but am not getting light. I do have power to the switch, it lights up when I turn it on. I thought maybe it was a bad ground on the mounting bracket so I filled the paint off. Still no light. Then I cut all the wire connectors off and directly connected all the wires together to make sure those were all good. Still no light. Any ideas?

 

Are the bulbs ok? You can try holding a D battery to the wires and see if you get a little light.

 

I've had this happen to my KCs a few times (the ones without a relay and just the switch) i found out the ground cable on the switch fell off and wasnt attached to the jeep

If its not the ground cable, double check the wire running from the switch to the lights, its either not connected or shorting out

 

I tried the D battery on one of the lights and it will not light up. Does that mean I have a light issue? I was thinking of trying to connect soemthing else to the wiring and see if it will work. Just not sure what to hookup.

As for the short, what would cause that and how can I test it.

 

You can do two things.

1. With your switch on put a volt meter to the wires and see if you have any voltage. Do this is 12/24 d/c volt mode. It should show 12 volts if power is getting to the light housing.
2. Put the multimeter in resistance mode (ohms/omega symbol) and "cross" the bulbs. Ie a probe on each wire from the light or one on the end of the bare bulb and one on the side. If the bulbs are good the meter should rise the same way as it does when you put the two probe/leads together, indicating a closed circuit or good bulb.

Good luck.

BT

 

What kind of KC lights are these? 55w? 110 or 130w? Are you using a relay? Since the switch LED is turning on, then you are definitely getting power from the battery to the switch (or to the relay if you're using one) so the issue is either the wires running from the switch (or relay) to the lights, the ground for the lights, or the bulbs. If you're using a relay, the inline fuse could also be the issue.

If the battery test didn't work, then I think it's a bad bulb. Even with a AA battery, I got a faint amount of light on my KC Slimlights when I checked them.

 

They are kc hiltes daylighters, 100 watt.

Ok, I was able to get light from both lights using a new 9volt battery.

No relay, just switch

The light on the switch comes on.

Your comments lead me to believe that the only two possible problems left are:

1) the wire from switch to lights. This appears to be fine, no cuts and connections are solid. Any thoughts?

Or

2) the grounds on the lights. Which I hooked right to the mounting bolt of the lights, and sanded the paint off the mounting bracket. I'm thinking maybe I should try grounding to something else and seeing what happens.

Any thoughts.

 

Im pretty sure you dont want the ground hooked to the light mounts. Try grounding to another location if you can

 

I would recommend using a relay for 100w lights... but since you're not, I'm guessing it's the ground. Try running a ground wire either back to the negative battery terminal (at least to check the full circuit) or to an un-painted bolt mounted to the body in another location.

Btw, where are you mounting the lights?

 

It was the grounds. Thanks everyone for the help, great forum!