Spot lights - 55W or 100W?

Yesterday at the old sodbury I got myself a spot light bar as I intend to go and drive during the night in Salisbury and do some green laning too....

So I've found these on ebay, which seem like a decent size and they are rectangular and discrete, dont like the big round ones.

WIPAC 4 x Roof bar Driving lamps lights "E" marked on eBay, also, Land Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 10-Jun-09 08:42:50 BST)

they come with 55W bulbs, but for an extra £10 it can come with 100W bulbs...
but I don't know if 55W will be enough when driving in pitch dark?

I thought about using the 55W and then if not enough get the 100W, but the wiring as to be dimensioned for the lights used, well, unless I just dimension the wiring for 100W bulbs even if using the 55W?

any views?

cheers!
JP

how many yu going for - 4? - ffs - 4x100watts!!! yu will be in competition with wembley stadium. 4x55watts shud be more than enough to glare all over ya bonnet and ruin yo night vision.

hahaha MHM!
Well... I didn't know, so better ask..but yeh thinking like that, 4x 100W... that's quite a lot.. with all that the army wouldnt even need to use the flares during training! hahaha

Not only that - but 4x100 watts plus 2x55watt headlights plus a couple of front spots- say 2x55watts equals 620watts or 52Amps in lights alone - will yo battery/alternator/wiring cope?

I have 4 x 55w on my roof and 2 x 55w on my bull bar and thats MORE than enough lighting power

Dont forget the 2 x 55w from the headlights as well.

I think a better idea is 2 55w driving lamps and 2 55w fog lamps on the roof bar. That way you get a better spread of light.

Also wire them in switch banks of 2. Then you can control wether all 4 are on or just 2 depending on the situation.

150w x 4 wired individually with FAT wire.Seperate relay with all.

MHM, I did think about that, if the battery would cope with all that..thanks for clarifying.

thanks for all the tips, in the end I bought the WIPAC 55W, the ones from the link above...
Now all I need is to do the wiring... and doing 2 switches seems like a good tip.

Would you guys recommend getting power straight from the battery and use an earth point somewhere in the engine bay, or can I get power from somewhere else?Inside the cab?to save routing cable to the engine bay?

Not sure if this is possible, when I work on the bikes I can get power for accessories from pretty much anywhere.... indicators, rear light, etc...

Not if you don't want your car to turn into a bbq...

Relay is required...

Looks interesting mate. Can't wait to see what you do, where you put the switches and how you wire them up..

Have a butchers here for some switches, had a bit of a hollow look into this, just to prep myself for when I get around to it

MUDSTUFF.CO.UK, Carling Technologies Switches, Land Rover Defender Solutions: West Yorkshire

To power them I would:-

You will need 2 relays power to them I would take straight from the alternator. Earth use a to screw in the edge of the wing after rubbing down to metal.

Then run power to the lights up inside a snorkel if you have one just like they do with the G4 vehicles. Or feed back inside and up the pillar then drill and grommet.

Something like that.

The snorkel idea is quite good, but thinking about it..
I would always need to route it back to inside the cab for the switch...

I suppose I can always find a rust hole somewhere to get the cable through..lol
Seriously though, thanks for the tips...

I think my spot lights should be with me before the weekend, then I probably have to cut my snorkel down a bit as it will be in the way of the bar (will need to check, but almost sure it will be)

So, after reading the above I'm thinking…
get the power from alternator, run up through the snorkel, then split the cable somewhere in the engine bay and route the wire inside to put the switch..
I think there is some gromets in the engine bay that lead back behind the dash on the passenger side, so I might use that… again, need to check.

stretchie, thanks for that, but already bought all the bits, from same guy on ebay, relay, cable, switch, etc..
normally I would have gone to Maplins, but the closest one to me is Reading or Basingstoke and don't have time to go there at the moment.

the usual routing/wiring if using a relay is one wire to the lamps themselves....one wire from a main beam trigger....one from the battery...one to earth,and i put a fuse on tyhe power feed from the battery
as for wattage ive 130s on the A bar spots,55watts on the four roof lamps and uprated(i cant remember what power)headlamp bulbs.....been on there now a year or so,often used at night for long periods......never given me/battery any probs whatsoever

mmhhh…. now that you mention the main beam, I could actually do that…
have them working with main beam ( as I drive a bit through B roads at night I could use it here) and then have an over ride switch that would leave them permantly on even if Im on dipped beam (to use when green lanning at night..)

naa… think it's too much fiddling around, think I'll just stick a on/off switch inside..

also, to pass the MOT doesn’t it have to have a separate switch? I was told roof bars couldn’t work off the main beam?

Not heard of wiring from the alternator before...why would you do that and not wire from the battery? (via a relay of course).

it is because the alernator is wired directly to the battery, but it isnt recomended.

Take a 6mm feed from the battery to a 45A Relay via a 40A Fuse, run the feed to your lights and the earth from them up to the roof along the gulley at the side of the windscreen with a bit of silicone, virtually invisible and no holes!
Then take a feed from the mainbeam switch through a new switch on the dash (cruise control switch in my case) then through to the relay.

Shimples

make sure you use decent cable n fuse holders i started an under bonnet fire on the disco with crappy wiring products

I bought a wiring kit from the same seller that sold me the spot lights, the kit is bagged and is WIPAC, said suitable to wire 1 or 2 pairs of 55W bulbs... so I hope its alright?
below is the wire and the relay that was in the kit....but there's no fuses!!!



but I need help with the wiring....please?
What I intend to have is a 2 option on my setup... something like this

1 - always off no matter if I turn main beam on
2 - Spot lights on when i turn main beam on..
3 - Spot lights on even if I have main beam or dipped beam off...(like an over ride of the option above)

Is this too much?
How would I do it...?

Below is a little diagram I did on paint, but been frying my brains for a while now on how to do the other options...
what I've done below, which i hope is correct, is just a normal on/off and that's it... I think for the other option i would like to have I would need a second switch and connect that to the main beam switch?

arrrgghh!!! it's too late.. I think im going to bed now..... can anyone help with this please?

I think I've just had a brain fart...

I think the circuit below should do it...

If switch 1 and 2 are OFF - nothing happens, spots are always off.
If switch 1 is ON and 2 is OFF - spot lights are always on
If switch 1 is OFF and 2 is ON - Spot lights will only come on with the main beam...



hope i got this right...