This has been beaten to death and some people just dont get it.
Anything more than a CB, Radio, etc should have a relay. If it pulls more than like 15amps, relay it....

 

did you learn about 12v electrical or are you just making it up as you go along?

the fire jeep pic above is spot on, what you are doing is dangerous. you absolutely want your fuse to blow right off if it's overloaded! you can't limit draw by putting a smaller fuse in. both of those lights should be able to run off of a 10 amp fuse if the proper sized wire is used and they are wired correctly though a relay.

 

Read this thread:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/wh...2/#post1345210

W=V*A
100watts At 13.6v= 7.352941176470589 x2= 14.705A
Your fuse should be blowing as soon as you turn on the switch...

 

This was temporary to get them going. The 5 amp fuse was originally intended for use with what i already had running off the switch ie a 12volt plug in (which i run my ac converter off of) and and my leds. I wanted the fuse to blow before whatever the converter was running could fry my converter. The lights will eventually be wired off a heavier amp compacity multi switch similar to what i have right now. Ive wired roughly ten sets of lights without relays but i use a switch as pictured below with at fuse inline to the switch from the battery or distribution block. The switch is rated up to like 30 amps if i remember correctly.

Attachment 91241

 

I can't Tell you exactly why but the fuse is supposed to be as close to the battery terminals as possible. they even make terminals with fuses attached to the back of them to wire **** lol. and it's not supposed to be any more then 12 inches away.

 

Fuses are useless if the short is before it...

 

A fuse is not a resistor… it won’t limit the voltage or amp draw and it needs to be as close to the battery as possible.

 

Just because you have done it in the past without issues doesn't mean it's ok. Relays and fuses are there for a reason and not using them is just dumb. Can you run the lights without a relay? Yes. Is it safe to run these lights without a relay? No.

Running that sort of power into the dash board is dangerous... all it takes is one accidental pinch of a wire and your going to have a fire. Relays are used so you aren't running large amounts of power into the vehicle, but instead running a small charge just enough to trip the relay.

We aren't here coming down on you because we want to be jerks. We are trying to look out for your best interests and help you avoid something as detrimental as a vehicle fire.

As a firefighter, I can tell you that vehicle fires, ESPECIALLY in the dashboard are next to impossible to stop once they've started without the vehicle being a total loss. We did a training exercise where we did nothing more than cut a wire in the dashboard and tough it to metal ground. Within 20 seconds there were visible flames behind the dash and even with professionally trained firefighters and a vehicle fire extinguisher right on hand we couldn't put it out without using our vehicle fire suppression system. All of the plastic in your dashboard catches on fire very easily and will become out of control before you have a chance to do anything. The most common thing we hear from victims of a car fire on the scene is "It happened so fast, I didn't know what to do."


Again, we are not trying to be a bunch of jerks... we are simply trying to help you. Learn from others mistakes... it's a lot easier.

 

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You're not getting it...
Personally, I will laugh if you have a "my Jeep burst into flames!" Thread in a month or two.

 

A fuse alone isn't going to prevent a fire. If you pinch a wire in the dash and it ground out you'll be lucky if it blows the fuse before starting a fire.

We are sharing our knowledge with you to help you. Whether you want to admit it or not, what you are doing is wrong. You can either take our advise and follow it or ignore it and hope you never learn these lessons the hard way.

 

All my fuses are in the engine bay no more than 1.5ft away from battery. With the rough length of wire i have of 10 gauge it can hold the amps long enough for the 5amp to blow. Like i said this was temp to get them lit up for the review
Edit: the period was only so i could post the quote of myself with the section i wanted viewed in capitol letters

 

If you wanted to hook them up just for the review, the proper way to do it would have been to just jump the wires to the battery to take some pics. Leaving them hooked up the way you have them now just isn't safe.

None of us want to see a fellow Jeepers dreams go up in flames.

 

Hey workx, I bet every fire you've ever been to ppl have said it happened so fast... Thanks for risking your life all the time for the safety of others. Jeepy if you don't take a trained fire fights word for it who is being completely nice about it who shows genuine worry for your safety, who is being sincere, who is trained on the safety of such matters, who isn't being condescending at all then your being completely irrational and ignorant. You should have thanked him.. I may not be able to explain things but I know what I know because I research every modd I do to my truck extensively. I know boys don't like to read instructions but try reading the fab section or the write up section or just google how too.... So ppl don't jump your *** like this in the future.

 

^this