Hello,

I'm going to wire up a light bar on my ski boat, and had a question about driving lamp wiring. If I want to wire up four lights to one switch, how do I wire (parrallel/series, etc)?

I only know stereo wiring (ohm loads and stuff), don't know if it matters with electrical. My guess would be wire lamps 1&2 in series, lamps 3&4 in series...then wire the two groups together (1/2 and 3/4) in parrallel.

Does this sound right? Any other suggestions/things I should consider when doing this? Is a 30-amp relay big enough?

 

Thanks for the info... but what I'm actually asking is about the actual wiring...does anybody know how to wire up 4 lamps to operate off of one switch?

Would I wire lamps 1&2 in a series, then 3&4 in a series...then wire the two groups (1/2 and 3/4) together?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

since you know car audio wiring, you always wire lights in parallel for the least resistance and more power, if you wire them in series, they wont be as bright. two 30 amp relays is questionable depending on how many amps your lights draw, if you have 55w lamps, thats only 8amps per lamp. if you have 100w lights or higher---two relays is definitely a good idea.

T

 

 

Thanks to all of you for the help (and especially the diagram!), I really appreciate it!!!

 

Make sure the wire from +/- 12V to the relay and from the relay to the lights is heavy enough for the load. The wire to and from the switch can be light duty.

And be sure to add an inline fuse on the +12V at the battery !!!!