phillyxj570

are you running power to you lights from you batt.

The91XJ

Power to the lights comes straight from the relay, which is wired to straight to the battery with a 15 amp fuse.

2Evil4U

How many watts are the lights total? That 40A fuse will support up to 480W. If you're using less than 14ga wire, it may just be too much load on the wire.

Sport01

2evil4u is correct, and considering how old the wires are....

if the current is too much the wires/metal/fuse will overheat.

I would suggest rewiring with wires more capable to handle the electricity?

blasterman93

Make sure the lights have solid ground to the chassis. Bad ground will cause load to heat up.

The91XJ

Reground the relay, double and triple checked every connection, and i'm still getting hot wiring! I'm about to yank the damn things out and sell em! I'm going to pick up a different relay and fuse holder to see if that solves my problem.

blasterman93

do the lights have a seperate ground wire like KC lights do?

The91XJ

Yes sir, they do.

xjcherokee2000

i can twist bolts all day and do some pretty crazy installs but lights, wires, etc. I turn dumb. . just installed durango steering box and a new rigidco front bumper and the Hella 500 black magic lights are just sitting in my room still in the box. lol .

is there a write up for light installs ? with pics and such . that would be mad helpfull . the diagrams are cool and all but for the electric dumb builders like myself i find them unhelpfull.

thanks =)

SeriousOffroad

If post #2 is not simple enough you should probably find a shop to do the work for you.

wildbill1

If all of your wiring and switch are rated for full draw amperage, you don't really need a relay, but if you do use a relay, you can use smaller gauge wire for the control side of the relay. This often makes for a neater installation.

Think about your ignition switch. If it had to handle full starter amperage, it would have to be enormous and you'd need battery cable running to and from it.

notop46

X2^

Using a relay allows you to keep the high power leeds as short as possible battery > fuse > relay > lights. The longer the leeds, the more resistance and current pull. Put the relay under the hood close to the batery. If the lights are on the bumper, the wires to the lights to the relay shold be realy short. The control wires for the relay can be much smaller and easier to route.

If the wires are getting hot, they are either too small for the load of the lights or there is a loose connection/bad ground. Do not install a fuse that is too big for the wire or else your wire will become the fuse. Recommendations: 14 Gauge 15 Amp max, 12 Guage 20 Amp max, 10 Guage 30 Amps Max.