stevedolce

i tapped into a fuse to power the relay for my fog lights..i basically pulled the fuse out, stuck the wire next to teh blade of the fuse and re-seated it..is that not the recommended way to wire up the lights? do they make 10 amp fuses with a place to connect a wire?

or should i find a hot and used a blade splice thing?
thanks
steve

whpony96

Not a good idea.. if your on the wrong side of that fuse your unprotected and asking for a fire to happen.

If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you find the time to do it right?

When you say "powering the relay" do you mean this is the main power for the lights or is this the positive trigger to activate the relay when the high beams are on?

runit3

Are you powering the relay with the fuse box, i.e. the 12v main lead? or you just wired the 12v switch wire to the fusebox?

If you are actually powering ANYTHING with the fuse box that is a bad idea, besides the occasional LED, Dome light, or very small device requiring a 10A fuse or smaller -but you would not run that in conjunction with anything else, ONLY a blank fuse slot- . 12v switch leads are different, that generally should be ok.

sburggsx

Instead of piggy backing off an existing fuse, why not use the M8 or M9 slots which are for the heated seats. (You don't have heated seats do you?) Autozone or the like has a mini-fuse tap that plugs into the empty fuse slot and is good up to 10 amps.

I'm also going to suggest you don't power the lights from this fuse, but use this ignition on power to trigger a relay. That relay should be powered off the battery with a fuse........

Torch

10-4. Don't half ass your wiring and burn yer Jeep down.

stevedolce

yep..i'm a total noobie with this stuff. lemme clear up my wiring. my lights are tied into the + terminal. the line coming from fuse block is tied to the relay.

Is that the right way to do it?

sburggsx

If you have a FUSED power lead from the battery powering the relay, and the fuse box lead powering the switch to fire the relay, then yes you've done it right. Using the fuse tap to pull power from an unused port takes you from a B+ to an A for wiring.

The only reason I can say all this is I've been studying the different write ups to pre-plan all this electric stuff before I even start. No reason to do any of it twice with all the good info here for the taking.

EDIT: this is what I'm talking about. (link left cold) hxxp://www.outdoorpros.com/Prod/Bussmann-BP-HHH-ATM-Fuse-Tap-(2-Pack)/65294/Cat/1234

JK-Ford

Tapping power for "Control Power" to use for relays and switches is the best way to do this part of the system. Just find an open spot that does not have a fuse and only has power when the ignition is on. Also using the fuse tap thingy is a good Idea. Although 10 amp is a little much for control power. Try 3 amp instead. Then pick up 12 volt power from the battery to supply the lights.

ToTaLlYcOnFuSeD

I used a fuse tap and the M8/M9 fuse location as mentioned before. I've included a few pics to help you out. The fuse mini tap is available as any local automotive store and maybe even Walmart and they are cheap (a couple of bucks). It's worth the $$$$. You well see in the pics, I drilled a small hole in the fuse block to run the wire. Sealed it with some black RTV and haven't had any "leak" problems (knock on wood). Hope this helps! Oh and BTW, this is only used as a power source for the toggle switch (on/off) to power the relay. The relay will carry the load for the lights, so 5amps is more than enough.

wrangler4life082011

I am trying to setup some warn 6.5 wireless driving lights. I've been doing some research and think the fuse tap is the best way to go. I just want to make sure I am clear that the fuse tap is only for the switch, in my case the wireless switch, and that the actual power to the wires should be wired into the battery?