Bad relay for off road lights?

Nissan11

Nissan11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2005
Location
Marston, NC
I have a set of off road lights on my front bumper that have been working flawlessly for me for years. I had them wired in to my factory fog light wiring but after a couple years the fuse started to blow about every week. I finally installed a 5 blade relay a few weeks ago and mounted a toggle switch in the cab. The lights worked great until last night, and now every time I flip the toggle switch the fuse blows. Most connections are shrink wrapped and I dont know where the short could be. I re-routed the grounds straight to the battery and its still blowing fuses. Is it possible the relay is bad? The fuse is a 30amp ATC. The indicator light on the switch still works so I know the switch is ok. Any ideas?
I will also say that for as big a mess as one relay makes under the hood, I cant see every installing another one.



ai130.photobucket.com_albums_p275_nissan11_DSCN0299.jpg
 
Are they hella lights, Cause my power wire going to the light grounded to the housing on the light causing this same issue.

I would start by disconnecting the positive from the battery. Then take your meter and read the ohms between the switch hot and ground to see if there is a dead short, Or you can just trace the hot to the lights and see if the wire has gotten grounded against the frame or body. I would be willing to bet the wire is shorted to the frame or body. The relay wouldn't short the fuse in most cases.

Is the fuse to lights blowing or is the fuse to the relay blowing? That might tell you what direction to go in.

Edit:

Looking at the picture,

Tell me what wires are what. What colors go to what.
 
The lights are cheap rectangular lights with brush guards from advance auto.

Here are the wires from the relay:

Blue- to pos. terminal w/ inline fuse
Yellow- power to lights
White-ground
Black- to switch
Red is not being used and is an extra power line.
The other yellow wire is ground from the lights

The fuse to the switch has not blown yet, its the inline fuse taking power to the relay that blows.
 
Nissan11 said:
The lights are cheap rectangular lights with brush guards from advance auto.
Here are the wires from the relay:
Blue- to pos. terminal w/ inline fuse
Yellow- power to lights
White-ground
Black- to switch
Red is not being used and is an extra power line.
The other yellow wire is ground from the lights
The fuse to the switch has not blown yet, its the inline fuse taking power to the relay that blows.
Click to expand...

Then I would say it is a short in the wire to the lights, Or a bad light, If the relay worked when you first put it in, then it is wired correctly. Can you unhook one light at a time to see which one is tripping the fuse out.
 
Ive traced the wires and cant find a short. If the connectors wrapped in electrical tape that are exposed to the elements got some moisture in them could that cause the short? They are wrapped in electrical tape but I guess its possible.

And Ive got a digital multimeter but I have never used it. How would I check to see if the lights are bad? Is the only way to do it to cut the wires going to one light at a time?
 
The taped joints is where I would look, you can set the meter to OHM setting and touch the meter's leads together and the meter should read 0 or close to it, with them apart it should be nothing or random scolling. Then meter between the pos and neg wires going to the lights, perferably one light at a time to tell which one is shorted. A short will read 0 - whatever ohms, Most likly it will show like a 2 ohms depending on how well it is shorted.
 
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