Extending Dually Wiring

Wambulance

Wambulance

New member
I am in the process of attaching 4 dually style lights to the back of my jeep. I am going to need to extend the wiring slightly as the harness that comes with the kit is not long enough. The harness as is has 18g wire and I also wanted to upgrade to 16 due to the added length. Normally I would just attach the new wire and not think twice but this is the first time I have wired this type of LED and when I went to make the connection I realized that you can't feed directly into the LED. They have the pigtails with the deutsch connectors on the end and I am assuming the wire in the pigtail is probably 18g. I am wondering if I will run into any trouble/problems with hooking this up to 16g wire. I have heard that you can create a "heat spot" by connecting wire of different gauges. Just looking for some imput

I realize that 16 to 18 on a isn't a big leap on a 15 watt light but I am planning putting in a 300 watt in the front and may have to do the something similar with larger gauges. I am just wondering how you can select the correct gauge wire if you can't control what feeds directly into the light

Thanks!
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Wambulance said:
I am in the process of attaching 4 dually style lights to the back of my jeep. I am going to need to extend the wiring slightly as the harness that comes with the kit is not long enough. The harness as is has 18g wire and I also wanted to upgrade to 16 due to the added length. Normally I would just attach the new wire and not think twice but this is the first time I have wired this type of LED and when I went to make the connection I realized that you can't feed directly into the LED. They have the pigtails with the deutsch connectors on the end and I am assuming the wire in the pigtail is probably 18g. I am wondering if I will run into any trouble/problems with hooking this up to 16g wire. I have heard that you can create a "heat spot" by connecting wire of different gauges. Just looking for some imput

I realize that 16 to 18 on a isn't a big leap on a 15 watt light but I am planning putting in a 300 watt in the front and may have to do the something similar with larger gauges. I am just wondering how you can select the correct gauge wire if you can't control what feeds directly into the light

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I wired my dually pillar lights into an existing aftermarket halogen light circuit on mine. I did that so I could use the existing switch. Don't remember the wire size, but they were 2 different sizes. No issues so far.
 
Wambulance

Wambulance

New member
WJCO said:
I wired my dually pillar lights into an existing aftermarket halogen light circuit on mine. I did that so I could use the existing switch. Don't remember the wire size, but they were 2 different sizes. No issues so far.
Click to expand...

I figured that it won't be an issue, especially with the low wattage. It just seems so weird that there is such a big concern to have your wires the proper gauge for length/amps but that the last 6 inches isn't really acknowledged
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Wambulance said:
I figured that it won't be an issue, especially with the low wattage. It just seems so weird that there is such a big concern to have your wires the proper gauge for length/amps but that the last 6 inches isn't really acknowledged
Click to expand...

I'm sure the engineers have reasoning, but 6 inches of wiring with a different gauge probably doesn't affect it enough to see with the naked eye. I assume you're running the 300 watt light on a separate circuit than the duallys?
 
Wambulance

Wambulance

New member
WJCO said:
I'm sure the engineers have reasoning, but 6 inches of wiring with a different gauge probably doesn't affect it enough to see with the naked eye. I assume you're running the 300 watt light on a separate circuit than the duallys?
Click to expand...

Yes, completely separate circuits to an spod. I was looking into a 500watt but I don't see how you could even wire that sort of light to a 12v system. You would need a minimum 6 awg line. That would be a huge difference between what is coming out of the light, and what you are connecting
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Wambulance said:
Yes, completely separate circuits to an spod. I was looking into a 500watt but I don't see how you could even wire that sort of light to a 12v system. You would need a minimum 6 awg line. That would be a huge difference between what is coming out of the light, and what you are connecting
Click to expand...

500 is ridiculous. My 42 inch is 250w and it's more than enough.

PILLAR LIGHTS (4).JPG

WIRING (3).JPG

WIRING (5).jpg
 
gtony12

gtony12

Caught the Bug
Going from a small gauge 18awg to a larger gauge 16awg should not create any issues. If you were going in opposite direction then yes would not be a good idea.
 
WJCO

WJCO

Meme King
Wambulance said:
That's awesome! :shock: Yeah I am learning that a little goes a long way with these LEDs. Not worth the headache or the fire hazard to go too big
Click to expand...

They do put out a lot of light. And you also have to ask yourself, how often will you really use them?

10frank9 said:
Yo neighbors, f-you! :cheesy:
Click to expand...

Exactly. I love f'n with this guy. He has a great sense of humor. He smokes in his vehicle and listens to music a lot at night (single guy). When I'm coming home late and see him in there, I always blind him with those things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom